My Birth Stories
My daughter Celeste was born in April of 1994. I did not have Bradley® classes available in my area, but I studied materials that my sister gave me, and I ended up switching caregivers and birth location to get what I wanted. We drove to another city to give birth in a supportive hospital with a Certified Nurse Midwife. The labor was 4 hours long, and I had no interventions or tearing. She weighed 8 lb. 5 oz. and changed our lives forever! It was after this birth that I decided to become a Bradley® instructor and go through the training requirements (which included taking the series at some distance away).
After such a great (and short) birth experience with our first, we decided to research home birth options for our second baby. After more research, talk, and exploration of local choices, we decided on a planned, unassisted home birth. (Note: The Bradley Method® does not encourage Unassisted Births.) An unassisted birth generally means that only the family is present, and that there are no hired professionals at the birth. Our daughter was born after 5 hours of labor in October of 1996 and weighed 8 lb. 4 oz. Everything was perfect!
The Birth of Fielding Keith
Fielding is our 1st Alaskan baby. We also chose to give birth to him at home, unassisted, in April of 1999. This was my longest labor at 17 hours (but only 2 hours of hard labor), and my smallest baby at 7 lb. 7 oz. The birth went smoothly, and both of our girls were right there to witness their baby brother's entrance into the world. This was the first birth that I had any tearing, but it was only a small skin split and did not require any stitching.
The Birth of Claudia Simone
Claudia's birth represented a couple of firsts for us: my first waterbirth, and the first time we attempted to film a birth. She beat Fielding's labor as my longest - 23 hours start to finish with 2 1/2 hours of intensity. She weighed 8 lb. 2 oz. I caught her myself, which was thrilling beyond belief! There was no tearing, and all the kids were present again. She made her grand entrance in December of 2002.
The Birth of Scarlett Rosanne
We waited a long time for little Scarlett. Making her debut in May of 2007, she was 2 weeks + 2 days past her "due date". Like her sister before her, she was born in the water and we were able to catch the entire birth on video. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lb. 12 oz., and I did tear slightly when she whooshed out. Her labor was 11 hours and very easy.
