Posted June 7, 2009
 
I just wanted to forward to you, Marjie and Jay a successful VBAC birth
story. My students, Chris and Jessica did an amazing job, and it is with
their blessing that I am forwarding this to you!! I'm so proud of them.
 
Enjoy!
Melissa Boozikee, AAHCC
 
Hi Melissa!  We had a girl! 
 Her name is Karen Sandra, she weighed 7lbs, 9 oz,
 was 20 inches long, and was born at 6:29 pm on May 30 - her
 due date!  Unlike her mommy, she likes to be right on
 time!
 
 Other great news - we were successful in having a totally
 natural v-bac, and the baby is very successfully
 breastfeeding (unlike Evan).  In fact, we took her to
 the doctor on June 3rd, and she was already 7lbs, 7 oz - so
 almost back to her birth weight after only losing 6 oz at
 the hospital!
 
 I started having very mild contractions at 4:30 am on the
 30th. I didn't think too much of it , and stayed
 in bed (not sleeping though) until 7.  They continued
 to be very mild and quite irregular all morning - sometimes
 a half hour would go by and I wouldn't even have
 one contraction!  I kind of assumed it was false labor,
 and was disappointed, but figured if nothing else, at least
 it was a good sign that something was happening.  I did
 all the things the Bradley Method® says to do - I ate, drank,
 tried to sleep, took a shower, and then around 11 or 11:30
 we decided to walk to the park with Evan.  I had some
 contractions on the way there, then had a few while sitting
 and watching Chris chase Evan all around, and then I had
 some stronger ones that I couldn't walk through on the
 way home.  At home we ate lunch and timed the
 contractions - they were as close as 4 minutes apart and as
 far apart as 9 minutes - still so irregular and
 varied, and still so tolerable that we didn't know
 what to think!  Finally, while on the phone with my Mom
 to tell her maybe she should come get Evan, I had a strong
 contraction that made me concentrate and put the phone
 down.  that was close to 3:30 pm.  My parents came
 right away and took Evan, and Chris and I decided to time
 these stronger  contractions before calling the
 midwife.  They were 3 minutes apart, sometimes 2
 minutes, and one came less than 2 minutes after the start of
 the previous one.  We called our midwife, told her we
 were headed to the hospital, and left.  It was now
 4:30, and we're a half hour away!  That was a rough
 ride, but I still managed to send out a few text messages to
 friends and family letting them know we were on the way to
 the hospital!  Chris had to focus on driving, and I
 just kind of moaned deeply through the contractions, staying
 as relaxed as possible in a sitting up position!  When
 we got to the hospital they wheeled me in, brought me to a
 room right away,
 
 Chris helped me into my hospital gown, they put on the
 electronic fetal monitors, and checked me - I was 10
 centimeters!  We had to wait about 40 minutes for the
 midwife to get there, and I really wasn't having pushing
 contractions yet.  My water  broke with one
 contraction while I was waiting for the midwife, and that
 actually felt like a relief of pressure.  When she got
 there, I finally started feeling the urge to push, and about
 a half hour later, Karen was born!  It was difficult
 work, and painful, but I have to say the entire labor
 was so tolerable - even the end.  I never had one
 contraction on top of another, always had breaks, and was
 able to achieve the birth that I always wanted!
 
 Like I said before, the baby is doing great!  It's
 been difficult being home and adjusting to two kids.  I
 feel a lot of guilt that the baby is taking up so much of my
 time and I can't do for Evan all the things I could just
 do last week.  We all just need some time to get used
 to our new family dynamics, and I know that these first few
 months will be the most difficult. 
 
 I am so happy for all that we accomplished, and thank you
 so much for all the information and skills you taught us
 during the course.  You helped us stay relaxed, feel
 confident, and come to the birth armed with a lot of
 knowledge that helped us achieve our goal!