Kaelyn and Nick-a Healing VBAC *trigger warning-Loss*

As I’m sitting in a glider, feeding a newborn baby at 3a.m. in the calmness of the night, I’ll begin my birth story of Madelyn Nicole.  I’ve been trying to sit down to write the birth story but I found the starting point hard. To be honest, her birth story began 5 years ago (February 2015) when we welcomed our first daughter, Riley Elizabeth, into this world. My pregnancy with Riley was simple and perfect, but her delivery was complicated and traumatizing. During my labor with Riley, I came down with an infection and high fever, and towards the end of pushing, her heart rate dropped. It took the hospital staff 20 minutes to resuscitate her, and after 17 days with her in the NICU we decided to take her off life support to go to Heaven after she was declared brain dead.  Dead, a harsh and unfair term to use for an infant loss, and still a term I refuse to use for Riley leaving earth. She peacefully passed away as she only knew tremendous love.

In January 2016, my husband (Nick) and I found out I was pregnant with our rainbow baby, another girl, Charlotte Elizabeth. Throughout my pregnancy, I suffered from PPA and PTSD due to losing Riley. I chose to have a c-section at 38 weeks because mentally I wasn’t well for the pregnancy to continue, and I couldn’t imagine trying a vaginal delivery again. My amazing doctor, Dr. Paoloni, was understanding and made it my choice, which I’m so thankful for to this day. Charlotte’s delivery was so calm and what I truly believe to be a gentle c-section.

Over the years, Charlotte healed our hearts with her bubbly and strong personality, infectious smile, and downright sweetness. She might never understand how she healed us, but she’ll always know she’s tremendously loved.. even through the toddler meltdowns.

In 2018, Nick and I started talking about another baby. I continued to go back and forth on if I wanted another child. I was out of the state of fear and anxiety for a few years now, and I never wanted to go back to that place of feeling helpless. I also didn’t want another c-section. The recovery was long and difficult for me. Years later I still had pain/bloat around my incision. I need to add that C-section mommas are warriors!  Finally, one day in late December, I decided to go off birth control; however, it still took months (almost half a year actually) before I knew I was ready. We never really decided to go for it. I think deep down I didn’t want to admit I really wanted another baby in case I couldn’t get pregnant.

In July 2019, I found out I was pregnant at my annual exam. I was shocked but I was mentally healthy and extremely excited.  I knew I wanted to attempt a VBAC and told my doctor my birth plan from the beginning. He was 100% on board and supportive... thank you Dr. Paoloni! This pregnancy was the roughest on my body due to a lingering back injury and catching anything Charlotte brought home; however, it was such a joyful and loving pregnancy. I was calm and at ease.  Again, Charlotte truly healed so much pain in my heart from losing Riley.

Nick and I came up with a birth plan. I read books, reached out to my local mom group about birth support, and finally decided to look into hiring a doula. That’s where we met Sarah. She was the only doula we face to face interviewed, but when you know, you know! Between the doula prenatal appointments, my healthy pregnancy, a wonderful medical support team and care plans for Charlotte set, I felt set my birth plan was what I envisioned. But, COVID-19 hit and shut down our country – actually the world - 3 weeks before my due date.

Restaurants shut down, people started working from home, schools closed, people lost their jobs, and hospitals implemented a no visitor policy meaning Sarah couldn’t be there physically for my labor. There were unknowns if birth partners would be allowed. Luckily, they were rumors. I stalked St. Francis’ COVID-19 page daily to make sure I was up to date on their policies.  We adjusted and adapted to the current situation and decided we could still get Sarah’s support through FaceTime. Not ideal, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The morning of March 30, I was driving alone to my OB appt for my 39 week scan. This was the scan we were going to have Charlotte and both grandmothers attend. It was the first ultrasound Nick missed out of the three girls.  Madelyn was measuring right on track. Everything looked favorable so my doctor did a membrane sweep. That definitely got some strong contractions going throughout the day. I finished the work day then went for a 4 mile brisk walk, worked through The Three Sisters moves, took a bath, etc. That kicked things up but still things weren’t progressing. I tried to get some sleep but woke up about every 30 minutes to a contraction. I felt my water would break any second but, to my disappointed, the next morning (March 31) I still wasn’t in active labor and only exhausted. So, I chugged along with the day with the help of coffee. I worked from home while bouncing on my exercise ball because that helped with the contractions. I’ll say, getting through conference calls while having contractions and acting normal is a lot harder than you realize! I took a walk during lunch and another at night. I even had a glass or two of wine 😉. Still nothing. Still no sleep for two nights in a row. I was exhausted.

