Well-Rounded Birth Stories

Well Prepared for Scheduled C-Section

2011-08-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Our little one was born, happy and healthy, on July 8th. Ivy Claire Lapham Timm (she's a girl!) was 8 lbs. 14 oz. and 21 1/4 inches.

The anesthesiologist had Benji wait just outside the door of the operating room while he administered the spinal for the c-section, but I knew he was just a few feet away, and they brought him in 10 minutes later, after the spinal was administered and I was nub. They had him sit right at my head, and the drape was hung at the top of my chest so he could be right with me and still see what was happening below... I wanted updates from him.

Around 8:30 a.m. he announced that the baby had hair--I asked how much, and if he could see the baby's face, but he said the baby was back in. Apparently, it was difficult to get the baby around the tumor--Dr. Berkoff had to use a suction on her head and it took five pulls with the suction, with her head just peeking out, to get her around the tumor and out. Benji said at one paint Dr. Berkoff had a foot propped, against the table and was pulling back hard while the other doctor was on a stool at my side, pushing down hard on my abdomen. The incision never hurt, but I had hand print bruises all over my stomach and felt sore and bruised there, but not nearly as bad as I expected to feel. Benji got some photos of the tumor too--it was the size of a giant grapefruit. Unfortunately, it was too well attached and vascular to remove it then, but we're hoping it will shrink postpartum.

Ivy was born at 8:36 a.m., and they took her right to the table to clear her airway... I couldn't see her because one of the doctors was blocking my view, but they kept saying she looked great. Benji said she was so blue, and that it was probably best that I was just told she was great without seeing her color. When I did finally see her feet, i couldn't believe how blue they really were. Yet within a minute I heard her cry, which made me sob. As soon as she cried, they brought her right over and help her against may face; the anesthesiologist took off my oxygen and undid my arms so I could touch her right away for a minute to weigh and measure her, then brought her right back. it was wonderful to have her touching me all the time.

Laura was there as I as I was wheeled into recovery, she was going to come into the operating room if Benji needed to leave with the baby, but she came into recovery and took photos of our first moments with her, which meant so much.

We stayed at St. Mary's until Tuesday; the nurses and lactation consultants were so, so very helpful and we were glad to be there and soak in all the advice and tips we could.

Ivy is now nursing so well, sleeping well, and just all around perfect. I just look at her and cry several times a day; I feel so lucky to have her here, and so healthy after such a rocky start.

Thank you so much for all your guidance and support; you really helped put me in the right place to be ready for everything and advocate for the best birth experience I could have, given that it needed to be a c-section.

Corey & Benji, Shorewood

Completely Natural Labor & Peaceful Birth

2011-08-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Holden was born completely naturally after a very short and peaceful labor. My water broke at 4:30 p.m. on June 3rd. We arrived at the hospital at 9:30 that evening. Our doula helped us settle in and create the relaxing environment we wanted per our birth plan. The lights dimmed, the room silent, there were candles (battery operate, of course) spread around the room. Around 10:30 p.m. I was 4 cm and 85% effaced. I used some relaxation exercises/breathing, told my body that it needed to dilate and deliver this baby and kept repeating positive birth mantras in my mind. About 15 minutes later, I went into transition. Transition lasted about 45 minutes, afterward I was 9.5 cm and 95% effaced.

I pushed for two hours to get him out due to him being stuck sunny side up but it was all worth it! Just as planned the room was dimmed and silent as he was born. Justin announced that we had a boy and spoke Holden's name to him for the first time. Holden was immediately placed on my chest and we both wept tears of joy and told Holden how much we loved him. He was so alert and was able to nurse for 45 minutes! His rooting reflex worked just as we learned in the classes and he was able to crawl around and latch himself without really any assistance. He remained wide-eyed and alert for a few hours, which allowed Justin and I time to bond with him. It was truly the most beautiful experience Justin and I have ever felt.

Amy & Justin, Glendale

Birthing Experience Was All They Desired

2011-08-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Audrey Lynn was born on May 26th at 3:46 a.m. She was 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 18.5 inches.

I was having light contractions from the time I woke up on Wednesday the 25th. By 3 p.m., the contractions were getting more intense, but I still wasn't sure if "this was it." Conor came home from work at 5 p.m., we did a little curb walking in the rain and some stair climbing. After pacing my house 100 times, we finally checked into the hospital at 9:30 p.m.

I thought I was really far along, but to my dismay, I was only 4.5 cm (at my doctor's appointment the week before, I was 2.5 cm)! Fortunately, things progressed fairly quickly. We requested to not have the monitor on me and our nurse reluctantly said OK. Conor and I think she was slightly skeptical of our desire for a natural birth. I was 6 cm an hour after settling into our hospital room. Every hour the nurse came in to put the monitor on me and I had to lay on the bed for twenty minutes (super uncomfortable as my contractions intensified).

We were able to labor in the tub until I was 7.5 cm. After that, it was pretty uncomfortable for me to get around. Every hour after that, I progressed a little more. My water finally broke at 9 cm (even though the nurse kept offering to break it in order to help things along... I happily declined every time!). The doctor came in to tell me I had five more contractions to get through and then I could start pushing. I remember looking at Conor and feeling really scared and tired and unsure of myself. I just wasn't sure I could go any further. We counted the five contractions and sure enough! By 3:35 a.m. on Thursday, I started pushing. Ten minutes later (although it seemed A LOT longer), Audrey was born! We spend the next three hours with our wide awake little girl before she fell asleep from all the excitement. Conor was an amazing coach and for the most part our birthing experience was all that we desired!

Mary & Conor, Waukesha

Stuck With Cervical Lip for Too Long

2011-08-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 14th I went to the doctor and discovered I was 3 cm dilated and baby was getting ready to make her arrival so Jeremy and I decided to take a nice long walk and see if we could get things moving along. Later that night i experienced some cramping but nothing indicating labor. Saturday morning was a different story.

I woke up and immediately started to experience heavy cramping. We started timing things but they weren't close enough or consistent enough to be too concerned. I cleaned up around the house and watched some TV so I could relax and be distracted. As the day went on contractions were closer together and lasted for longer.

About 6 p.m. contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart and getting more uncomfortable. We wanted to stay home as long as we could so we continued to hand out at the house. At about 8 p.m. my water broke or rather was partially punctured. We called the doctor and she said we should head to the hospital. Once at the hospital things started to progress rather quickly. My doula and Jeremy were very helpful in keeping me focused on my breathing and reminding me to relax through the pain. I changed positions several times which I found very comforting and helpful. I spent quite a lot of time in the tub in different positions.

In the tub Dr. Koch checked me and I was about 8 cm dilated so she punctured the remainder of my membranes to move things along. At this point she suggested I move out of the tub and back to room. I sat on the birthing ball for a while as contractions intensified. Dr. Koch checked my cervix again and realized I was not longer progressing. She discovered that my lovely little girl was on an angle so she wasn't lined up in the birth canal. I did some positioning of my body to get her to move into the proper position. After about 30 minutes of that she was properly aligned but my body was exhausted and still not progressing.

I continue to try the birthing ball and laying on my side but nothing. As were now well into Sunday late morning I was exhausted. Dr. Koch said I needed to relax and suggested I receive an Epidural to see if that would help my cervix dilate. I was very reluctant since that wasn't my plan but my body really couldn't take it anymore and different things didn't move along I would need a C-section. Jeremy and I discussed it and decided we would try the Epidural and hope for the best. After a few hours on the Epidural my cervix was still not progressing so I needed Pitocin as well.

About 1-2 hours after the Pitocin I was ready to push. I pushed for an hour and at 3:35 p.m. (after 30 hours of labor) Olive Frances Sawyer was born. We are doing well and happy but tired.

Jessica & Jeremy, Mequon

Pride of Accomplishment & Awe at Body's Ability to Birth

2011-08-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

I was given a "due date" of Sunday, April 3rd, and that day came and went without even a Braxton Hicks contraction to be felt (as I suspected it would). As the next few days also passed without incident, I decided to start taking Evening Primrose to help soften my cervix, hoping to help Mother Nature on it's course. My doctor (Dr. Claudia Koch--love, love, love her!) said she usually lets her patients go to approximately 41 1/2 weeks as long as everything is going well with mother and baby, so I definitely wanted to go into labor naturally within that time frame, to avoid any induction methods. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Friday April 8th, which I had been hoping not to make it to, but Friday came and still no baby, so off we went to the doctor.

Baby and I checked out well, and the doctor asked if I wanted her to check and see if I was any further dilated at this point (she had checked at my previous appointment the week before, and announced I was maybe 1 cm dilated, if that), but I declined at this point, figuring it didn't do me any good to know if I was or not--Baby obviously wasn't coming yet! She then discussed the possibility of stripping my membranes, explaining that she would rather attempt that sort of induction method than using a drug. The thought that it might come to having to induce scared me a lot, as I kept picturing the slippery slope of interventions, and I was convinced that if it came to that, I would end up with a C-section. (OK, OK a dramatic, I know--blame it on the hormones). She suggested we meet again the following Tuesday (my birthday!), and if I still hadn't gone into labor, she would strip my membranes to try and get things going. I left the appointment scared and disappointed.

I decided to start tying some natural induction methods (except Castor oil, I decided that having massive diarrhea just did not sound appealing whatsoever, and I had a 45 minute drive to the hospital...imagine that drive!) I kept up with the Evening Primrose, I had Clint massage the labor-inducing acupressure points, I ate a ton of fresh pineapple (suggested by my doula), even "got cozy" with Clint. :)

Saturday during a trip to the bathroom, I discovered that I lost my mucous plug and/or had some bloody show... I'm not really sure which... I think maybe both. I tried not to get too excited, because then I read that it could still be days/weeks until labor begins.

BUT...

Sunday morning, April 10th, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. with menstrual-like cramps that were definitely different from any Braxton Hicks I had previously felt. They weren't particularly painful, and were coming about every 10-15 minutes. I just had a feeling that this was it... FINALLY! I thought for sure we would be headed to the hospital by afternoon...

HA!

The day dragged on, and the contractions stayed pretty much the same intensity. Just when I thought they were getting closer together, I wouldn't feel one for 20-30 minutes. I got in contact with my doula (the first of MANY phone calls/texts throughout the day as I bombarded her with questions about my labor: Now they are a little closer together, should I go to the hospital now? The last one felt a little stronger, should I go to the hospital now? I am getting really anxious, should I go to the hospital now? Bless her heart, she put up with all of my questions!), who reminded me that I should try to RELAX, and keep myself occupied, and get some sleep if I could, because this sounded like the real deal to her, so eventually I'd be heading to the hospital to meet our Baby!!! I decided the nap sounded like a good idea, since I had only slept for about 4 hours the night before. I headed to bed, but only managed to sleep for about an hour; I was waaaay too excited/nervous to sleep! (I would later regret this.) We had family over to visit, so that kept me occupied for a while. I also didn't eat too much (something else I would regret later), because I absolutely dreaded the thought of "Going Number 2" during delivery.

As evening approached, I noticed the contractions coming at more regular intervals. My doula gave me a link to a website contractionmaster.com that would time my contractions with the click of a button, and keep track of the intervals at which they are happening. I played around with that for a while, until they were about five minutes apart, lasting one minute for about an hour. Then I started to get a little (OK, a lot) nervous, because right about that time we got some nasty weather rolling through the area; severe thunderstorms, gusty winds and threats of tornadoes. the last thing I wanted to drive through in the midst of labor was a tornado. Since my contractions were pretty regular at this point, and the weather was getting bad, and we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us, and I was pacing around the house like a made woman (relax?! Not a chance), at 9:30 p.m. I called my doula--for the millionth time--and told her we were going to head to the hospital. Then I called the doctor and told her my news. They both said they would meet us there. We grabbed our bags (which had been mostly packed since my original due date; we finished putting things together earlier in the afternoon when we figured this was really happening), texted our families that we were heading to the hospital, and said a final goodbye to the life as we knew it was we walked out the door.

All I could think about was" Oh my God, this is really happening! And: Oh. My. Go. This is really happening!

We arrived at the hospital (Columbia St. Mary's Mequon) at 10:00 p.m. and we were taken to our birthing suite. I had filled out paperwork ahead of time, so we were able to bypass the admission process. The nurse had me change into a gown, took my vitals, and hooked me up to the monitors to read Baby's heart rate and my contractions. I had given the doctor a few copies of my birth plan, and she made sure the nursing staff also had a copy so they knew I requested only intermittent monitoring, so the nurse informed me I would be hooked up to the monitors for a few minutes about once an hour to get readings. At this point my contractions were definitely stronger (though still manageable), and coming about every 4-5 minutes. The doctor arrived at this point, and she checked to see how much I was dilated: 4 cm and 80% effaced. Not bad! I decided I would take a few laps around the floor for awhile (I wish I had a pedometer to see how far I actually walked that night!), so Clint, myself and the doula began walking. And walking. And walking...

After that became immensely boring, we made our way back to the room, where I tried some different positions with the birthing ball for a while, watching some TV, tried to get Clint to sleep (he refused; he actually never left my side the entire time, he was amazing!), and basically tried to pass the time as best we could. I was getting really tired at this pint (remember, I'm running on about five hours of sleep), but I wasn't able to sleep through the contractions any more. The doula suggested we try the hot tub, so I sat in the tub, listening to my relaxation CD for about an hour. I must say, the tub was AMAZING. It really took the edge off the contractions, and it was incredibly relaxing and peaceful. I felt like one of the women in the birth videos that is in a totally relaxed, meditative state, and is making labor look like a piece of cake. I thought, "This isn't so bad!" I actually think I said that out loud to the doula; she just laughed.

When I got tired of the tub (I couldn't seem to focus on any one position for very long), the doctor decided to check me again. In the six hours since I had arrived, I was now at 5 cm. WHAT?! ONLY ONE CENTIMETER FURTHER?!?!?! That was when the first little seed of doubt was planted; was I really going to be able to do this? They assured me that the first 5 cm usually take the longest to get through; now I should start progressing faster. So, off we went, more walking...

The next few hours basically consisted of more walking, trying more positions with the bed and birth ball, and another round in the tub. I was pretty exhausted by now, and the only place I actually managed to doze off between contractions (which were about 2-3 minutes part at this point and really strong) was the tub. The doctor had told me to let her know when I started to feel pressure "down there", like an urge to have a bowl movement. This, she assured me, would not be a bowel movement, it would signal time to start pushing. (I still hadn't eaten much at this point, so I'm sure there was no danger of me really having a bowel movement. I should add that I was allowed to eat and drink anything I wanted the entire time I was at the hospital, which I think is great. I should have taken advantage of that.) While I was in the tub I started to feel the pressure, and the doctor told me to start bearing down a little with each contraction, if it felt good to do that.

