We have a beautiful and healthy baby boy! We kept up with the Bradley Student Workbook and had a Bradley Birth that Dr. Bradley himself would be proud of!
Our baby was born of Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 6:49pm at SJHC in London, Ontario at 40 weeks, 3 days. We laboured at home. When things got serious our midwives came to assess and help. When they thought it was time to go to the hospital, we did. When we arrived at 3:00pm I was 5 cm. When I was 8-9 cm my midwife wanted to break my water as the head was still not engaged fully and thought that it would help. I had a cervical lip for about an hour, then she tried to push it out of the way. Another midwife yelled at me to push ( I did not yet feel the urge to push yet, so I thought that she wanted me to practice). The head came out to my surprise! Next contraction shoulder and body. He was totally alert and didn’t cry. He was just looking around and hanging our with me. He latched on like a pro and we’ve had zero problems with our breast feeding since his totally natural Bradley birth. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz, and was 21.6 inches long. They said that I did great! I truly could not have done it without surrendering to relaxing and breathing. During transition the contractions were incredibly painful, but I did not make a peep. I just closed my eyes and deeply relaxed and took long slow breathes. I never once asked for drugs or an epidural. The truth is, I didn’t even think about it. I was busy at this very important work and was deeply focused on the task at hand. I am SOOOO HAPPY with our birth story this time around, unlike my previous two deliveries. I am 45 years old now, and don’t know if we will have any more children, so if this should be my last birthing experience, I am so glad that it was a positive and fufilling one. We left the hospital exactly 3 hours after giving birth (this is the shortest amount of time allowable by the hospital and only for completely healthy mommies and babies). We were at the hospital 3 1/2 hours prior to the birth, and 3 hours after. We went and picked up our other two boys at our Rabbi’s house and all went home together to enjoy our new baby as a family! It was so wonderful to see our boys holding our newest son.
Thank you for all of your help and support!
Deborah (London, Ontario) May 2010
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Our darling Christopher is here. It was a magical moment. He was so aware, instantly looking at us and looking to feed.
We have continued to discuss the birthing experience. I feel so empowered and wouldn’t have changed anything. I am a bit sad it is over because it was such a special, intimate time but we have this wonderful memory about our experience. Thank you for your time and teaching us the Bradley method. We felt so informed and in control of our decisions, we now can’t imagine it any other way.
I often think back to his birth day and remark on the miracle of birth. We feel fortunate that we were able to learn the Bradley method and have a natural childbirth. We both believe that it has contributed to his awareness. He knew who we were the minute he entered into this world. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us every snowy Monday night, it significantly contributed to making our birth experience exceptional.
Kathryn and Richard (Toronto) February 2010
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To me, the event of birth means the beginning not only of life, but also of motherhood and fatherhood. It is easy to see how incomplete birth can be when the very people that began this melody of life are not together, when it is time to enter into the next stage of life.
Every hour of The Bradley Course helped prepare us for what we encountered. We did it – healthy mommy, healthy baby, proud husband and father. I don’t think we can thank you enough Anna, for helping us achieve such a memorable, peaceful and wonderful journey of the birth of our son.
Lennil (Brampton) 2009
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The birth of our second child was slowly approaching and we were nervous about labour and delivery. We heard about the Bradley Method and enrolled with Anna at Birth 2 Enjoy. We were hesitant, because we had already had a baby and knew all about the complications that could arise during child birth.
From the first class on, Anna lovingly taught us about caring for our baby while in utero, by means of a healthy diet, exercise and by practicing relaxation techniques. The second half of the pregnancy went extremely well with the knowledge we had gained.
When it came time to deliver our son, we were prepared and confident. We told the hospital our wish to have a natural childbirth with my husband as my primary caregiver during labour. They respected our wishes and we were given the space and time we needed to labour.
When Rhys was born naturally we were both incredibly proud of each other and how we were able to accomplish this feat. We could never have done this without taking our classes. We were prepared to deal with the obstacles we faced and we had the most beautiful experience. Giving birth is hard work and is a serious task, but being prepared took the fear away and helped us to anticipate what was required of us.
We feel strongly that taking this course should be mandatory for all parents. It trained us for a natural childbirth and helped us have a healthy, happy, strong baby. Anna was kind, patient and informative and always gave 100% through our classes. Thanks to Birth 2 Enjoy and Anna for enabling one of the most wonderful experiences of our lives!
L. & C. Keswick, ON 2009
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