Finally, on April 1, I called Dr. Paoloni  - much to Nick’s request - to see if there was anything else I could do to get this moving. This labor was turning into a long early or prodromal labor like Riley’s. I was on track to beat the family record for longest labor... a record I already held. Dr. Paolini had me come in to check my progress, which was just a little. Since I had a long early labor with Riley we didn’t really know if that’s what predisposed me to an infection, so to play it safe I was admitted for an induction. I wanted active labor to happen naturally, but the safety of Madelyn was my top priority.

I called my mom up to head over to our house, called Nick to get his bags ready, and I drove home to prep a few last minute things. I cried hard driving home. Charlotte wasn’t going to be our only living child at home. It wasn’t about to be just us girls. It finally hit me.  When I returned home, I set things at work, ate lunch with Charlotte, and we were off to have a baby!!

When we arrived at the hospital around 1:30 p.m., we got the COVID-19 screening and went up to the Labor and Delivery. When we first walked in, we saw the first doctor who was a part of my labor with Riley sitting at the front desk. I started to get a little emotional but Nick calmed me down and reassured me it wasn’t some foresight of bad circumstances. I stated my concerns then pushed it out of my head and focused on the positives of being in the same hospital where Riley was born. A hospital I even avoided driving by for years. I focused on Riley’s presence and her watching over her baby sisters.  She’s their guardian angel after all.

My day nurse, Tara, started me on fluids and when I was about halfway through they’d start the Pitocin. One of my birth requests, I wanted Nick and I to have our normal everyday humor. One thing I love about Nick is his sense of humor even if there are days I get annoyed. He always knows how to make a good joke but he’s the kindest man I know. While we waited for the Pitocin, Nick hung my birth affirmation banner and we got the room set up. 

Around 2:45 p.m. Tara started the Pitocin while we were FaceTiming with Sarah. I followed Sarah’s advice to rest as much as possible while I still could because soon I wound not be resting. I took about a 2-3hr nap, kept waking between contractions, but it felt refreshing. Around 5:15 p.m., Dr. P checked me again. Only 3cm, 80% effaced, and station -2. He broke my water. From there, things got intense. Nick ordered dinner and I wouldn’t suggest any husband eat chicken wings and fries while your wife is in labor. I kicked him out of the room until he finished.. and he had to brush his teeth.. twice.

I don’t know if it was back labor, my back injury flaring up, the Pitocin, or a combination but my contractions were all throughout my back.  I felt I couldn’t relax my back and I was getting sharp pains throughout.  Around 7:15 p.m., I decided I wanted the epidural. My plan was to go as long as possible without it but I couldn’t relax enough and my back was in a lot of pain and tension. I birthed on the birth ball as long as I could handle and even tried the shower but none helped the back tightness. The contractions themselves were tolerable but the back tightness was very painful. I also was only 4cm and 80% effaced... slow going. Between a long early labor and the back pain, the epidural was a God send. I received it around 11:15 p.m. and instantly felt at peace.

Sarah recommended Nick and I both sleep for the next 2 hrs before changing positions. Sarah helped guide us through the Safe Position for a Mother with an epidural to make sure I continued to switch positions and was in ideal positions to move Madelyn into the birth canal.   Nick and I actually slept until about 4:30 a.m. which felt refreshing after 2 nights of little sleep. This epidural was different from the one I received with Riley. With Riley, I couldn’t feel anything. I didn’t know when I was having a contraction or tell if I could push properly. The epidural with Madelyn, I could still feel all the pressure and tightness but none of the pain. I could also still move my legs. The anesthesiologist was very particular but I’ll take that with how good he was at administering the epidural! 

I woke up at 4:30 because I had a strong urge to push. I wasn’t sure if the epidural was wearing off since I had so much pressure and I asked Nick to call the nurse. The nurse checked to make sure it wasn’t Madelyn’s head causing the pressure, it wasn’t, so she called Dr. Paoloni.  Dr. Paoloni got to our room around 4:45 and I was ready to have a baby! I was given the option to start pushing right away or wait 20-30 minutes until Madelyn came a little further down into the birth canal, due to the constant pressure, I decided to start pushing and did with the next contraction.  I kept thinking of everything that was on my birth affirmation banner – Charlotte hugs, Riley, Colbie (our dog), breastfeeding Madelyn, skin to skin with Madelyn, and a VBAC.  