At some point I decided I wanted to get out of the tub and walk around some more. I think I only did that for a few laps because the contractions were really strong and I had to stop and lean against Clint for each one. I must say I think I was handling the contractions really well; don't get me wrong, they were STRONG, and I had to make a conscious effort to relax for every one, but I just tried to open up, relax every muscle in my body, and I just wanted to lay down, so I climbed into bed to try and rest between contractions, but holy crap that was so uncomfortable to just lay in the bed. So the doula positioned the bed into a chair (the head raised up, and the foot dropped down), and I tried bearing down like that for awhile.

The doctor came back in and decided to check to make sure I was fully dilated so I could push, and she discovered that I had an anterior cervical lip, resulting from Baby's head not being in proper alignment, I think. She told me she would try and push the lip out of the way during the next contraction, and when she did I thought I was going to pass out because it hurt more than the contractions. I think I even screamed a little. Since she wasn't able to push it out of the way (because I was begging her not to do that again), she had me get on my hands and knees, resting on a birthing ball, to see if that position would help move the lip out of the way. I found that position EXTREMELY uncomfortable with contractions; this was the point when I lost that "feeling like the relaxed, meditative woman who thinks this is a piece of cake." There was definite moaning and crying and saying "I don't want to do this any more." (Transition, anyone?!)

I think I managed that position for about a half an hour, then I begged to try something else. Luckily, when the doctor checked me again, the lip was gone (she later admitted she was a bit worried that the lip wouldn't move out of the way; I wonder what would have happened then?!) and the doula put a squat bar on the bed so I was able to try pushing while squatting. I found the uncomfortable also, partly because I was so utterly exhausted at this point, that I found it hard to hold myself into a squat, even with the assistance of the bar (this is where I start regretting not napping longer and not eating to have some energy). After doing this for awhile, I asked to just lay flat on the bed, because I no longer had the energy to hold myself up. So, yes, I ended up delivering Baby in the worst possible position... flat on my back in bed!!! Go figure. :)

So I pushed... and pushed... and pushed... and with every push Clint, the doctor, doula and nurses cheered me on, saying how great a job I was doing, and I wanted to punch every one of them in the face and tell them to shut up unless they were going to tell me that the head was coming out with the next push. Every time I pushed, I absolutely knew I wasn't going to be able to push any longer. I just had no energy left (I couldn't even open my eyes, I was soooo exhausted), but every time I managed another tremendous push. Then I remember thinking; OK that's it, I'm done,, I cannot do this anymore, they are going to have to take me for a C-section because I cannot push any longer.

And finally... at 12:55 p.m. on April 11 (one before my birthday--I guess she didn't want to share a birthday with me after all!) I gave birth to Eve Margaret, weighing 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 inches long. Clint got to grab her head while they suctioned her mouth out, then ease her body out as I gave the final push. They put her on my chest, and I was in complete awe at finally getting to see the baby that had grown inside me for the last nine months. They wiped her off and when she didn't pink up fast enough for their liking, they put an oxygen mask on her face for a few minutes to help her breathe a little better. Clint got to cut the cord after it had stopped pulsing, and she was kept on my chest for some skin-to-skin bonding and to try and start breastfeeding (more requests from my birth plan). Meanwhile, the doctor was busy tending to me, which consisted of delivering the placenta (I was terrified of having to push yet another thing out of my body at this point, even though I knew this couldn't hurt as much as pushing a baby out) and stitching a small internal tear. I was still bleeding a little too much, so they gave me a short of Pitocin to help contract my uterus, and then discovered a piece of the placenta still inside my uterus. Once that was out, I was OK. We had decided to forgo the eye ointment and Vitamin K shot for Eve (we bought oral Vitamin K drops to give her instead), so they finally cleaned her up, checked her out, and give her back to us to enjoy.

The whole aftermath is a blur, I do remember shaking like a leaf from Adrenalin and exhaustion. I also remember looking at Clint and say, "WE ARE NEVER HAVING KIDS AGAIN! I CANNOT DO THAT EVER AGAIN!" The next day, it became "OK, maybe we can have another kid, but I CANNOT do that without drugs!" Today I have decided that I wouldn't be able to do it any other way than how I did it. I'm so proud of my accomplishment and totally in awe of my body's ability to give birth. I realized I am a lot stronger than I ever thought. I just hope that it goes a little faster next time. :)

Christy & Clint, Eden

Challenging Parts Completely Forgotten the Next Day

2011-08-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

Milan (pronounced like the city) Natalie was born on March 28th at 10:17 p.m. She was 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches tall.

At 3:00 a.m. on the 28th I started feeling regular labor pains that felt much different than the Braxton Hicks from before. We continued to time them until about 9:00 a.m. and they were 5-6 minutes apart. We called our doctor and she told us to go to the hospital since we lived 30-40 minutes away.

We got to the hospital (St. Mary's Ozaukee) and the on-call doula (Vanessa) came soon after that. When we started walking the halls there was a slow leak in the amniotic fluid and the contractions were coming much faster. By 11:00 a.m. our doctor (Dr. Koch) had come and encouraged us to go into the birthing tub.

We spent the next seven hours in the tub with Vanessa and Dr. Koch at our side. The two of them were fantastic and extremely attentive. The nurses were annoying and seemed to only be concerned with getting the baby monitoring machine working.

Time seemed to stop while I was in the tub and Vanessa and Tony helped me concentrate on breathing and changing positions to stay comfortable. Four hours into laboring in the tub Vanessa and Dr. Koch had me start pushing, when comfortable, to break the last of the water. This wasn't working so Dr. Koch broke the rest of it. At this time I started having the need to push at every contraction. I pushed in EVERY position possible. (Squatting while in the tub is very doable and not as tiring outside of the tub!) I pushed for three hours squatting, leaning over the tub, lying on my side, floating and laying back against Tony, hands and knees, and more but she wasn't coming down the birth canal.

I remained at 7 cm the entire time. At this time Dr. Koch said the cervix was blocking her and she had me get out of the tub. In the bed I had to lie with my face and chest on the bed and butt in the air so that the baby could slip around the cervical lip. This position, as well as being outside of the tub, was extremely painful. They also were not getting a reading on the baby's heartbeat. At this time a ton of people started running into the room and Dr. Koch paged the OB doctor she works with. After consulting with the OB, she recommended a C-section. I hadn't progressed after three hours of pushing in every position possible and they were concerned they weren't getting strong enough readings on the baby's heartbeat. By this time, I was so exhausted and in so much pain, I just wanted it to end. And Tony was concerned about me and the baby.

Vanessa was with me when they took me to the operating room and Tony was allowed in soon after. I admit it was such a relief when the spinal tap kicked in. Dr. Koch assisted Dr. Gilman (the OB) and she showed Tony the baby as they pulled her out. Tony likes to brag that he saw my guts all hanging out. She announced to us that it was a girl which surprised us because, while pregnant, we and everyone around us was convinced the baby was a boy. The sad part was that they took her to clean her up and I had to look over at her while they operated on me. All I could see was a bunch of brown hair. Tony and Milan went into the room and they finished stitching me up (which is far from painless). We were so exhausted so had her sleep her first night in the nursery. She slept the entire night but I didn't; thinking about the day's events and wanting to be with her.

Jeni & Tony, Milwaukee

Will & Kate's Wedding More Important Than Birth

2011-08-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Reece James was born on Wednesday, May 4, at 1:11 p.m. in Racine. Our little peanut was 6 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long.

Neither labor nor delivery went at ALL like we had hoped. While it was all going on, I was totally fine with everything, but looking back, I wish it could have been different. But I don't know if it could have ... anyways, here's the story. I'm still emotionally coming to terms with it all.

On my due date, about 5:25 p.m., as I was getting up to go to a friend's for dinner, my water broke. Out of the blue. No labor before, no contractions yet. Since I had had it in my mind from the beginning that when my water breaks I go to the hospital, I called the hospital. Of course, they said to come on in. Then, and I laugh looking back on this, I went to the computer and typed in "water breaking before labor"!! I wanted to see how normal it was to have water break first, and what to do. I had it in my mind that I'd start contractions continue on with my day until labor started, but I was afraid to do that because I knew about the risk of infection and didn't want to jeopardize either me or the baby.

We got there about 6 p.m. and my contractions started at 6:15. They were not painful. Fast forward about two hours and boy, they were coming on stronger! They checked me once at 6 p.m. and I was 1 cm dilated. I hadn't been dilated before this. I gave them my plan, they were OK with everything, but the tub went out the window, and the doctor on-call came in and said that I may not walk around because of the chance of prolapsed cord happening. I was so mad. So I sat legs apart on the bed and moved around as much as I could, changing my position in bed as much as I could. They put me on the fetal monitor (external) and the contraction monitor. They were not going to vaginally check me because of the risk of infection, so they checked the contraction monitor instead. Thankfully, they did not give me an IV at that time.

I went naturally through the night, with very sporadic contractions. And they were strong! I was not ready for them... I thought I would be but I wasn't. I listened to music, I breathed, I relaxed (or tried to). At one point in the middle of the night, I stood up at the edge of the bed, I used a ball, I leaned forward to be like being on all fours. It was hard to stand at one point, the contractions just wiped me out. So after 14 hours, at 8 a.m. on the 4th, they checked me and I was at 2 cm. I was so beat!! They said, sleep between contractions. Well, I didn't know how long I would have between, because some came 30 seconds apart, some came 10 minutes apart. I had 3 piggy-back contractions at one point. If this is normal, Id' love to know.

I decided, with increasing risk of infection as time went on, that I would get an Epidural since I was beat (they said the intensity of my contractions was around 4-5, while I felt the pain was a 7-8 and the intensity would get a 10), and then they would use Pitocin to speed things up. After 4 or 5 shots of Lidocaine and 2 attempts at getting the Epidural in, I had the Epidural and was numb. I hated being numb. I don't know which was worse, the contractions or not being able to move my legs. I was pretty stressed at that point. Partially because when I was turned on my left side, I would become increasingly uncomfortable in that position and want to be turned over, and then that would happen again. At one point, I asked my poor husband to rotate my foot about 10 degrees towards my other foot (HAHA!). Also, partially because while on my left side, I had a horrible pain that started at my middle back and spread around to my abdomen, above where the baby was. Back labor? My Mom thought it was, but I thought it was more near the Epidural site, too high to be that.

Then the "fun" began. I say this sarcastically.

As I moved back and forth from one side to another for comfort purposes, Reece kept getting lost on the fetal monitor. So they would come in and re-adjust it. They did that so many times, that they decided to put an internal monitor on his head. They did one, it didn't work, they took it out. They did another one. It didn't work. Trey took it out. They put he external monitor on again and told me I couldn't keep moving. Then they checked my dilation--4.5 cm.

Then Reece started to not bounce back after contractions. They gave me oxygen, they reassured me that he was going to be OK. At that point, I whispered to Jason that I just wanted him out and I wanted a C-section.

Well, my OB came in later and said, "I think it's time we start considering other options." I appreciated that she didn't just make the decision for me. She allowed me to say it. At least I could have some sort of control, since I felt like I had lost all other control.

At that point, I developed a fever. Infection? Probably. I went in for a C-section and had the chills so bad I couldn't talk, my teeth were violently chattering. I even remember hearing one of the doctors saying, "She's still seizing." I do remember them telling us the time Reece was born (turned out he was face up), and I remember smiling at Jason and I remember Jason bringing Reece over after they cleaned him off, but it was quite hazy for me. My arms were flopping soon after he was born, so he didn't need to be taken to NICU like they thought he might. They ran a few tests on him while they were finishing me off, but he was in the room with us when I was wheeled back. They gave him to me and had me start breastfeeding, and praise the Lord, he latched on and was GREAT at breastfeeding! I am thankful, because with all those drugs, of course I was worried he would be so drugged up, but he was fine!

The one complaint I had about the whole thing in the end was that in the operating room, I heard three different conversations going on, the anesthesiologists were laughing and giggling about something, the nurses in the corner were talking about the Will and Kate wedding, and the doctors were shooting the breeze about something else, and I think also chipped in on the Will and Kate wedding. I was unhappy that they didn't follow our plan that said to keep other talk to a minimum so we could enjoy the birth of our child. Since everything else on the list was basically thrown out the window, how about giving us one??? But then again, I was such a wreck, how much did I really ENJOY all that ??? LOL

Rachel & Jason, Racine

Not as Painful or Scary as Expected

2011-08-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

At my 41 week appointment on Monday, the 6th, I was 4.5 cm dilated, 80% effaced and baby was at -1 station. I asked the midwife to strip the membranes in the hopes that it would get things moving along, as we had already established that we were looking at an induction in the next several days. Baby passed the biophysical profile, and my fluid was within the normal range, but they weren't comfortable letting me go more than until the end of the week. I was pretty emotional leaving the appointment, things were not happening the way I wanted or expected them to, and I just didn't understand why my body wasn't going into labor on it's own. I had been having moderate to intense cramping for a week, and began having the most intense cramping yet after the membranes were stripped, some sex and walking. I also had lots of bleeding, but wasn't sure if that was a sign of any thing coming or not.

I went to bed with the cramping in my lower abdomen and back continuing, and woke at around 3 unable to sleep any more from the back pain. I got up at 3:30 a.m. and sat on my exercise ball, that was the only thing that helped the back pain. Around 4, I noticed something that had a distinct start and stop--possibly my first contraction! After 4 o4 5 of these at 4:30, I decided to take a shower to help with the back pain and to see if that stopped the contractions or not. I woke Cory up accidentally, but told him what was going on and encouraged him to rest until I knew more. After the shower, I went back to the ball and Cory got up to time contractions. They were pretty regular from the beginning, 4-6 minutes apart and 40-60 second long. I drank juice and water and tried to hang out through the contractions for a couple of hours. I think baby shifted during this time, because the excruciating back pain went away. At 6:45 a.m. or so we started talking about going to the hospital. Our hospital is 30-40 minutes away and we would be leaving at rush hours, so we decided to just go for it. I figured I was dilated enough already that they wouldn't send me home. I had a few serious contractions in the car and started to feel even more sure that this was the real thing. I had still been having some doubts during the morning.

We were immediately taken to a room at the hospital by our amazing nurse, Rita. I am so thankful we got her, she was absolutely wonderful, so helpful and supportive of our wishes. When Alli, the midwife came to check me, I was 6 cm, 80% effaced and still at -1. She offered to break the bag of waters, but I opted to wait. it took a long time to get a good baseline reading on the fetal monitor, but baby girl finally cooperated and I was able to get off. The next few hours blurred together for me. I know I sat on an exercise ball for a while and after a monitor check got in the whirlpool tub. That was heaven. I was in absolute drowsy, relaxed state and was able to easily breathe through contractions. All the while, Cory was encouraging me to drink water and juice, and we snuck in a Nutri-grain bar at some point.

After my next monitor check I got back int he tub, but things had picked up by now, and it wasn't as relaxing. My temperature had gone up, so Rita didn't want the water too warm and it just didn't feel warm enough to me. I was cold and the back pain was back, so I got out after 20 minutes and switched to standing at the sink, and then hands and knees on the bed. Alli came back to check on us, and I asked for a dilation check. I was 100% effaced, between 8-9 cm dilated and the head was quite low, with the bag of waters bulging. I had her break it, knowing thinks could get more intense. They did! I believe I was in transition after this, the contractions were frequent and intense, the back pain was bad, and I was starting to snap at Cory. It helped immensely to have counter pressure on by back and when he wasn't right there to do it when I needed it, I think I yelled. I was on hands and knees being monitored at this point, Rita was holding the probes to my belly and it took quite a long time, since baby's heart rate was around 170 and they needed to see if get down to 160 or less. I twas driving me crazy to feel like I couldn't move. I was also super hot and sweaty now, so Rita and Cory were putting cold washcloths on my face and back. This went on for a while. After we stopped the monitoring, I wanted to move, but nothing seemed comfortable.

I was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to decide what to do, when I felt like the pressure changed, and maybe it was time to push. I called for Rita and she checked for position, not dilation and called for Alli. She checked me while I was laying on my side and said I was completely dilated. I'm pretty sure I asked "can I have her now?" I was so ready to do something else. I started pushing at 1:50 p.m. while laying on my side, but I was having a hard time knowing what to do. I switched to my back and got the hang of it. I thought more than once, I shouldn't be on my back, but it just seemed so complicated to move to another position so I just went with it. Alli let me completely direct the pushing, she just stood at the end of the bed and hung out until I was ready with a contraction, then she helped support the tissues during pushing. I was timid at the beginning of pushing, a little afraid of the pain during crowning and tearing. Alli, Rita and the tech were very encouraging and told me when I was pushing well, this helped me to know how it should feel. I reached down and felt her head and that was good encouragement to just get it done. I didn't even recognize crowning happening, but remember being told to do short, grunty pushes. I must have been easing her shoulders out. I didn't realize she was completely out, they had to tell me a couple of times to grab her and pull her up to my chest.

I looked down and she was right there! I pulled her up and was so surprised that she was out. I had been pushing for 40 minutes, but it felt like it happened so fast. I just kept saying "oh my gosh" over and over again. Cory cut the cord, and they cleaned my up. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and a few stitches, and needed Pitocin to help my uterus contract. I was also catheterized to empty my bladder. Lyla was calm after birth, but not interested in nursing, we just stared at each other for a while and she took her first poop on my chest. Having my uterus massaged was awful, the worst pain of the whole birth experience, in my opinion. The baby nurse encouraged her to cry since she sounded like she had some fluid in her lungs, and she must have been able to cry it out. She took her over to be weighed and measured, she was 8 lbs. 14 oz. and 20.5 inches long. We both got her poop cleaned up, I ordered a meal and ate while Cory held Lyla for the first time.

All in all, my birth experience was wonderful. I'm so thankful for Rita and Alli, they were perfect throughout the labor and delivery, I couldn't have wished for more supportive staff. It was definitely hard, and incredibly intense at times, but not as painful or scary as I thought it could be. I'm glad it was relatively short, 10.5 hours of active labor, or I'm afraid I would have been completely exhausted by the end.

Karissa & Cory, Waukesha

Assisted by Personal Flock of Guardian Angels

2011-06-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

After months of preparation and prayer, Lauren Evelyn Rottier was born on Friday, June 3, 2011 at 3:05 pm, weighing 6 pounds 14 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long.

I've started to realize in life that many situations do not go as I would like or as I plan, yet I am learning to be grateful for the little things. I was told 15 years ago that I had slim chances of ever having children of my own, and as i got older, new conditions were discovered that made those chances even smaller, but God clearly has a different plan. Will and I were stunned to find out in November of 2010 that I was 3 months pregnant. At that time, I had a 6 cm fibroid growing in my uterus, which the doctor cautioned could cause a miscarriage. If the baby did make it through the pregnancy, he expected it to be 6-8 weeks premature, due to the additional space the fibroid was taking.

We kept the pregnancy quiet, waiting to pass that invisible date into the "safety zone." We decided to tell our families at Christmas, as my growing bump was beginning to appear. The doctor did an ultrasound at each appointment to carefully watch the fibroid, as they tend to grow astronomically during pregnancy. Miraculously, it not only grew very little, but stayed on the complete opposite side of the ideal area for the baby to attach and grow. At 28 weeks, a test was done to determine if I had developed gestational diabetes, another likely situation with a disease I have called polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS. A side effect to PCOS is glucose intolerance; my body finds it difficult to process any sugars I ingest, and digest, and digests all into fat stores instead of energy.

Amazingly, my sugar numbers were ideal, and the doctor suggested pregnancy may have pressed a "pause button" on my PCOS condition. however, at this appointment my blood pressure was slightly elevated at 140/90. There was no significant weight gain, protein, or headaches to indicate pre-eclampsia, so it was yet another thing to keep monitoring. At each consecutive appointment, no change for the better or worse had occurred. My doctor began to talk about inducing me early, as I was not showing signs of premature labor from the fibroid (!) and he was concerned about the effects of my high blood pressure on the baby and myself. I was very uncomfortable with being induced, and insisted that I would like to have a June baby (my due date was the 7th). Each week, he would suggest inducing me if it did not get better, and each week, I would remind him of my June goal. My last day of teaching (and my last spring concert) was June 1st, and he set my induction for Friday, June 3rd. Will and I tried everything we had researched to "induce naturally" on the 1st and the 2nd, but the baby was comfortable and wouldn't come out on its own.

Friday morning, we arrived at the hospital at 6am with doughnuts in tow for the nurses, and a few bags for ourselves. It was evident by our luggage that we were first timers! We settled in to our beautiful, spacious suite, a little nervous about the unknowns of the day. The doctor broke my water at 7 am, and was pleased to see I was 2-3 cm dilated and 50-60% effaced on my own (thank you evening primrose)! I was a high risk for a cesarean section due to the fibroid--he had seen a fibroid rip off a uterine wall once after delivery me in the operating room, which I said absolutely not, so he put me in the room closest to the operating room in case he had to rush me down the hall.) I was also started on antibiotics for group B strep and hooked up to what I can only describe as mini blood pressure cuffs on my calves that would gradually inflate then deflate to keep circulation going in my legs (I also have a blood clotting disorder...) At 7:30 am, they started Pitocin at a very low dosage, and the contractions finally started. I was allowed to get up to use the bathroom, however, I didn't realize how close to danger my body really was. AS I began to find out, my blood pressure was much higher than it had been at my appointments, and they were extremely concerned about my risk for a seizure or stroke. I was started on magnesium by 8 am, and heartbroken that I could no longer move around to cope with the pain or even use the bathroom. I was slowly watching my natural, unmedicated birth plan go down the drain. At this point, I was still determined to at least not have an epidural, and kept reminding myself I could do this!

Thankfully, I managed to escape without any severe effects of the magnesium, only feeling a little "out of it." At 10:30 am, I was dilated to 5cm, but my blood pressure was still around 160s/105 and a call to my doctor was made. he was very aware of my wish for a "Bradley birth," and asked to speak with me personally on the phone. he explained all of his concerns, and how much I wanted a natural childbirth, but at this point he was extremely concerned about my safety and the baby. He gave me a choice between getting an epidural or a cesarean. My intuition was also telling me something didn't feel right (which probably didn't help my blood pressure either), and I accepted an epidural, requesting that it stay as low-dosage as possible. Of course, all the horror stories about epidurals started going through my mind, and I began to sob and apologize to Will for failing at giving birth! Will was in a panic about getting my blood pressure higher, and kept reminding me to calm down, that it was okay.

The anesthesiologist was really wonderful, and put my epidural in a little higher in my spine, so I would still have feeling in my legs and feel/know when to push. As soon as he put it in, my blood pressure pummeled down to 110/60 and I felt insanely dizzy and nauseous. It was one of the most miserable few minutes of the day. it helped my doctor feel better about not having a cesarean though, and that made me feel a little better too. Although I could no longer feel my contractions in my abdomen, i could feel significant pressure and pain in my lower torso, and continued to be "in the zone" during contractions and grumble at Will whenever he tried to talk during one. :) Around 2:00 pm, I started feeling what I can only describe as "pushy," and by 2:30 I was fully dilated!

My doctor arrived at 2:45 and the hard work began. I can honestly say that pushing is the most frustrating part of labor. it's hard work, and you feel as if it will never accomplish anything. In my opinion, the cesarean rate is so high in medicated birth solely because you have to push on your back. I wanted to sit up, stand up, squat, have gravity help me out, and I was confined to my bed. Agh! After 20 minutes of hard pushing (it felt much longer!). Lauren came out all in one push. I'll never forget my doctor telling me" it's a girl!" We had elected not to find out the gender throughout our dozens of ultrasounds, but with Will's family history, COMPLETELY expected a boy! They put her right on my tummy, and she was eating in 5 seconds. We wanted to wait to clamp the cord, but she started getting a little blue on my tummy, so I asked them to take her and give her oxygen (I was already, but the doctor shoved the scissors in his hand anyway! After "the rest" came out, the doctor quickly did an ultrasound to make sure my fibroid was behaving (not ripping off the uterine wall) while my uterus was contracting back down. To his amazement, everything was cooperating perfectly. He sat there, completely awestruck, starting at me. He finally listed off all the things I had "going against" me: PCOS, a large fibroid, a blood clotting disorder, etc..., the nurses just started to laugh, and he declared I must have a personal flock of guardian angels. He kept me on magnesium overnight to make sure I would not have a seizure or stroke, and I ended up having 2 full IV bags of Pitocin by the end of the day to make sure I would not hemorrhage. I was pumped full of so many different fluids, that I looked like a giant sausage ompah loompah. The nurses were actually looking forward to our natural birth, and everyone felt awful that I did not have anything close to the birth experience I was hoping for, so they were EXTREMELY accommodating whenever they could. They went out of their way to locate an oral version of the Vitamin K for us, never pushed the Hep B or eye gel (just had us sign the waivers during discharge), kept Lauren in our room our entire stay without pressure... I may be biased, but I think I had the best L&D nurses in the world! We later found out that our room was the best/largest room with the biggest walk-in shower too! We didn't have to be out until midnight on Sunday, so we decided to stay until after dinner and make sure we were relaxed and ready to go home and go to bed! My experience giving birth was nothing like I had hoped or planned it would be, but I safely delivered a beautiful baby girl, and we were able to go home on time and start adjusting to our new family.

Kate & Will, Menomonee Falls

Still Able to Be an Active Participant in the Birth

2011-05-29T00:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 14th Emma Rose was born at 1:30 pm. Everyone is healthy and happy.

I woke up Friday morning around 1:00 in the morning with contractions. I knew I needed to rest so I tried to fall back to sleep. Unfortunately that didn't happen until four and I woke up again around six. Contractions were random so I didn't know if I was experiencing false labor or real labor. i thankfully had a doctor's appointment scheduled that day at 1:00 pm.

That afternoon my doctor indicated I was close, but no in labor yet. Because I was already three days late he asked if I wanted to be induced, which I declined; however, he did strip my membranes.

Well, after that my contractions started coming hard about an hour later. Andy and I started timing them and at 5:00 pm called the doctor as the contractions were lasting at least one minute and were four minutes apart. We were admitted to the hospital even though I was only 2 1/2 cm dilated.

The next five hours were spent wandering the halls and going into the shower to help with the contraction pain. At 11:00 pm I had only progressed to 3 cm dilated. At that time I decided to get the Epidural despite my original intention. I was at least able to get some sleep as my labor was progressing so slowly. About 12 hours later I was finally dilated to 10 cm. I started pushing but with the Epidural I wasn't pushing correctly. After a while of trying and talking about the possibility of a C-section (the baby's heartbeat went down with every contraction), I asked that they decrease the strength of the Epidural so I could feel the contractions. Thankfully, things progressed quickly after that and Emma was born within a few minutes!

Even though my labor didn't go with the birth plan I had developed for myself, I am still very happy with how it went. At the end I was still able to be an active participant in the birth. My OB/GYN was the doctor on call and was the one who delivered her and all the hospital staff were wonderful.

Beth & Andy, Franklin

41.5 Hours of Contractions & Very Little Sleep!

2011-05-28T23:57:00.001-07:00

Sunday, March 27th we arrived at Sinai for our induction. Things got started about 9 am. first we did a foley catheter until it fell out late afternoon/early evening. That evening they inserted the Cervidil, about 8 pm I think. Around 5 am we insisted they take it out. I was having tons of regular, painful and very long contractions... but VERY little change in dilation or effacement. (Charlie saw one on the monitor that was over 8 minutes long... not fun). So, they removed the Cervidil and then we started on Pitocin. That helped things out, my contractions stayed regular, got a little shorter, and become productive.

About 10 pm Monday night, after still not progressing that far, Eileen decided to break my water. I think I was up to 4-5 cm by then. Overnight things got really, really tough. The contractions became much more difficult to manage. they did let me off the Pitocin for quite a while and my body continued contracting so they let me into the whirlpool (which I thought I had no chance of whatsoever... but thank goodness!). That helped, but even by early morning I was only as 6 cm. Around 5 am Tuesday morning, after having been in the whirlpool for maybe 3/4 hours I felt like I needed to push. I was exhausted and miserable, in pain and just at my end, but hey! I felt like I could push. So, they wheeled me back to the room... checked me... and I was STILL at 6 cm. that about broke my spirit. 3-4 hours of terrible misery and I still hadn't changed and still couldn't push. so... we went back to the whirlpool, but the sensations were just unbelievable. My body was still having contractions, and they were all in the 3-4 minute long range (or longer) and only perhaps a minute apart. Finally I begged Charlie to have them stop this. (Oh, and they wanted to start the Pitocin again too since my own contractions weren't productive.) Charlies knew when I really meant I couldn't do it any more, so he talked to the midwife and she had two recommendations. A narcotic or an Epidural. But, since they'd have to up the Pitocin again, and I really just needed the rest, we decided on the Epidural. Not what we had wanted to do, but we're both still positive it was the best and only choice at that point. Everything went smoothly with that an I was able to get a couple hours of sleep. (Between 6:30 am Sunday and whenever we went to bed Tuesday, I think I had maybe four hours of sleep and Charlie maybe six.)

They upped the Pitocin during that time and by maybe 10 am I was 7/8 cm. They were pleased... but it still wasn't as much as they had hoped. I asked Erin, our midwife at that point, when they would/if they had started thinking C-section. I didn't want them to do it, and they knew that... but I also knew we were getting to the end of our possibilities. She first suggested some sort of internal catheter that would monitor the actual strength of the contractions, but we couldn't get it in. (Oh, and I forgot to add his head was down the whole time but asynclitic from Sunday night to early Tuesday as well...) Erin said that they'd probably have to up the Pitocin again and then if nothing changed in 2-3 hours, they'd let me know, and we'd try for another hour and then... well... we'd have to consider it. not nice, but I wanted to know where things were at.