Somewhere around 5:30-5:40 am, a woman named Tammy came in. She helps prepare the babies bed and helps clean the baby.  Tammy actually worked for a hospice group, Noah’s Children, when we lost Riley and it was really nice seeing a familiar face.  I felt this calmness come over me when I saw Tammy and she asked if I was ok with her being in the delivery room because of Riley. I knew it was a sign from Riley that she was present and everything was going to be ok.  I pushed for around an hour, until Dr. Paoloni came back in and we were about to have a baby!  

Madelyn crowned at 5:53 AM, and she was born at 5:56 AM!  Madelyn didn’t even wait a second before she cried, so my heart didn’t skip a beat waiting to hear that first cry and she was placed on my chest instantly.  “I did it!  I did it!” I kept saying with tears as I looked at this beautiful little girl who I instantly fell in love with and felt my heart only grow larger.  While I felt so much love for our third – and last – baby, I also felt so empowered.  I DID IT!  I had a VBAC! I had a VBAC during a pandemic while in the hospital where we lost our first daughter! There was something empowering about having a baby in the beginning of the pandemic.  Maybe it was a combination of overcoming my fears from a traumatic first labor and not letting the pandemic overtake my joy I had all throughout my pregnancy with Madelyn.  

I don’t truly know, but I do know Madelyn helped me feel healed physically and trust my body.   All of our girls taught me (and Nick as well) something.  Riley taught me how to not take life for granted and to be more empathetic towards others because you don’t know other’s struggles or battles.  She also brought Nick and I closer together and made our marriage stronger, in a way I didn’t realize we needed.  Charlotte, our rainbow baby, helped heal our hearts through her giggles, her cries (yes, even her colic days), her snuggles, our bond through breastfeeding, and her constant “will you play with me?”. Nick and I knew to always be thankful for Charlotte even during those rough newborn colic days and even now during the toddler power battles.  Madelyn taught me my heart could only grow.  She gave me confidence and gave me trust in my body.  Each girl’s story on how they entered this world is beautiful, even if there was tragedy at the beginning of our parenting journey.

Carly and Garrett-Empowering Pandemic Birth

Carly shares the birth of their second child born at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020:

On Sunday night, April 5, I went to bed feeling completely normal. I woke up at three AM feeling the cramps that have come to me sometimes at night for the past week or so. They were moderate, so I tried some deep breathing, which usually helps me get past them and fall back to sleep. But these cramps persisted.

Still thinking not much of it, I got some water from the kitchen around 3:30, and Garrett stirred a bit and asked if I was alright. I told him that I was having cramps, but I thought they’d go away.

By 4, though, they had not subsided and actually started to feel a little stronger. I told Garrett that I was going to start timing them. I got out my contraction timer app and started clocking them at 4:17 am. The contractions themselves were already about a minute long. Intervals were hovering between 6-8 minutes, but seemed to be trending downward pretty quickly.

I remember having these contractions mostly in bed, focusing on my hypnobirthing breathing. I think Garrett also turned on the “Rainbow Meditation” from hypnobirthing.

At 5:15, I lost my mucous plug. Contractions were between 3 and 5 minutes apart.

At 5:18, I called Mom, who answered with a strong and steady voice. I told her that I thought this was it, and I asked her to come over at 6. 

At 5:25, I called the midwife on call at VCU. Holly answered the call and told me that I should continue timing and come in when I felt like I didn’t want to be at home anymore. She suggested contractions of 1 minute or more, 3 minutes apart, for an hour or more. I told her that I was disappointed that she’d be getting off shift at 8, because I wanted her so badly to be the midwife who delivered my baby. She told me Melanie would be great. Of course, this is the only midwife I had not yet met!

We then called our doula Sarah and told her the lay of the land. She said she’d be over soon.

When Mom arrived, I was in the shower, and Rose had started to stir, having seen our lights on. Contractions by this point were between 2 and 4 minutes apart. If it had just been up to G and me, we would likely have gone to the hospital at this point. But we were still waiting on getting a doula’s professional opinion on that, and I had imagined more labor at home, so I had some contractions in the shower and in my bedroom as I got dressed.