Thankfully around 11 I felt the contractions differently. (The Epidural worked great for me. I could rest, but I could still move and feel. I was scared of it before... and I still wouldn't choose it again... but in a situation like this, it was just the best choice and I'm so thankful for it.) It also felt like there was "something" down there, "something" that moved with each contraction. I'm not sure anyone quite believed me, but they checked and I was at 10! and had been 100% effaced for a while! and hid head was FINALLY going the right way! So, they let me "labor down" for the next hour and just have my body do some of the moving for me. Not long before noon, though, I couldn't help but push a bit with some of them. Around noon then i really started pushing.

By 2:30, Erin came to talk to me again and let me know that she had to talk to the on-call doctor and just let her know where things were at. She said everything was going well... but as thing take longer and longer, they have to tell the doctor. If it got to four hours, they'd be thinking at least about suction or forceps. I was not happy with that, but understood. (Honestly, we had the best people there ever. They knew what I wanted better than I did and did EVERYTHING to make things go the way we wanted. It was fantastic. This certainly wasn't a drug-free birth like I wanted, but they gave me the best shot at it possible, and kept it as low level as possible.) Finally, at 3:34 Baby Beck was born. Charlie got to help catch him and cut the cord. I tore in four places, none worse than 2nd degree (although to me, right, that's plenty). I didn't tear backwards or much forwards, mainly sideways. Charlie said it was great to watch him be born... except that he could see me tear right at the end and felt back for m.:)

So, we ended up with 54 hours of labor, 41.5 of contractions, very little sleep and 3.5 hours of pushing. It was a terribly exhausting experience. And that Tuesday contained some of my absolute worst and best feelings and experiences ever. And... I still to do it again someday. :) Charlie and I felt so confident after having taken your class. We knew what they were talking about with every stop; we knew what we wanted and didn't want, and we knew the benefits and risks of everything. You helped me learn to relax :) And, helped Charlie learn to remind me. And, we had excellent people. Our doula, JJ Schambow, was spectacular, and so were all the staff at Sinai in Labor and Delivery. Erin, our midwife, and Cindy, our nurse, were wonderful. Erin, Cindy and JJ were just so encouraging the whole time... and believably so. Even though it was taking so long, I still believed them when they said good job. :) Even Charlie said he didn't think he could have kept that up convincingly for as long as they did. :)

I don't know that I mentioned Charlie enough, but he was fantastic also. It was just him and I until Monday night around 10ish. We didn't want to call our doula until things were actually happening. I think the only time I snapped at him was when he was down, waiting to catch
Arthur. Suddenly he started laughing (quietly, but I still heard). Erin, the midwife, asked what was so funny, and all he could say was how weird it looks to have half a head sticking out. I told him it wasn't funny from where I was. :) (Granted, a tiny part of me that managed to separate itself did have to admit that would be pretty funny.) But really though, Charlie took great care of me and knew my every want and need. He read me like a book, and by Tuesday morning, when things were at their worst, when I was just in incredible pain, poor Charlie could hardly take it and our doula took over. JJ was wonderful as well. She was such a help to me in the tub and through the rest of labor, and she was a huge help to Charlie too. She enabled him to get his emotions out without disturbing me; she let him rest and helped him understand that was OK. And, when I got to my end and couldn't go any further, Charlie knew it. I had said it a few times before, the obligatory "I can't do this..." But when I told him the last time, "Charlie, I cannot do this anymore." he knew it was real, and he talked to the midwife and made the decision to do the Epidural. He told me about it and explained the options, but knew that, at that point, I didn't care. I just needed something. Neither of us would have felt that confident without your class. I'm so thankful.

Claudia and Charlie, Milwaukee

Born on Due Date After Only 20 Minutes of Pushing

2011-05-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

Paige Violet arrived right on her due date, April 26, 2011 at 12:03 pm! She weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and 19".
It all started around 3 am on the 26th, when I awoke with some cramps. I just stayed in bed for a while, checking the clock each time a contraction would start. For the first two hours, they were about 10-12 minutes apart. (Somewhere during that time my water broke, but I didn't know it until we got to the hospital. Probably because it happened when I went to the bathroom.)
Jonathan's alarm went off shortly after 5 am, and I told him he wasn't going to work today! I called my doula around 7 am, and contractions were about seven minutes apart. The only positions that were now comfortable were being in the hot shower, or sitting on the toilet.
Around 8:30 we called our doula back and said she should probably make her way over sooner than later. Contractions were six minutes apart, and feeling more intense with each one. by the time she arrived, shortly after 9 am, we were down to 3-4 minutes apart. I skipped five minutes.
I was starting to feel a lot more pressure with each contraction. We left for the hospital at 10 am, with contractions 2-3 minutes apart. That was the bumpiest 10 minute care ride of my life! We checked in, they rolled me up to labor & delivery, and wanted to get me hooked up to the Penicillin right away, since I had tested positive for group B strep. I had originally been told (by a couple of nurses and my midwife) that it would take about 15 minutes for the IV. When they hooked me up, they said it would take an hour to drip! They checked me and I was fully dilated!! No wonder I was feeling so much pressure and and urge to push!
Because the IV had to drip in, I labored for about 40 minutes wanting to push each time but holding back and just breathing and relaxing through each contraction. They were able to 'somehow' speed up the drip. By the time it was done, my midwife said it was up to me to when I wanted to start pushing. Which I did on the next contraction. It was about 20 minutes of pushing, with constant encouragement from my husband and doula.
Paige was born very gently and they put her on me right away. What an amazing feeling! They had wanted to take her to the nursery to do a blood draw right away, but we were able to keep her with us as her vitals were checking out perfectly for the first hour. I did have a little 2nd degree crooked tear. Because of this, I was able to keep Paige with me even longer as they were stitching me up! She nursed pretty quickly, and has quite the set of lungs! After
r we moved to the recovery room, Jonathan went with Paige to the nursery where they did a blood draw to make sure everything checked out fine with the GBS-which it did.
Having taken your class really helped me through the labor. Honestly, i was waiting for worse. Worse pain, a longer labor, and it never happened. It truly went so quickly, I'm still wrapping my head around it, and it was so incredible. We are so in love with our little darling.
Hannah & Jonathan, West Allis

Beginner's Luck!

2011-05-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait to tell you some of the details behind the birth of our daughter, Lucille. Mary was amazing. She began having contractions around 6 am on Saturday morning--I got out of bed around 7 am, and they were fairly short, and consistently about six minutes apart. We had some plans for the day that we were trying to decide on keeping or breaking, as Mary had felt uncomfortable for a few days. Well, we sat around the house, watching TV--and because I'm borderline OCD and needed something to do, I was timing all contractions. At about 10:30, we went for a walk, and we were seeing contractions around 4-5 minutes--but sometimes much sooner-- and most were about 40 seconds long. Mary wasn't describing them as very strong though.

We watched a movie, and tried to eat, though Mary wasn't in the eating mood. I continued to time, and the rest periods were erratic, and contractions were consistently around the 4-50 second mark. They started getting stronger, though Mary still wasn't reporting "knock down" contractions. Around 3 pm, I called Dr. Trebian and told her we had 5-6 minutes between 40 second contractions--she advised that we wait to see how things progressed. We then had Mary take a sower because she was shaking pretty bad--this helped--she then got into bed, we turned the lights low and played some relaxing music. After about an hour plus, we had no rest periods exceeding three minutes, and contractions in the 50 second range--I decided "knock down" contractions notwithstanding, it was time to go. We called the doctor and headed to the city. We got into triage at 4:15, and the resident checked Mary out--she was 8 cms! Beginners luck, or nerves of steel? Who knows, but it was perfect timing!

That was just the news Mary needed to hear to dispel her doubts about making it without the epidural. We were in our room by 5 pm. Dr. Trebian and our nurse were incredible. They allowed Mary to try pushing on the toilet, using the squatting bar, side lying and also in hands and knees. Making a long account somewhat shorter--our daughter was born at 7:15 pm on Saturday, without the use of any drugs or intervention. it was easily the most amazing thing I've ever seen--Mary was so focused and diligent--the nurse and Dr. T were so supportive--and I think you trained me pretty well as coach. Lucille was able to come right to Mary's chest--and the nurses even allowed for over an hour's amount of bonding. No IV, not even an Ibuprofin--we were home by 10 am Monday. Your class definitely made all the difference in this experience--and I would recommend even to someone who isn't gung-ho on trying to birth "naturally."

Mike & Mary,

Leaking Fluid Isn't Always Membranes Breaking

2011-05-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

Our daughter Elena Clare was born on December 30th at 12:20 am. But our story begins on Christmas day, because Chris and I had originally decided not to do anything for the holidays but stay home. Then a few days before Christmas we decided to travel up to my brother's place in Appleton just for Christmas day. Once there, we were tempted to stay the night, but decided we better go home to be close to our hospital and doctor (I was due Jan. 7, but had a feeling she might come a little early). This turned out to be a very good idea, since we got home at about 11 pm and at 2 am I started having strong contractions. I woke up, went to the bathroom and then returned to our bedroom, where I felt a splash of water on my legs. I started getting really excited and nervous and thought "This is it...my waters just broke." I was also excited because it was my birthday and I thought it would be cool to have my baby on my birthday.

I remembered that Coral said to get a lot of rest in early labor since I would need the energy, so I got back into bed trying not to wake Chris. Then I started worrying about the whole 24 hours thing. I really didn't want to be induced, and I was having strong contractions about seven minutes apart at first, but then they started dying down. I needed my birth coach to help me think through things, so I woke up Chris.
He asked me like four times if I was sure my waters had broken, and I just told him what I had experienced and "What else would it be?" He agreed that if my waters had broken we better get labor going a little more, so I started going up and down our stairs from our second story apartment to the basement and back. This definitely caused more contractions, but it didn't seem like it was doing enough. By about 5 am, we decided to drive to the grocery store and try to buy some castor oil since we had none in the house. WE pulled into the parking lot to discover that the store that I had thought was 24 hours actually opened at 6 am. We went back home, and I think I did the stairs a few more times. I was feeling anxious. Chris thought I should call the doctor but I was really scared that he would tell me to come to the hospital and I wouldn't get to labor at all at home and I would end up being induced. I told Chris I would feel better calling Coral. To avoid being a total nuisance, I waited until 6 am since I thought that was a fairly reasonable time (I found out later Coral was in Arizona at the time so I still woke her up at 4 am I think). I told her what had happened. She asked me how much water I had lost over the past four hours, and when I told her it was basically just that splash, she said there was no way my waters had actually broken if that was all the water there was. She thought that perhaps that had just been the mucous plug. Feeling rather foolish, I thanked her for her advice and her suggestion of "Go back to bed." Thank God I didn't take the castor oil!

The next several days were fairly uneventful. Every here and there I had a few strong contractions, but my sisters were throwing me a shower on the 28th and I wanted to be sure to get through that first. On the 29th I went to work, and during lunch I had one contraction that almost knocked me off my feet (let's just say I was glad I was already in a chair:) I didn't think too much of it. That evening, we were supposed to go out with a group of friends who were celebrating us and were giving us a little "shower" at dinner. I got home at around 5:15 and lay down to get some rest before the dinner at 6:30 pm. By 5:30 or 5:45, I was having very strong contractions about six minutes apart. When Chris got home at six, they were more like three minutes apart. The contractions were so strong that I was throwing up after every other contraction. I was also swaying back and forth between being very hot and very cold. I kept asking Chris why it already felt like I was in transition.

Looking back, I think the funniest part of our birth story is that, although Chris was really supportive and all, he kept asking what he should do about the people we were supposed to meet for dinner. After another vomiting session which included a heavy nosebleed, I looked up from the toilet and said, "Do you really think I can go in this state?"

Somehow we passed another hour or so at home, but my contractions were still like three minutes apart and were not dying down, so we thought we should go to the hospital. I didn't know how I was going to make it without vomiting all over the car, but at one point I felt a little better and we decided that was a good time to go. The car ride was very interesting. I kept thinking, "How could anyone actually be able to relax during labor?"... I had pretty much given up trying and was bracing myself on the handles on the ceiling of the care during each contraction. I only vomited once during the car trip, and it was at a stoplight so I was able to open the door and lean out.

We arrived at St. Mary's hospital at 8:15 pm, where we walked up to the door only to find out that those doors close at 8 pm and we needed to proceed to the emergency entrance. When I got in, the nurses asked me a bunch of questions while Chris parked, and I couldn't help feeling annoyed that they kept saying things like "Well, we'll get you upstairs to see if you are staying." They really wanted me to get in that wheelchair, but I refused and we walked the long trek across the hospital, pausing every three minutes for a contraction.

We got to the room and at first I was able to walk around, sit on the toilet, etc. The nurse checked my cervix and said I was 4-5 cm dilated; they didn't seem too excited about this, but decided to let me stay. I had to have an IV because I was Group B positive. At this point I was so tired that I spent the next hour in bed, even though Chris kept encouraging me to move around. After this hour, my doctor came in and reported 4-5 cm again. He suggested breaking the waters to get my labor going more. I did NOT want this, and I couldn't imagine contractions being any stronger, so I asked if we could wait a little longer. Chris got me to get up, move around a bit, and I ended back on the toilet (as suggested by our class, a very comfortable place to labor). The nurse only let me stay there for 1/2 an hour before she wanted the heart monitor on the baby again. She tried those mobile ones, but couldn't get good readings from it. Finally, she brought in a birth ball next to the monitor so that I could sit on that. I spent almost the rest of the labor on that ball, most of the time thinking "Why am I not getting an epidural? How has any women voluntarily gone through this more than once?", etc. In the end, I think the only reason I didn't get the epidural was because I was thinking of all of you.. and my pride told me I couldn't tell you [her class mates from Bradley] I had succumbed to that pain and temptation... so thanks! :) My waters broke while I was on the ball, and then things went really fast.

I had contractions that forced me to begin pushing. Just an hour after the doctor had suggested breaking my waters, just an hour after I had been 4-5 cm, and just six hours since I had realized I might be in labor, I was on the bed and pushing. About eight people rushed into the room and started yelling encouraging "PUSH!"es at me. Apparently the baby's heart rate was not doing well because they were telling me I had to push as hard as I possibly could and we had to get that baby out. Well, I REALLY didn't want to end up in a C-section and I figured tearing was a better alternative, so I pushed and pushed. After 12 minutes of pushing aided by a suction to the baby's head, she was out and we had a beautiful baby girl. I did have a minor tear, and I didn't find out about the suction until a day or two later when I wondered aloud to Chris why she had such weird lumps on her head, but I am grateful to have avoided a C-section.