Rose was sitting on the couch with Mom, watching Curious George and eating a cinnamon raisin bagel. When she would hear me groaning, she’d say, “What’d you say, Mommy?” And I knew we needed to get her out of there sooner rather than later. I told Gar to express as much to Mama, and they started to clear out. Rose seemed happy to be leaving with her LaLa, who told her that they could go and look at Yvette the doll’s trunk of clothes. Mom waved from her car and shouted words of encouragement. 

I got dressed.

Sarah arrived at 6:30 or so. We tried a few different positions: first polar bear in the living room, then leaning on the ball in the living room. All the while, she was touching my forehead to remind me to stay relaxed. I tried to focus on my breathing. We transitioned into the bedroom to try some contractions side-lying, and things seemed to slow down. My intervals were more like 7 minutes again, but when I reached a contraction, it would last for more than 2 minutes. I’d say “no!” And Sarah would say “Yes, say, yes.”

Gar was playing his playlists and was there giving counterpressure. Eventually we just played Bon Iver.

Around 7:30, Sarah tried to get me to go to the bathroom, but I could not bring myself to sit down. Every time I started to do so, a contraction would come on. I told Sarah that I was starting to feel pressure.

She said: “ok, do you want to go back into the living room, or do you feel that you want to get to the hospital?” Of course, amid fears of the virus, I wanted to stay home for as long as possible, but I really, really was dreading that car ride and that experience of getting past the check-in with all of those COVID precautions. So I said it was time to go.

We got into the car at 8:17 and plugged in the address into Waze. 14 minutes away. Gar called the midwives on call to let them know we were on our way.

The car ride was the low point. I started to feel pressure like I needed to push. After a couple of contractions, I was pushing right there in the car. I literally could not stop myself from doing it.  I saw the minutes tick down on Waze, and I looked at the side of the road and imagined when Garrett and I would have to pull over so that the baby could be delivered there. He said just to hang on and hold him in!

Sarah got in front of us after we got off the interstate, and she led the way to the parking deck (thank goodness). Not many cars due to the restricted visitor policies, so we got a close spot! We reached the temperature check, and they tried to give me a wheelchair, but I didn’t want the germs, so I refused. Meanwhile, contractions kept coming, and I would moan with pushes that I couldn’t stop. Sarah and Garrett were begging me to get into a wheelchair. The security guard who rode up with us in the elevator (because he couldn’t get our “temperature checked” wristbands on fast enough for Sarah—“she’s gonna have this baby right here if you don’t let us up now!”—) gave us a wheelchair, which G and Sarah disinfected with some wipes and said they’d push along “just in case.”

Another contraction hit, and Sarah could see that I was not going to make it to Labor and Delivery in time. She and Garrett convinced me to get in the wheelchair, and Sarah pushed at a running speed to Labor and Delivery on the 6th floor. It was 8:47when we arrived. The front desk asked to see my ID, and after a quick glance at it, they let me back. My nurses, Derri and Karen, were standing in the hallway and ushered me quickly into a room. 

The midwife was not yet there, because we had arrived so quickly. It was instead the OB who was on for the floor, a resident who we later learned was UVA class of 2012, Dr. Wheeler. She asked if I wanted to stand or try to get on the bed to be checked. I took off my shorts and managed to get on the bed. I remember her checking me and saying “Complete.” Someone (Sarah? OB? Nurse?) said that when the next contraction came, I could push. I was in it right away, and it felt so good to let myself push after trying to hold them back for so long.

I was geared up for a long bout of pushing, so I was reserving some strength. By now, I feel like my contractions were all running together. I could hear from the voices around me that they wanted me to push more, and I remember thinking: “Oh, I guess this is really it, and I should actually try to push harder.” I heard someone saying that they could see the head. I pushed a few more times, and they told me that the head was out. I knew then that the body would come on the next push, so I gave it, and out he came! He went straight to my chest and was crying right away—such a comforting sound! A loud and lusty cry. He was born at 8:51 am, only 4 minutes after we reached the L&D floor! 

I was so relieved and excited and amazed that I had delivered a baby naturally—and that labor was actually OVER. Knowing that this is our last child, I had the thought of: “our family is complete now” and “I never have to do that again.”

He rested on my chest, and we waited for the placenta to be delivered. They showed it to me when it came out. Gar cut the cord.