We are extremely grateful to have taken the Bradley class, and are very grateful to Coral both for the class and for saving us the embarrassment of an extra trip to the on the 26th.

Mary & Chris, Milwaukee

Worst Fear of Posterior Baby Had to Happen

2011-05-11T17:03:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby GIRL, Nora Jane, was born on Monday, April 18th at 8:03 pm.
Contractions woke me up at 5 am. I wouldn't say they hurt (especially in retrospect), but they were strong enough to wake me up. I paid attention to them for a couple of hours before dozing off again. Kurt and I got up around 8 am and decided to eat breakfast and go for a walk. The walk made the contractions stronger, but I could still (sort of ) walk through them.
By noon the contractions seemed to be getting stronger and closer together, so we decided to start timing them. They were a minute long consistently, but only about 7-8 minutes part. it was around this time that the contractions started to hurt. I was dismayed to discover that I was a moaner during contractions, but it was really all I could do.
By 5 pm the contractions were closer to five minutes apart, and by 8 pm they were 3-4 minutes apart. And they HURT. I wasn't able to relax. We called the hospital at 9 pm and went in. The triage nurse checked me and I was only 3.5 cm ( was 2 cm at my last appointment a few days earlier). That was a bummer. They decided to admit me and I hunkered down for a long night. I labored in the tub a couple of times, I bounce don the birthing ball, I tried hands and knees, I hung on Kurt's shoulders... it all sucked.
Monday, April 18th. A nurse checked me again around 5 am and I only went to 4.5 cm. Sooo, basically after 24 hours I only progressed 2.5 cm. I remember looking at the contraction monitor and the contractions were off the charts in intensity. All of the pain was in my back and hips, and from what I've heard, this "back labor" is the WORST. A posterior baby? It WOULD be just my luck that Nora was posterior, despite my best efforts at exercising and stretching. Given the amount of pain I was in, my level of exhaustion from being awake all night, and the fact that the contractions weren't productive, I asked for an epidural.
The epidural was an experience in itself. I was familiar with the procedure, so nothing was a surprise, but I didn't expect it to not go well! The anesthesiologist attempted to place the catheter in my back three times with no luck. He kept saying, "OK, you will feel some pressure and then a CRUNCH." Umm, yeah, I definitely felt the crunch. I guess he kept hitting bone and couldn't get the thing in. I was praying he wouldn't paralyze me. Finally he decided to try placing it below the next vertebrae and that worked. It was painful and stressful!
The drugs started working almost right away and I was soooo much more comfortable. I was able to get some rest, no thanks to the stupid blood pressure cuff I had to have on the entire time that would automatically inflate and take my blood pressure every 15 minutes. With the epidural, i was also hooked up to an IV with Pitocin to get things moving along. I was fine with it since I couldn't feel the contractions anyway. A nurse checked me again around 8 am and I think I was up to 6 cm by then. That was more like it! As she was checking, she accidentally broke my water. Awesome. The amniotic fluid had meconium in it, so they informed me that I would not be able to hold Nora right away because they needed to whisk her off to the warming station to suck the poo out of her mouth. AS this point, nothing had gone right, so I don't think it bothered me as much as it could have.
Kurt and I dozed off the rest of the moaning and I slowly, but surely dilated more. I was almost 10 cm by 5 pm, but the baby was still in a posterior position, so I had to get on my hands and knees to try to turn her. That was easier said than done with number legs! After another hour or so I was 10 cm and her head was VERY low and finally in the anterior position. However, ... one of the nurses decided to turn the Pitocin off at some point, so my contractions weren't close enough or strong enough to start pushing yet. They turned the Pitocin back on and we waited around for things to get more favorable.
Finally, I was able to start pushing around 6:50 pm. I actually like pushing because it felt like I was finally in control. My epidural started to wear off so I was feeling contractions again. They weren't as bad though since she was finally facing the right way. They wanted me to try pushing in different positions, but I actually preferred my back. It was a little slow at first, but it went much faster once I could actually feel myself pushing her out. Kurt held my leg and watched the whole thing. I could tell he was amazed at what I was doing. I gave one last huge push at 8:03 pm and she was here! I burst into tears right away because it was the most overwhelming experience ever. Kurt cut the cord and off she went to the warming station.
She was perfect. She had APGARs of 8 and 9, so the meconium thing wasn't a big deal at all.
Lindsay & Kurt, Milwaukee

Thankfully, We Learned About Laboring at Home

2011-05-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

Our little guy arrived just a couple hours before his due date at 9:44 pm on Saturday, April 9. We named him Samuel (Sam) Steven. My contractions started on Friday night and were manageable enough to allow me to stay in bed all night, though I didn't really feel rested in the morning from waking up so much. They got stronger on Saturday morning, but then basically stopped by lunch time. Marie, a friend of ours who acted as our doula came over about that time and we took a nice long walk. The contractions started up again and got stronger and stronger and closer together, but weren't getting much longer than 50 seconds or so.
We called the hospital because some of them were only about three minutes apart and they said if they were consistent, we should come in. I was so afraid when we got there (at about 7:30 pm), they were going to tell me that I was only dilated a couple of cm, but thanks to all we learned about laboring at home, I was fully effaced and dilated to 7 cm! I was so grateful!!!
We got into the room and they got the whirlpool tub ready (I was so excited to use it!), but about that time my water broke and I wanted to push. The nurse checked and I was fully dilated. No more tub :(
Cheri, our midwife made a special trip in for us and it was so good to see her. I pushed on my hands and knees for quite a while and then on my side. Brian had the challenging job of holding up my leg every time I had a contraction and pushed :) He watched it all and was super calm. I have to say, that I think pushing was the best part--finally I could control something! Same was born about an hour after I started pushing. The staff said Marie and Brian were the best coaching team they'd seen in a long time!
Mindy and Brian, Glendale

Nurse's Negativity Slows Labor

2011-04-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Liana Marie was born at 5:15 a.m., November 18--one day before my due date. She was 7 lbs. 8 oz., 21.5 inches.
I was very fortunate to have an easy pregnancy, but toward the end I was ready to be done. I had major nesting going on at home and at work. Every night I left work I would post sticky notes on everything just in case I wouldn't be in the next day. I was having mild contractions on and off for two weeks, the baby was at 0 station, and I was 2 cm dilated for 2 weeks.
My water broke at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17th right when my alarm went off for work. It wasn't a huge gush, so I wasn't positive, but I had been having mild contractions all night long and I felt really crampy all night. So I woke my husband up and told him I didn't think we were going to work that day!
We went back to sleep for a bit, then I got some last minute things done around the house and ran some errands (I went to three different Wal-Marts looking for a glider, because I hadn't bought one yet.) I was having pretty mild contractions that were about 7 minutes apart. Throughout the day they got closer together, but weren't really strong.
I wanted to labor at home as long as possible, but I tested positive for Group B strep, so I knew I had to get antibiotics once I went to the hospital. I called West Allis Hospital at 2 in the afternoon and told them I thought my water broke and they told me to come in right away. I wanted a natural, drug-free labor, so I waited a bit longer and went in at 4. My contractions were still about 5 minutes apart. When I got there they checked me and sure enough my water had broken so they admitted me.
The first nurse I has was very abrasive. I told her I wanted a natural birth and gave her my birth plan and she basically laughed in my face and told me I wouldn't be able to handle it. She made me really tense and I think that actually slowed down my labor. I was starting to regret having a hospital birth. My contractions slowed to about 7 minutes apart for about three hours. they wanted to give me Pitocin pretty early on, but my doula, Addie Wescott, convinced them to give us another hour of walking to try to speed things up naturally. I was hooked up to an IV for the Group B strep, and since my water broke I had to be constantly monitored., They did attach portable monitors, but it still felt somewhat limiting.
My husband, Addie, and I did a lot of walking to try to get things to progress. I also tried some different laboring positions, but the only thing that felt comfortable for me was to rock back and forth standing. Sitting in any form was way too uncomfortable for me--I couldn't even sit on the birthing ball. Luckily shifts changed and I got a new nurse, Gretta, who was awesome!! She was so nice and wanted to do everything she could to give me the birth experience I wanted. They did end up giving me Pitocin, because things just weren't progressing. My doula, Addie, was wonderful and asked them to give me the smallest possible dose. Luckily I didn't need much to get things moving, and they turned it off a few hours later.
Finally at 2:00 a.m. I was fully dilated. I never really had a strong urge to push though. I kind of felt like my body was pushing without me really trying or feeling the urge I ended up pushing for three hours though. It was exhausting! They also gave me some Oxygen because I was so exhausted, and out of breath. There were a few points where I was getting worried and the doctors were too because it was approaching 24 hours that my water had been broken. I don't know what was holding her up, but I was pushing with all my might! I was so tired that I was falling asleep between contractions even when I was standing up. I had also been awake for almost 24 hours by that point too. I kept waiting for the doctor to say they were going to have to do a C-section too. I could hear the doctor and nurse whispering, and they kept saying that I had to get the baby out. I also feared forceps or the vacuum!
When it came time to push again I was so worried about interventions that I pushed with all my might, and instead of her head coming out, then waiting for the baby to turn, she just kind of shot out in the last push. I ended up with a 4th degree tear since she didn't have time to turn. I didn't really feel it when I tore, but the stitches hurt worse than anything!! I didn't have an epidural or anything, so they did numb the area a little when they stitched me up, but I could still feel. it. HI held Liana for a few brief moments, but she was grunting, so they whisked her off to the NICU to monitor her breathing. Luckily she only had to be monitored for a few hours, and they brought her up to our room around 6 p.m. that night.
I couldn't have had a natural birth without my wonderful husband, Carlos, my amazing doula, Addie, and my knowledge from Coral's Bradley Method classes. I really turned inward to get through my contractions, and visualized myself opening up like a flower. I also remembered a quote from one of the books I read, (Active Birth: The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally), "If I don't float I'll sink." I kept saying that to myself over and over! I imagined the contractions as though they were waves and I was floating over them. I would definitely go the natural route again. Maybe next time it will be at the Birthing Center!
Serene & Carlos, Milwaukee

Decision to Use the Birth Center

2011-04-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

The idea of an out-of-hospital birth was one that I hadn't considered until I was a few weeks into my pregnancy. I had never considered it because everyone I knew had their babies in the hospital. I had no idea another world even existed. No one every talked to me about different options until a mentor of mine recommended the Well-Rounded Maternity Center. she shared her story with me about her experience giving birth in the hospital vs. the birthing center. I realized then that I had the power to choose my birth experience. I began to read (a lot!) and research midwifery and natural childbirth. The more I learned about out-of-hospital births, the more at ease I felt about my choice.

What I wanted was a peaceful, loving and private experience. The hospital environment simply could not offer any of those to us. My husband was supportive of my vision and after his own research and Q&A he was behind the birth center 100%. Coral was wonderful about answering our questions and addressing our concerns. She even gave us recommendations on midwives. We also attended the birthing classes offered by the center.. We credit our preparedness and wonderful experience to the thoroughness of our midwife, Coral and her classes. By the time our big day come we were confident, excited and ready!

The one word I would use to describe our birthing experience is... perfect. We felt at-home in the warm space set-up for us at the center. As a family and as a team Samuel Roland was brought into this world with no strangers, no bright lights, no loud machinery and most importantly, no invasive procedures. My husband and I worked together in the birthing tub just as we had planned. Because of these elements our son had as gentle a journey as possible. I would, without a doubt, highly recommend the center to any and everyone expecting a new baby. We cannot wait to visit the center again when the time comes for us to expand our family!

Scott, Alexandria and Samuel Mente, Waukesha, WI

The Most Rewarding Thing Ever

2011-03-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

We wanted to share our good news! Eva Mary was born Saturday, march 5th at 3:31 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. We had an amazing natural delivery with Dr. Siddiqui at Sinai and want to thank you for all your help! We couldn't have done it without you. I began contracting that Thursday evening at home. They were every 5 minutes until Friday evening when they picked up to every 3 minutes. I was 4 cm when we got admitted at 9 pm Friday night and I labored down until 2:30 am when I began pushing. I pushed for an hour. She was extremely alert at birth, definitely an unmedicated baby! It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but by far one of the most rewarding. I wouldn't change anything, it was a great delivery. Thank you again for being such an important part of our pregnancy and delivery! We truly appreciate everything you did to help us accomplish our goal of a natural delivery. Matt and Danielle, Milwaukee

Fatigue Makes Natural Birth Difficult

2011-03-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

I was four days late and my doctor was pushing induction because she was going to be heading out of town at the end of the week following our due date. We pushed back on the and said that we were willing to wait it out. Since I wasn't dilating at all, the doctor said I probably would be better off getting induced since the baby "was ready." Sure enough as God had planned, I went for a pedicure the night I was supposed to be induced and when I got home I went to the restroom and then whoosh--my water broke.
Knowing what I learned from Bradley--I took my time, had a nice long shower, relaxed a bit and waited for Ben to get home from work. Since my parents had made the trip out from CA it was nice having them there when the excitement happened. After about four hours, we took off to the hospital.
I wasn't feeling my contractions even though I was having them so finally after being checked into the hospital, the nurses said that my doctor was concerned that since I wasn't feeling my contractions that I should get some Pitocin to get things going. I begrudgingly did and about an hour after the Pitocin started I finally felt the contractions. The contractions were much worse than I imagined. I thought I would have been able to sit on a ball, lay in bed, shower or do some of those types of therapies but the only way I could labor comfortably was to walk around and when the contraction same I would have to lean forward on the bed and rock back and forth all the while doing my focused breathing. One thing I realized that I didn't plan for was, What to do if all of my ideas of what to do while laboring" didn't work. So I was a bit caught off guard by that and since I was up the day before my labor started at 5 am.m and worked all day long trying to tie up my corporate responsibilities before our little bundle arrived, i was pooped!
To make a long story short, after four hours of contractions one minute apart, and pacing in my room for 4.5 hours (from 10 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.), I finally got an Epidural. I was becoming extremely nauseous and exhausted. Since I was determined to have a vaginal birth, I thought at that point (in the wee hours of the morning) that even if I could tolerate the vomiting, I would be too tired to deliver and push our baby out.
The Epidural did help--I was able to rest in bed and that helped a ton. Shortly after I became fully relaxed. I started feeling lots of rectal pressure--I told the nurse but she kind of brushed me off so we then demanded that I be re-checked, since the last time I was checked was only 45 minutes prior to when the pressure started and I was only 5 cm dilated then. Sure enough, within 45 minutes (5 a.m. to 5:45 a.m.) I went from 5 cm to fully dilated. They called my doctor then and I started pushing at 6-6:30 a.m. Our special blessing, Payne Richard Stark was born at 8:05 a.m. He was 7 lbs. and 5 oz. and 20 inches long. We insisted on skin on skin following his birth and that was amazing. Payne latched on about five minutes after coming out of me as well and the three of us shared the first 20 minutes of Payne's life together and absolutely loved it. Ben was able to cut Payne's cord which was a great experience for him.
Payne is very healthy and has been the best addition to our family. Thank you so much for all of your coaching and teaching. You really helped Ben and I with our plan and we feel that Bradley, although things didn't go as planned, still helped us enjoy and prepare for our experience as best we could.
Anna & Ben, Milwaukee

Hospital Not First Choice

2011-03-09T09:32:00.001-08:00

My water broke early in the morning. Contractions followed shortly thereafter. I was four weeks early and did not have my group B Strep screening yet. Our midwife and physician thought it best to birth at the hospital. We were so excited and confident in our decision to birth at home, but circumstances we could not control changed that.

Birthing at the hospital was the farthest thing from our minds. Sure we read about all the scenarios, but we were planning for a certain outcome. I did not feel fully unprepared. We feel like we got the closest thing to natural in the hospital as we could have. Oscar was delivered without the use of induction, Pitocin, or any pain medications. Ben was still able to catch him and cut the cord. I held him immediately. His breathing issue was noticed shortly after and he was taken to the incubator for inspection. The neonatal doctor decided they should take him to NICU, but I was able to hold him again before they left.

Your class was a joy to attend. Ben did an amazing job of helping me during labor. He really listened and helped guide me and reassure me all the time. Lots of touches and kisses and kind words. He was quick to remind me to loosen my shoulders to slow down my breathing. And I can honestly say that labor was not-that-bad! I focused and powered through my contractions almost silently, thinking only about my breathing and visualizing the baby moving through me. Screaming, swearing and even moaning seemed counter--productive to me. I felt like it went pretty quickly, considering that my water broke at 6 a.m. on Sunday and Oscar was born at 5 am.m. on Monday without induction or Pitocin. True labor didn't begin until mid-evening on Sunday and I dilated quickly by giving into each contraction and working with it rather than against the pain.

Yes, I was very disappointed that our birth plan had to be modified. I am still grieving the loss of the experience for myself and for Oscar. All the choices I made in the last nine months were to give him the best possible birth and unfortunately these circumstances were out of my control. We always wanted what was best for him, so though I am sad that things didn't go as planned, I am happy that he is safe and healthy.

Jessica & Ben, Milwaukee

Rushed Pushing Leads to 4th Degree, UGH!

2011-02-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

Ava Winter Duffey was born at 12:44 am on January 20. I was actually due on January 8th, so this was a long-anticipated day. I should mention that being so overdue was really getting to me--I was pretty uncomfortable and ready to try anything to get labor started. We spent a day buying a breast pump for nipple stimulation, castor oil, a visit to the chiropractor, and I drank several cups of double-does red raspberry leaf tea. I never used the pump or castor oil though. I had contractions starting at about 2 am, but by 10 am they had stopped and I thought it was a false alarm. Tom went to work for a few hours, and we even did an interview with a census worker in our home, which was annoying but they had been pestering us and he happened to stop by when we were both home so we just thought we should get it over with. As soon as he left, my contractions started back up, at around 2 in the afternoon.

We had hired a doula--LaNette McQuitty. We called her to let he know things were getting started. We were going to have a hospital birth, but wanted to labor at home as long as possible. We had a birthing tub set up in our bedroom, and after a few hours of contractions, tom started getting it filled. The contractions were much more intense than I had anticipated, and I have to admit that I started wishing for drugs fairly early in the process.

LaNette came to our home at around 7 pm, and I spent the next 2 hours in the tub. Our bedroom has a skylight, and the tub was beneath it, so I could see the bright full moon and that may have been the only period during the 11 hours when I opened my eyes.

At 9 pm, I felt it was time to head to the hospital. I really wished that we could just deliver at home, but St. Mary's is only a few blocks away so the transport wasn't that bad. We arrived at the hospital and since it was after hours, we had to enter through an entrance that was simply staffed with two security guards at a small desk. This was pretty comical because I was in full transition, howling like an animal, and these two big dudes were scrambling with worry over how to help me. One said to the other "What, is this your first baby?"

I opted to walk to the delivery room, eyes closed, guided by Tom, stopping every few feet for a contraction. Once in the room, things seemed to come together quickly. A nurse did an exam, which broke my water and revealed meconium. This wasn't a huge concern--after all, my baby was almost two weeks overdue so she was able to poop! Our doula reassured us that it wasn't enough to be worried over and if we were having a home birth, they wouldn't do anything differently. But since we were in the hospital, the nurses kept me on a monitor for the duration of the labor.

I found it really difficult to change positions or to move around much anyway, and I even did some pushing on my back. I honestly did not feel that any position was more comfortable than another, but squatting seemed to give the baby a better angle to move out.

I pushed for over three hours. Our doctor came in for the last hour, and once we hit the three hour mark, he said I was reaching a point of danger for the baby and I needed to get her out. This is something that can be debated00I was rushed through the end of the delivery and there are some things that happened that were disappointing, mainly that because there was a sudden urgency, the baby was not allowed to turn her body and shoulders after her head was out. Things were rushed, and unfortunately I had 4th degree tearing as a result. I don't want to frighten any of you--this level of trauma is very rare and chances are that none of you will experience this!!! The good news is that after 12 days of healing I am feeling much better and have been told that I will heal well and shouldn't have complications in the future. The bad news is that this could have been avoided if I had a little more time to let Ava turn herself naturally.

Ava came out all at once, eyes open and looking right at daddy. Tom was there to catch her, but she came out so fast at that moment that she kind of landed on the bed. Since we were completely drug-free, she was super alert right away.

Overall, I had a great labor and delivery, and the staff at St. Mary's was wonderful to us. LaNette was an excellent doula and is actually a midwife so she was amazing to have as support--so much experience and knowledge made me really comfortable with how things were going at every stage.

Amy & Tom, Milwaukee

Amazing 10 lbs, 6 oz Vaginal Delivery!

2011-01-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

On Monday the 17th, I had extreme nesting; running around the house, cutting tags off of every single baby washcloth and pair of socks, organizing baby toys, leaving a trail of unfinished tasks throughout the house. After finishing everything, I realized that I'd have "nothing to do the next day" so I called up my family and asked if I could come visit to keep my mind busy and distracted from the wait. Starting that evening, I began having contractions, but I had been having regular contractions on and off for a week. However, those contractions usually only continued for 5-6 hours and then stopped. These kept coming, though very irregular.
On Tuesday the 18th, I went in for a 9 am check up with my doctor. Though I had been 80-90% effaced since Christmas, it has been very hard to check for dilation since baby's head was so far down ( a good "problem") :) However, last Tuesday, my doctor announced that I was 3-4 cm. She suggested I go home and take a nap, so i called my family and said that I wouldn't be coming to visit them after all. I caught a short nap and then around 11 am felt my first strong contraction. From 11-2ish, I fiddled around on Facebook and email, timing my contractions on contractionmaster.com. John I kept testing regarding my progress since he was at work.
By 3ish, I started kneeling against furniture and rocking during contractions. John got off of work and we made it to West Allis Hospital around 5ish. From 5ish-7 am, I slowly progressed from 3.5-6 cm. Because I was so tired going into labor, I started getting scared that I would not be able to handle transition and pushing. Reluctantly, I chose to sit, most of the time, either upright or semi-reclined so that I could sleep between my contractions instead of trying all the positions that I had planned. I had John hold my hand while I took deep breaths and gave low moans to cope with my contractions. John would stop me if my moans started getting higher in pitch and remind to go low and open.
The choice to sleep turned out for the best. By 7:30 a.m., my doctor was on call and broke my water. The nurse, Dawn, was fantastic and encouraged me to go through transition in a side lying position. It was painful but helped the progress. She encouraged me if I felt the urge to push to only do so gently and not bear down fully.
When I was fully dilated at 10 am, she had me stand and hold on to John and we pushed through several contractions. Then they had me back in the bed in a couple different positions. After 1 hour 45 minutes of pushing, out came baby! John got to announce it was a boy! Robert! We waited to cut and clamp the cord. Robert had kept one hand by his head when coming out which caused a little tearing. When it came time to weigh him, the nurses were all saying "I bet he'll be about 9 lbs." They put him on the scale and all stood gasping! I said, "What is it?" "10 lbs, 6 oz."!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My doctor said that because of his size and his hand being by his head, I had just delivered the equivalent of an 11 pounder!
Overall, it was a very wonderful experience! The nurses never offered meds and took every part of our birth plan seriously! They kept saying that I was very focused (thank you, Coral!!!) I know the knowledge and the mental preparation from the class, as well as the wonderful pelvic rocks for positioning, helped this natural birth become a reality!
Julia, John and Robert Anthony, West Allis

Some Unexpected Bumps Along the Road

2011-01-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

We're proud to announce that Caleb Mitchell was born on Tuesday, July 20th at 9:17 pm, weighing 8 lbs 3 oz. and measuring 21.5 inches long! Overall, Trevor and I are both extremely happy with our birth experience, although there were some unexpected bumps along the road. My due date was July 13th, and I had already been 60% effaced and 3 cm dilated for a couple of weeks before then, so both my doctor and I were surprised when my due date came and went without event.
I started feeling some light (not painful) contractions on Monday (July 19th) and tried to encourage them by going on several long walks--I don't know how many miles we covered that day! Disappointed with a lack of progress, we went to bed around 11 pm. Only a couple hours later, I woke up around 1:30 am to painful contractions occurring about six minutes apart. They very quickly progressed to three minutes apart. After a couple hours passed with minute-long contractions occurring three minutes apart, we headed to the hospital downtown, arriving at 5:15 am. At that point, I was told that I was 4-5 cm dilated. The first nurse I saw insisted I stay in bed with the fetal heart monitor on (despite my desire to move around) because the baby was not showing enough activity at that time. I was very relieved when a new nurse took over at 7:00 a.m and allowed me to walk around and try different positions freely without the monitor.
At 8:00 am I was 6 cm dilated and experiencing severe back pain. I remained active, hoping that my baby would change position and the back labor would subside... Around 10:30 am, I tried relaxing in the birthing tub for awhile. Although it felt good while I was in there, the contractions intensified tenfold when I got out! I was at 7 cm at that point and the pain was so intense that I had started vomiting. As a result, they had to give me an IV for fluids. I also received one dose of Stadol to "take the edge off" for about an hour. It made me very tired, but I could certainly still feel the pain of each contraction. The back pain was really indescribable. The nurse had commented that I was progressing well and she expected the baby to be born before her shift ended at 3:00 pm ... little did I know that my labor would go on more than six hours past her shift!
At 3:00 pm, I was 9 cm dilated with just a small anterior lip on my cervix remaining. There was an incredibly intense urge to push with each contraction, but Trevor really helped me to breathe through them and remain as relaxed as possible. Finally, at 5:00 pm, my ob/gyn told me that the baby's head had passed over the "lip" and I could start pushing. I began pushing with contractions and both the doctor and my nurse kept telling me they were "great pushes" and I was making progress... but it seemed to go on forever! it turns out that the baby had not turned and was still in the posterior position (facing up). As a result, his head kept hitting my pubic bone and although we could see him right there, he wouldn't come out. Apparently it is standard practice at St. Mary's to allow pushing for two hours. I had already passed the four hour mark (and was feeling quite desperate), when the doctor discussed the option of an episiotomy. She knew that was something I had hoped to avoid, but I was not tearing on my own and had been enduring intense back labor for 20 hours at that point. At 9:15 pm, she cut an episiotomy and used a vacuum--on the very next contraction I successfully pushed Caleb out at 9:17 pm! Despite being a week past his due date and enduring the prolonged pushing, he came out just perfect and was able to breastfeed immediately~ It was an amazing experience. Caleb stayed in our recovery room from the start and we all enjoyed the bonding time.
Not everything went according to our birth plan, but I was able to have a mostly natural and vaginal delivery with a week-overdue baby in the posterior position--which I consider a success. I am really grateful for the doctor's patience (waiting through four hours of pushing without encouraging any interventions) and all Trevor's support. I definitely couldn't have done this if he hadn't been by my side at every moment for all 20 hours!
We absolutely LOVE being parents and appreciate the preparation we received through the Bradley course that allowed us to feel informed and empowered during the unpredictable birth process.
Pam & Trevor, Franklin

Not a Storybook Birth

2011-01-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

Well, like others, ours was not storybook and didn't go according to plan either. Birth plan went right out the window!!
I woke up the morning of my due date, June 29th at 3:47 am to potty. At 4:17 am I had my first contraction, followed by 4:27, 4:40 and 4:52. Paul called to let work know he was in a "holding pattern" and wouldn't leave without knowing if I was in labor or not (I had been contracting for two weeks before off and on). Well, consistent contractions kept coming all the way up 'til 6:13 am when I decided to go back to the potty. When I stood up... "GUSH!" my water broke all over the freshly cleaned carpet!
It took about 30 minutes for contractions to pick back up after my water broke, so I used the time to sit and relax in the living room while Paul got dressed. He wanted to head to the hospital earlier than we planned since my water broke much earlier than we thought it would. Around 11 am we checked into the hospital and the minute I stepped foot into my room, contractions stopped completely. So fours of walking and rocking on the birthing ball but only five contractions.
My doctor got there to check on me about 4 pm and did a sterile speculum exam looking for traces of amniotic fluid and found none. Since my contractions had slowed to about one per hour and the fact that I was trying to avoid pain meds, she sent us home. The thought is that what we thought was my water breaking that morning was some "other" kind of fluid that can build up around your uterus and since he's dropping deeper into my pelvis, it released those fluids. They discharged us and told us to come back when my water breaks for my contractions are back to six minutes apart. When we pulled up at home and I stood up getting out of the car, my water broke!! So we planned to continue to monitor throughout the next few hours and see where my contractions were and decide when to go back. Once they are less than five minutes apart for more than two hours then we'll go in. All the insanely intense contractions I had all morning before we checked into the hospital and the few I had there, and I only had all morning before we checked into the hospital and the few I had there, and I only dilated to 2 cm. So I wasn't going back until I was much further along into active labor, which we thought would be later that night or first thing the next morning.
Side note: It was so heartbreaking to leave the hospital. They had all his meds and towels, blankets, cap etc. all ready for him with his name on it in the room... I was just really frustrated to go through 16 hours of hard contractions and only be 2 cm, very discouraging to hear.
The good news is that I never stopped contracting the entire time we were home. So we decided to go to bed and get some sleep knowing full well in the middle of the night we'd be back at the hospital now that it appeared my water had broken for real this time. I slept in between contractions and by the time 11:30 pm rolled around, I was in too much pain to even walk. So I woke Paul up and said we needed to head back to L&D right then. So by 12:15 am we had been re-admitted right back to our same room. They checked me and guess what???? I was STILL 2 cm!!! and they claim my water still had not broken.
So, since my water "hadn't broken" according to them, and my contractions were not regular (one every 10-12 minutes lasting two minutes) they offered me a "cocktail" to get some sleep through the night and reassess in the morning. They gave me two shots of morphine (one in IV and one in butt), and one Ambien. I slept like a baby until 6 am. The on-call doctor came in at 6:30 am to do an exam and guess what!?!?!? STILL 2 cm!!! OMG! He seriously did not want to come out!
Doctor suggested I start Pitocin at lowest level to get contractions more consistent. Around 10:30 am the contraction were right on top of each other and I could not longer handle it without pain meds since at this point I had been in labor for 26 hours. So the RN offered a drug called Nubain, its an IV pain med to take the edge off contractions. IT DOES NOT WORK!! By noon I was screaming at the RN -- I needed an Epidural. From that point on I don't remember much, not even the anesthesiologist coming in to administer the Epidural. The Epidural on top of the Nubain had me in "la-la" land for the rest of labor and the delivery.
The most wonderful nurse in the world, Denice, came in to check me at 4 pm. I went from 2 cm to 10 in four hours. So she had me do a practice push to see how I did. Half way through the push she stopped me and said she needed to call the doctor because he was coming very quickly. The doctor came in at 4:20 pm still needed to change into scrubs, so we were still in a holding pattern for a few minutes. Meanwhile, family is out in the hallway and the RN's are prepping the room for delivery. After five pushes he was out!
So, in hindsight, our birth plan was a joke! But I did get the hour of skin to skin contact with him which made all the difference in the world. Sean Christian was born June 30, 2010 at 4:31 pm. 8 lbs., 2 oz., 20 inches and the best gift we could have ever asked for and received.
Tiffany & Paul, Brown Deer

Even the Midwife Was Skeptical!

2011-01-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

On July 6th, 2010 at 9:41 am, Micah Russell was born! He was 21 inches long and weighted 8 lbs. 11 oz.
For the past two weeks, I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions that I noticed more than I felt. My belly would tense up and we would joke around that the baby was going to come early. On July 5th, Jason and I spent the day at home making crafts for the baby's room. After dinner, we went for a walk in the neighborhood (about 2 miles). It took about two hours: I was walking a little bit slower than I had been, but I figured I just hadn't gone for a walk in a while and we were taking pictures. On our walk, we talked about how it would be really convenient for the birth to start on Thursday evening, since we had a busy week wrapping up work stuff. When we got home, we had a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate cookie crumbles on top (yum!) and sat on our balcony to watch the fireworks. Then we went to bed a bit later than usual.
I got up around 1:30 am, then again a little after 2 to go to the bathroom. A little after 3 am, I had to get up again. Usually, I only have to get up once or twice during the evening, so this seemed a tad unusual. At 3:30 am, I had what felt like a horrible menstrual cramp. I woke up Jason and said "I think we're going to have a baby today!" He sort of woke up and said "But what happened to the cleaning?" Both my mom and my sister had been stressing to us that we'll know because I will go on a mad cleaning frenzy...didn't really happen, evidently for me it's crafts! Jason started timing the contractions, which were 4-5 minutes apart and 60-75 seconds long. He timed two and called Jan, our midwife. Jan told us to keep timing the length of the contractions, since this came on so suddenly. She was somewhat skeptical that I was in active labor already. But after two more and another phone call, she was on her way!
The contractions were intense and at one point, I told Jason "This is really going to hurt!" to which he reminded me that I can do it and that I just needed to do some deep breaths and relax during the pain. I moved some of my houseplants into our living room, since that's where I planned to deliver and it felt like the right thing to do. I also turned on the ceiling fans and turned up the AC. We didn't have a bag packed and the car seat was still in the box... My due date was July 16th and we planned to get that done during the week. So between contractions Jason started packing the bag. He opened up the Bradley workbook for the list, but didn't get far before Jan arrived at 5:20 am. By then, our place was refrigerator and Jan needed a sweater. but the coolness of the air was quite a relief to me.
Jan did an exam right away and assessed that I was already 7 cm dilated. We hoped to use the birthing tub, but didn't have sufficient time to fill it... it takes three hours and Jan was not sure we'd make it before the delivery... but allowed us to make that decision. The other option was to fill our bathtub, which we decided to do. Around that time, Jan's fellow midwife, Pam, arrived to assist.
It was nice being in the water, having that warmth around me and some of the pressure relieved, yet the contractions kept intensifying. I was in for about a half an hour, then decided to lay down on our futon in the living room. This felt worse, but I was just looking for rest. During contractions, I would grab Jason. He rubbed my lower back and thighs between contractions which helped relieve muscle tension, and Pam held my hand and told me I can do this. Jason also kept giving me sips of ice water, which was really comforting. After a few contractions, Jan suggested I change positions; I decided to stand and Jason and I slow danced. Jan and Pam commented "oh, she's moving differently" and encouraged me to just go with it. During contractions, I would often press down on Jason's hands and lean my wight into him, which felt very secure. Honestly, from the very start of the contractions, Coral's advice of not wasting my energy played over in my head and when I found myself tensing up, I'd focus on relaxing and opening up my hands. I eventually got on my hands and knees and asked for the birthing ball, which I leaned my body over and rocked on. When I would get a contractions, I would roll and bear down. I don't remember when the birthing ball left, and my eyes were closed for most of the labor, but I ended up leaning over the futon on my hands and knees, with a pillow under my knees. My bag of waters did not break and I was getting the urge to push. I was waiting for it to break to push, but Jan said that if it felt good to push, then go with it, which I did. They saw Micah's head in the bag and told me he was crowning. I felt the "Ring of Fire" which lives up to its name... a burning sensation, but it does not last long at all. Jan slightly tore my bag. Two or three pushes later with a few guttural, primal screams, Micah was here and he was screaming too! I turned over and he was placed on my chest... I didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl yet. It was just nice holding him in my arms. From the start of contractions to his birth, it was 6 hours and 15 minutes. After some time, I delivered the placenta with some help from Jan. Jason cut the cord and then we named him.
Rebecca & Jason, Milwaukee

Praises From the Nurse

2011-01-19T16:47:00.001-08:00

Adam and I are happy to announce our new baby girl, Lillian Jane. She was born on Dec. 31st at 11:45 pm. She was 7 lbs. 7 ox. and 20 inches long. We were quite surprised that she was born before the new year but happy to claim the child tax credit for 15 minutes of being parents.
If you remember, it was really nice outside that day, so in the morning I was finishing up some yard work that I hadn't done before winter and then we took the dog for a long walk. Up to this point, i was trying all the tricks to get labor going, but nothing seemed to work. I had actually resigned to going back to work on Monday. After the walk I noticed that I was having some blooding and I thought maybe I was leaking fluid or something, so I called the clinic. Of course, it was closed because of the holiday so I was on hold for 20 minutes waiting to speak to the operator who then put my call into the on call doctor. The doctor suggested I go in to get checked, so we went to the hospital around 1:30. The monitor was showing contractions 3 minutes apart and I was 4 cm dilated. However, I was not feeling any contractions.
We walked around the hospital for an hour and then I could kind of identify a "cramp" but nothing strong. I was 4 1/2 cm and still having contractions 3 minutes apart. We thought for sure they would admit us, but they didn't and wanted us to walk around the hospital another hour. We didn't really see the point in this, so we decided to go home instead.
It was a little confusing because we didn't understand what was going on and what exactly they were looking for. They suggested breaking my water, but we declined and said we wanted to see what would happen naturally first. Adam was very adamant about not having my water broken. So, we went home and within 30 minutes the contractions became stronger and I could no longer talk through them. We stayed home for two hours and then went back (the hospital staff had bets that we'd be back in one hour).
I went in the tub for a good hour, but preferred the birthing ball for the majority of the time. I was side lying for a little bit, but then used the bar over the bed to have gravity on my side. Ultimately, she was born with me leaning over the b all. I found it most useful to push when my body felt the urge to push, which the nurse was very supportive of. We did have a great nurse who was very relaxing and supportive of our birthing plan. Not once was an intervention suggested or an IV ever given. Adam was also fantastic and was by my side the entire time either rubbing my back or talking me through the contractions. All in all, it was what we hoped it would be like. Our nurse said we were the first successful Bradley method birth she had seen in a long time, so we thank you Coral.
Susan and Adam Mildren, Milwaukee

Midwife & Doula Were Fantastic

2011-01-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

Joshua David was born Friday September 10th at 1:29 am and is very healthy! I had a natural birth, a very fast, natural birth. Thursday morning I was already dilated to 4 cm. I had painless "Braxton Hicks" contractions all day that were regular and kept getting closer together. I stayed at work until the afternoon, took a nap, went on a long walk, etc. We stayed active...not sure if it was "realy labor" since the contractions were just like I had been feeling for months (non painful abdominal tightness, except they were coming regularly). Water borke at 10:30 pm and I pretty much entered right into transition with good contractions not more than 3 minutes apart or so. We got to the hospital at 12:50 am and he was born after a few pushes. Midwife Ann Ledbetter and doula Brandy Brey were fantastic. The Bradley method did help in helping me to relax between contractions and to stay moving! I'm very glad we took the class. Thanks, Coral

Labor Went Anything But According to Plan

2011-01-12T16:10:00.000-08:00

After all was said and done, Eli and I are great and healthy, but my labor went anything but according to plan.
First of all I went 2 weeks past my due date which was becoming an issue because we were having a hospital birth and most hospitals want to induce you at 41 weeks 5 days or sooner. I REALLY REALLY didn't want that to happen so I tried everything: walking, sex, herbs, acupuncture, acupressure, hypnosis, stripped membranes, castor oil 3 times... NOTHING worked. Finally on June 16th I was to go in and be induced at 8 am. I went into labor naturally at 6:30 am. Go figure.
Paul and I labored at home until about 6 pm when our doula came over to help as things became more intense. At about 9 pm my contractions were about 3 minutes apart where they stayed for another 7 hours. At that point the pain was sooooo intense that I just couldn't take it any more and nothing was changing. At 4 am we finally went to the hospital.
I was having back labor, and when people say it hurts they are NOT kidding. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. After a stint in the hospital's tub to try and control my pain from the back labor I just couldn't take any more and I got an Epidural. After I got the Epidural I was able to rest for about 5 hours. I had already been in labor for quite a while and needed to get my energy back for the next phase of labor,.
At about 2 pm I was given Pitocin to get my contractions, which were still 3 minutes apart, closer together. It didn't take long for thing to get moving and then the Pushfest began. Eli was not only still posterior but in a military presentation which means his chin was not tucked down but was pointing up (face presentation). His forehead was pressing firmly on my tailbone and boy could I feel it. The Epidural had almost no effect other than to allow me enough relief to keep pushing.
After 4 hours of pushing he finally made his grand entrance. (After an Episiotomy, of course, because his shoulders were stuck and we didn't want him to have shoulder dystocia.) It was A LOT of work, but totally worth it.
I guess what I'll say is that my midwife Eileen told me at the beginning of my pregnancy that it is good to be flexible with your birth plan because you just don't know how things will turn out. I remember thinking that was just plain silly because I was going to be able to have a completely natural labor and delivery no matter what. Hmmmm, I guess I learned that people with over 20 years of experience might know what they are talking about!!!!
Corrine & Paul, Milwaukee

Pre-Eclampsia Success Story

2011-01-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

We wanted to quickly share with you the events that unfolded after our pre-eclampsia email....
My blood pressure went up so I progressed so fast through the labor that my doctor almost missed the birth!
It was a fabulous experience. I was so proud of myself and of Mark for making it through such a crazy 5 hours.
After our baby boy was born, they found out that my liver counts had drastically changed and that I needed to be put on Magnesium Sulfate for 24 hours. That was not fun at all, but I was still able to breastfeed so that was good. The baby had to be readmitted to the hospital due to his bad jaundice a day after we got home. I was so upset! Now he is on phototherapy at home and we are hoping his levels go down soon so we can take him off this machine.
Thank you for all you did to educate us. We used everything we learned!
Natalie & Mark W in Brown Deer

No Induction Necessary

2011-01-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

Good News! I did it and n0 induction necessary! We went in Tuesday night for the induction (the baby had some decelerations when they were monitoring my contractions Tuesday during the day so they had us check-in Tuesday night instead of Wednesday mornings so they could monitor the baby). They started the Cervadil about 7 pm and nothing was really happening. I fell asleep around midnight and woke up at 3:20 am with pretty strong contractions about 8 minutes apart--no big deal.
They started to get stronger so I woke Ryan up about 4 am. he quickly realized my contractions were more like 2 minutes apart and we called the nurse. When I got to the hospital at 5 pm the evening before I was 2 cm dilated, when they checked me at 4:15 am I was 5 cm and when they checked me again at 4:30 am I was 8 cm. They called the doctor and he made it right about 5 am (just in time, I definitely could have started pushing earlier if he had been there). It only took about 3 pushes and she was born at 5:19 am--totally natural.
Vera Lynn was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 1/2 inches. They let us come home Thursday afternoon so we're happy to be home with Wyatt, who loved being a bit brother (at least so far). I can't even begin to say how much better I feel five days out--my recovery has been smooth sailing. And breastfeeding has been going way better too!
Everything went really great and all the stuff from yoga and the Bradley classes really helped, especially when I was waiting for the doctor to arrive and couldn't push. :)
Keri D in Menomonee Falls

A Thanksgiving Blessing

2011-01-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

I woke up Monday, 11/22 and thought I was in labor, but ended up just having sporadic contractions all day Monday, all day Tuesday and Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, Eric and I were driving to work and he suggested I call our midwife to talk about the situation. The contractions were still irregular, varied in intensity and never very strong. However, she told me to go home and rest, that things might start to progress and if not, it was one more day off for Thanksgiving. After taking two naps during the afternoon the contractions kind of stalled out. But when I got up around 7 pm to have dinner things started to progress. By 10 pm the contractions were getting stronger, but still erratically spaced. By 12:45 am the back pain with each contraction was severe enough that I couldn't talk on the phone and Eric had to call the midwife.

We arrived at the birth center a little before 2 am. Jan confirmed what Eric and I already suspected, my back pain was so severe because little girl was posterior. She had been correctly positioned up until the last few days before she was born. On a positive note I was already 4, almost 5 cm dilated and almost completely effaced.

I'll be honest I wasn't dealing with the pain very well, especially with the awful back labor. Eric was amazing; there to comfort me, press on my back to help alleviate the pain, and constantly reminding me to relax when I found myself tensing during a contraction. The only other thing that seemed to help was when I got in the tub. Eric told me afterward my entire body relaxed when I got in the water. That was the first time I was able to get any rest and actually slept a bit between contractions, even when they were only a minute or so apart.

When it came time to push, we found out she had rotated and was now anterior, but her head was asynclitic, or tilted slightly, making it more difficult on both of us. However, at this point I was so happy I got to push. I knew I would get to meet our baby soon, the contractions weren't as bad, the back labor was gone and I could finally put my desire to tense up to good use by pushing. I was out of the tub during this stage and spent an hour and a half pushing from six different positions. Finally, at 7:27 am our beautiful Lyra was born.

I was honest from the beginning that the pain scared me tremendously. But thanks to Coral and Jan and everything we learned, Eric and I got to have the labor and delivery we had hoped for. I got to move around, use the tub, and push from the positions I wanted. Jan and the birth center provided the perfect, warm and welcoming atmosphere for Lyra's arrival. And it's amazing how quickly you forget the pain when you see your baby for the first time.

Tiffany & Eric Wait, Cedarburg

Just a Bit of Stadol in Transition

2011-01-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

C. & I want to let you know that we had our daughter--8 lbs 6 oz, 21 inches--on 7-8-10 after 24 hours of natural labor and delivery (well, I got 2 mg of Stadol at transition--which I think relaxed me enough in between contractions to get to 10 very soon after!). We couldn't have done it without taking the Bradley course--and thank you again for the rice sock, it was definitely utilized!
I don't know what my doc did (we delivered at Froedtert), but I didn't see any residents, or medical students and--no capped IV! I was able to get in the shower for as long as I wanted, and get in the whirlpool tub while I was in very active labor. She stayed after her clinic in the afternoon and actually sat in my labor room and coached for about an hour (I think). She stayed for the delivery as well which was so amazing.
We stayed at home for about 12 hours ( and C. kept saying "I think we should go in--I think we should go in), and then I was ready to go in. I was 6 cm. It was the optimal hospital experience. Unfortunately, right after delivery, I hemorrhaged and required an IV, 2 bags of Pitocin (among other things to help my uterus contract) and then 2 units of blood. We though it was so ironic that we did it with minimal intervention and them wham! Thank you again for sharing your expertise and knowledge with us--it was truly invaluable.
S. & C. in Wauwatosa
PS--C. did not once ask me "what do you want me to do?" :)

At Home Until Transition

2011-01-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

I am happy to say that yesterday, June 22nd at 4:06 am I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. her name is Caliana. My birth story is a bit unique. The whole labor from start to finish was 6 hours long! Can you believe it? I couldn't imagined it going any better. :)
I was at home for about 4 hours when I realized I was in transition. That is when I asked my Mom and my doula to come over. I even called a friend nearby in case I needed to get to the hospital before they arrived. I called the doctor and told her I was in transition. I don't think she took me entirely serious until we finally got to the hospital and the nurse said I was 10 cm dilated and completely effaced. I was practically crossing my legs not to push.
We waited 15 more minutes for the doctor to arrive and in 4 pushes she was out and on my chest! I was in the hospital for a total of 40 minutes before she arrived.
I just wanted to say that the whole time I was at home by myself I was looking at all my notes from class and that really helped. I don't know that things would have gone so well had it not been for all that you taught me. Thank you and I can't wait for you to meet her. :)
Ashley in Milwaukee

No Time for Drugs

2011-01-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

We wanted to let you know we had our baby last night. He arrived this morning at 1:28 am, 2 weeks and 6 days early, but he is 19.5 inches, 7 lbs 2.2 oz. both mom and baby are doing well.
We barely made it back from Superior after house hunting for the weekend. Water broke at 10:30 pm. First contraction was about 11 pm and baby was here at 1:28 am!
We called the hospital around 11:15 pm or so and her contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart, but only lasted about 30-45 seconds. The hospital said to wait. She was getting more uncomfortable with about 1 minute between and fairly long contractions. Honestly, it was so fast, we couldn't really time them as I was getting everything else ready to go. We got to the hospital ER about 12:30 am and she felt like pushing in the car. Got the OB triage and they measured and found zero cervix so we got whisked upstairs, not even time for a bracelet on mom or anything. She started pushing right away and the baby came very quickly with two tears, but one was very small and just 1 stitch in that one. She didn't have any drugs, although there really wasn't any time for them even if she would've wanted any thing.
It was a pretty hectic day and weekend with looking at roughly 25 houses for our move north in August, a 9 hour drive home due to construction, traffic, and a blown tire and then a labor that was only 2.5 hours. All is well though!
K. and J. in West Allis

April 15th Baby Better than Tax Refund

2011-01-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

We would like to introduce our little Abi. She was born at 2:44 am on April 15th, and is way better than any tax refund! She is 7 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches.
We did have to be induced to start labor and keep contractions going, but we were still able to do a natural birth. Kris did a great job and we never could have done it without the classes. In fact, Abi has already told us that she misses hearing your voice every Saturday morning. :)
Matt & Kris in West Allis

Parent's Advice--Stay Flexible

2011-01-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

One piece of advice--stay flexible with your plan. Make sure to keep the top of your plan the big picture--everyone safe so that you can focus on the important part. As we learned, plans are only as good as the situation and your ability to adapt them. That said, even though almost every part of our plan went out the window, we wouldn't change anything and it was a wonderful experience. Coral--you were right, feeling listened to (the hospital staff [St. Mary's, Mke.] was phenomenal at every turn--on top of the amazing nurses, every time something deviated from our plan they came in and talked to us about it to make sure it was OK) and a great coach (Derek was perfect) makes all the difference.
So after our due date we were trying EVERYTHING on the list to induce labor. While on the breast pump Monday, 4/5 my water broke. It was clear with some pinkish blood. I was super excited (although embarrassed when right afterwards the doorbell rang with some guy selling door to door meat--I answered with my legs crossed and a blanket wrapped around my top--awkward). Unfortunately, labor didn't start. All afternoon, evening and night I tried to start labor. Sleeping, walking, bouncing, breast pump, etc.
Mid-day Tuesday we decided it was time to go to the hospital and tell the doctor since it was coming up on 24 hours. At 3pm I was still not effaced an only 1 cm dilated, -2 station. They put in Cervidil for 12 hours and I rested. By 10 pm I was having contractions fairly regularly but spaced apart--not yet active labor. They started the Pitocin at 1:30 after the Cervidil feel out.
By 4 am I was having intense contractions 1 minute long, 2 minutes apart. I stayed really calm and my ritual was to know how many deep breaths it took for one contractions and breathe them slowly and count them down so that I'd remember that it would end soon. Once I couldn't count out loud Derek counted them for me.
By 7 am I was 2.5 cm and 50% effaced. The downside to this is that because of the need to be induced I was on continual monitoring and an IV and every time you move at all some alarm goes off that one of your tubes isn't working well and you have to stay still while they futz with it. Our plan really derailed at 7:30 pm--they upped the Pit and my contractions started coupling--which was OK with me--but not with them. The only way to stop that is to up the PIT more--so they did. I started having all the symptoms of transition and threw up with each deep breath--on top of that, the contractions never really ended--they peaked each minute, then went to about half strength, then peaked again.
I got to where between not breathing and not getting any recovery I just couldn't do it--especially since I figured I was still just starting active labor. I decided that drugs would be necessary eventually since I figured I had several hours of this left) so to start them then. I got the epidural at 8:30 and fell immediately asleep for 1/2 an hour in total exhaustion. Once I woke up things were great and by 10 pm I was 7.5 cm, totally effaced, and 0 station. By midnight, fully dilated.
I started pushing at 2:30 am and she was born Wednesday the 7th at 7:10 am (yes that's just under 5 hours--but that's because with the epidural she flipped posterior and I couldn't push for very long in that many positions (although still did hands and knees, and sitting on a bedpan on the end of the bed to simulate a toilet--with Derek regularly suggesting changes)--it wasn't that bad.
At 7, the attending came in and said--all right lady here's the deal--you have 10 minutes to push this baby out or we need to vacuum extract or C-section. I got her almost all the way out, but it took one small pull with the vacuum to make her whole body fit out. I think that having them describe the options helped stimulate things to go a bit faster. By the end of the pushing I had a fever and her heart rate had stopped decelerating and was really fast so I was on antibiotics and she got checked by NICU right away. They quickly decided she was OK and put her on my chest while they sewed me up. She rooted and made suckling faces right away. She came out alert, eyes open and looking around. She was 6 lbs 12 oz and 20.5 inches.
Thank you all for your support and companionship--and Coral a bazillion thanks for helping us to feel so prepared and calm about the whole experience--we couldn't have done it without you.
Kelly, Derek in Milwaukee

Sinai--a Good Experience

2011-01-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

Hi. I had emailed you a while back about where in Milwaukee to birth. I ended up going with Sinai... and was SO impressed. I was transferred [from midwives] to the high risk doctors because of gestational diabetes and they ended up breaking my water at 40 weeks and 4 days. I labored with no drugs. I had a great nurse who left about an hour and a half into labor. She was replaced by an equally good nurse who stayed with me most of the time, rather than being uninvolved, and in all truth would have made a great doula--a stop above, a hundred steps above the average nurse. She encouraged me to walk around, change positions, save my energy, shake my booty, etc. She assured me that my baby knew what he was doing and that his movements (which were hurting me) were helping to bring him down and that he was working hard to come out. When I was in transition and trying to tell my doula that I wanted a "walking" epidural the nurse sided with my doulas and told me that my labor would be done soon and that getting an epidural would be pointless. She did other great things too but it's a bit hazy.
My experience with the doctors, especially the resident doctors who were the ones mainly involved was also great. They said they had never let the cord stop pulsing before they cut it but that if that was what I wanted they didn't have any objections. The two docs just sat and watched as I was squat pushing and let me, my nurse, doula and hubby alone until the very end when they came to catch the baby. They immediately put baby in my arms and weren't in a big hurry to take him away. They didn't push the issue of shots for baby...they didn't push any issues actually.
I was pretty happy about their excitement for breastfeeding, as well as their view in episiotomies, which was that there better be a darn good reason to do one, if it ain't saving a life what's the point (maybe not every one's view but the two docs I worked with felt that way).
So thank YOU so much for your recommendation. Mary in Milwaukee

Peaceful Mama, Peaceful Baby

2011-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

We did it! More specifically, S. did it while I help back tears of joy and amazement. What an incredible experience we had bringing our baby into the world on Friday, May 21st. Mom and baby are both doing wonderful. And I'm pleased to report that the birth was 100% natural. No high fructose corn syrup, no pesticides, wait...I'm getting carried away with the natural thing. Sorry.

The labor was about 12 hours. We arrived at the hospital around 4 pm. The contractions were about 3-1-1 a that point and S. was 4 cm dilated. We went through whole variety of different positions, relaxation techniques, used the whirlpool tub, etc. Each hour S. was becoming another 2 cm dilated. By around 7:30 she was ready to push. Just over 40 minutes later, baby made her entrance. S. did an amazing job pushing and I wasn't half bad either (said while patting myself on the back). The hospital staff was supportive of our birth plan and , I have to say, completely blown away by what S was able to do. She made it look easy. You should have seen her. It brought me to tears to see here realize her dream. I'm a proud husband and father, that's for sure!

We can't wait for you to meet our little 7lb 5 oz, 20 inch juggernaut. She's beautiful and healthy. Both S. and I agree that without your guidance this wouldn't have been so wonderful. Thank you for giving us such an unforgettable, magical experience. We can't thank you enough. C. in Milwaukee

Natural Childbirth is Easier the 2nd Time!

2010-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

Caleb was born 1/30/10. Parents: Laura & Corey.

I went into labor on January 30th (12 days early) with contractions at 9am. I walked around my house, up and down the stairs and even on my treadmill for a half an hour whenever the contractions started to slow down. At 12 pm we went up to Jackson to drop my son off at grandma's. My contractions weren't that bad so we stayed there and I would climb her stairs pretty often too! Although my contractions varied any where from 10 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart, they didn't get to the point where I had to concentrate on them until about 3:30. At 4:30 I decided it was time to take the 20 minute drive to Community Memorial. We were checked in at 5pm and had the baby naturally at 6:13!!!!

It was funny because the nurse checked me to see if I was in true labor and she said "you're definitely in labor" which prompted me to ask how far I was. I couldn't believe it when she told me I was 7cm already! My biggest fear was that I would get there and she would say 3cm or something. My doctor barely got there in time. The method that worked for me was rocking side to side with hubby rubbing the belly and my back. When I was close to the end (last 20 minutes) I added in a low moan to get through it. I'm glad you went through the difference between the low relaxed moan and the high moan because I really focused on keeping it low to stay relaxed. Caleb was born in 2 pushes (about 5 minutes) and came out a healthy 7lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches. His forehead was a little bruised because he came out so fast!!

As simple as the theory is behind natural childbirth, I'm really thankful for your class.

Kaitlyn is the "Poster Child" for Bradley Birth

2010-06-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn was born 5/29/10. Parents: Jodi & Kevin

I had off work on Friday and was just putzing, putting up flags for Memorial Day, buying flowers, pulling weeds. I was feeling pretty energetic. About 3:30, Kevin came home and just then I got a twinge! I didn't really have any Braxton Hicks so I really had no idea what to expect, but these were pretty consistent and getting stronger. We have a whirlpool tub so about an hour later I got in and that really helped with the pain. I finally told Kevin to start timing them, (we found a website called Contraction Master.com that tracks and times them for you, it was really helpful!). By 6pm the contractions were lasting 2 minutes and were 4 minutes apart. We called our midwife who said we should come to the hospital.

We went to St. Joe's in West Bend and just about when we got in the car, they were really quite painful (manageable though). We got there by 7pm and our midwife arrived shortly after. Pretty much all the relaxation techniques and breathing went out the door at this point! I tried the breathing but it didn't really click with me. When I would have a contraction, I kind of did the yoga 'HMMMMMM' sound. For some reason, that was the only way I found I could get though it. I did the whirlpool at the hospital also and that helped a ton! It did slow down the contractions but it gave me a break at least. I walked around a bit and sat on the exercise ball and that seemed to get the contractions going again. I would mostly just lean over the sink though. I probably had my eyes closed 90% of the time. I didn't really know what was going on around me and just needed to focus on getting through the contraction and getting ready for the next one.

A while later, my midwife asked if I was ready to push. Pushing really didn't hurt at all, it was kind of a relief after the contractions! It was exhausting though! About 45 minutes in to it, her head would take two steps forward and one small step back. My midwife asked if I wanted a small cut. I said NO (thanks anyway!). That's all I needed to hear, two pushes later she was out. No ripping or tearing. I could feel with each push my midwife would help stretch me so I think that really helped me not tear.

I had my hospital bag packed with cards, magazines, books, IPod... didn't touch one thing! With packing, less is more! It was touch but ssooooooooo worth it!!!