The OB resident is a surgeon, so they decided to stitch me up for my second-degree tear.

We took pictures with everyone and rehashed everything with Sarah. It was such a good feeling, laughing together about how quickly it had gone, and how stubborn I was about the wheelchair, and how well I had done. It was the best feeling to hold my son—he was perfect, and huge! 

After a while, Melanie arrived, and more checks continued. They weighed and measured Callum (8 lbs 12 oz, 21 inches), and Garrett texted the family to let them all know the good news. 

Before I knew it, we were in our recovery room, ready to embrace our first few hours with our precious son.

VCU interviewed Carly about giving birth during the pandemic.

It was such an honor to be able to support this family at their birth and postpartum especially during such a stressful time in the world. Thank you to VCU for being so supportive of doulas and allowing us in the hospital beginning on the first day of the pandemic.

Laura and Mathew-A First Baby for All

Laura shares the birth of their first child born in July 2017:

On the morning of Wednesday July 26th, I went to see Corina. I was four days over my “due date” with my baby girl. The past couple weeks had been temperatures of over 90 degrees and baby girl had already dropped. I had that “I’m ready to have this baby” feeling and it was very obvious to most people who encountered me (especially since I did not complain AT ALL my entire pregnancy… until about 38 weeks that is.) Corina (midwife) was going to do another membrane sweep on me (per my request) and start me on some herbs to hopefully get labor started. The night before I had done castor oil. Corina starts the membrane sweep and during it she mentioned to me “your bag is nice and bulgy” and not a minute later, my water broke. Corina was surprised and started apologizing stating how she didn’t mean to do that and she felt awful because of how strongly she believes in informed consent. She told me how that it had never happened before and that usually if a mother’s water needs to be broken that there is a special tool for it and she had never been able to do it with just her hand. I told her that it was fine and I wasn’t upset. I said it probably meant it was going to happen soon anyway and that’s why it happened by accident. She sent me home with some herbs to do and instructions to do them for a couple hours and then nap and then repeat. She also suggested I do the Miles Circuit. I did as she said and went to sleep that night.

My “labor” started at 1 A.M. on Thursday July 27, 2017. That was when I woke up with my first “real” contraction. It wasn’t very strong and so after getting up to pee and drinking some water, I went back to sleep. I woke up again at 4 A.M. with surges coming about every 10 minutes and they were lasting about 45 seconds. They weren’t very strong either, but they were enough to make me grab Mathew’s arm while he was sleeping until they were gone. Every now and then, my grip on his arm would wake him up and he’d ask if I was ok. I told him I was fine and that the surges were getting a little stronger, but that I was fine. He was debating on whether he should go to work or not. I told him it was up to him, that I’d feel bad if nothing happened and he stayed home for nothing. We eventually decided it would be better if he stayed home.

I was scheduled to go to the birth center at 9 A.M. anyway because of my water breaking the morning before when I was at the birth center. I stayed awake and continued having my surges which had gotten to be about seven minutes apart by 7 A.M. and they were getting stronger, so I had Mathew call Corina. She said to come in at 9 like we had planned. At about 7:30 we were getting ready to leave and throwing the last few things in our bag. I was walking down the hallway in our house and had the strongest surge I had all morning. It stopped me in my tracks with how suddenly it came and how strong it was and I leaked a bit of fluid. I went to the bathroom and I had to change my underwear which were soaked from the fluid despite having a pad on. We finished getting ready and got in the car, it was about 8 A.M. at that point. The ride is generally at least an hour from our house to the birth center so I got as comfortable as I could in our car.

The surges were getting stronger and closer together. I had Mathew turn the AC in the car all the way up and I was still sweating. I felt so overheated. The surges were about four minutes apart and lasting about a minute. I had Mathew call Sarah (our doula), and Cheyenne (our birth photographer) to let them know where we were with the surges and that we were headed to the birth center. The surges were getting harder for me to manage with being in a small car and having a long ride even though Mathew was getting us there as fast as he could safely.  I started saying my birth affirmations out loud to myself to get my mind off of it and tried to do some of the breathing exercises I learned in hypnobirthing. I also had told Mathew a few times to get me out of the car and to the birth center. We were at that last traffic light before arriving and I told Mathew to call or text Corina that we were there since we would be in a minute and I wasn’t sure if the door was open.

We arrived at the birth center at 8:45 A.M. When we got there Cheyenne were already there and Sarah arrived not long after. Corina checked me and I was about 4-5cm dilated. I told her I felt like I needed to push even though I knew it wasn’t time to. She got a birth ball on the bed and had me get on my knees on the bed and lean over the ball and when I had surges make a low groaning noise. It helped some but at the surges were getting stronger and it was getting more difficult to stay focused on it. Corina tried to do a hip squeeze for me, but it didn’t feel good or seem to help me personally. She wanted me to do a urine sample but when I tried I couldn’t go much. I had to lean all the way back to pee and couldn’t catch the few drops that came out.

Corina had given me some herbs to promote relaxation and Sarah was trying different things to make me more comfortable. She started swaying with me and that seemed to help a lot. There had been multiple times I had said “I can’t” by that point. The surges were feeling so strong and I couldn’t seem to focus enough to use my hypnobirthing breathing a whole lot. It was probably about 9:30 A.M. at that point and Corina said that she usually doesn’t do this but that if I wanted she’d fill the tub for me if I wanted and that it might help. I told her I’d try it and she started the tub. Mathew and Sarah both swayed with me and did some light touch massage to help relax me. Sarah tried to say some of my affirmations to me and have me repeat them, but I didn’t feel like talking much.

The tub is big and took probably 15-20 minutes to fill. I got in the tub on my knees where my belly was in the water and leaned over the edge. They put a cool towel behind my neck because I was still feeling hot. This made me feel much better during my surges and I continued to sway my hips in the water because that helped. After a little bit my surges got incredibly strong and there was no way to stop my body from pushing. I told Sarah and Mathew to go get Corina because I felt there was no way to not push at that point. My body was instinctively pushing and there was no preventing it.

Corina had come in and I told her what I was feeling. She told me to turn so she could check me. It took me and minute to turn due to feeling like I needed to push, but once I did she checked me and said that it was time to have the baby! She checked for the baby’s heartbeat and everything was good. I had sat in the tub with my feet against the other side of it. Corina told me with the next surge to push. I did and screamed some with the first couple of pushes. Corina said with the next push to tuck my chin and push while trying to not tense up and scream. I did that with the next push and it felt more effective. I was feeling a lot of pressure and Corina asked if I wanted to feel her head. I asked her if she had a lot of hair and Corina replied “I’d say so.” I told her I wanted to feel her, but I was worried if I felt her I’d freak out and lose focus. She asked if I wanted Mathew to feel her and I said if he wants to, but he needs to hurry because I needed to push her out.

Corina told Mathew what to do and he felt her head. When the next surge came, I pushed and her head was out. Corina had to tell me to slow down at this point because I was still pushing and she said the squeezing is good for her. When the next surge had come I pushed and our Joanna Grace was born at 10:11 A.M.

Corina had to get the cord unwrapped from around her and then handed her to me and she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Mathew was right there behind me the whole time and I just held her and we both talked to her for a while. It was the most amazing thing. Corina told me that first time moms usually don’t go through labor that fast and she was surprised. She thought we wouldn’t have had a baby until that evening and that I went through labor fast and that’s why everything felt as strong and powerful as it did. I figured that meant Joanna was just as ready to meet us as we were to meet her. Just like that our perfect baby girl was here.

After a while, Mathew cut the cord and I birthed the placenta standing up. Corina rinsed me off. I felt so cold and was shivering at that point. She helped me out the tub and got wrapped in a warm towel. Mathew and I laid in the comfy bed and did skin to skin with our Joanna. Mathew had run and got us food. After a while, Sarah offered to hold Joanna for a bit so we could nap. We tried to get Joanna to latch to nurse, but she wasn’t having it and would just fall asleep. Corina had later done her newborn exam and before weighing her we all tried to guess how much she weighed. Sarah guessed 7lbs 15oz, Mathew guessed about the same, I guessed 8lbs 3oz, and Corina guessed 8lbs 5 oz. It turned out Joanna was 9lbs 8oz and 21 inches long! I was surprised, she looked so little! Sarah came back in the room with me while Corina sutured my 2nd degree tear. We had come back and tried to get Joanna to latch again, but she was still too sleepy. After a few more hours of relaxing and spending time with Joanna, Corina had come in and went over some more stuff with us and we went home around 6 P.M. Baby Joanna latched on once we got her home and nursed like a pro.

It was truly an honor to support this family throughout their pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum!