When I first found out I was pregnant, my husband and I were pretty excited. This would be our first child and also first grandchild and great grandchild on both sides of the family. We made a lot of people very happy with our news. I started reading everything I could on prenatal care and childbirth. I just assumed the group of gynecologists I had been seeing for my yearly exams would be just fine. A friend told me she had read Dr. Bradley's book on natural childbirth and it has really helped her during labor. I started reading the book and everything made sense to me. I found a Bradley instructor online and even though the class would be an hour and a half drive once a week for about 8 weeks, we made the commitment. We very much enjoyed the class and felt prepared for the birth. When I told my gynecologist about wanting to have a natural childbirth without any drugs, she basically rolled her eyes and said a lot women say that and end up getting an epidural. I did not like her attitude, but thought that I would show her!!. A few months later, Errin and I took our birth plan in to discuss it with her. She pretty much disagreed with the whole thing and told us to rewrite it. After we left her office, I was very upset and thought my idea of our baby's birth would be shattered by this insensitive doctor. Erin was also upset and set out to find another way. His cousin had mentioned she was having midwives deliver their baby. Errin got on the Internet and searched for midwives in the area. He found the website for Family Nurse Midwives and called Sue. She was able to get us an appointment with Gretchen that afternoon!!! We had to move quick because I was 6 weeks away from my due date!! When we met with Gretchen, I immediately felt comfortable and knew this was the right choice. That evening we ran into Errin's cousin at a restaurant. We told her we switched to the midwives and she was so happy because they had such a great experience with them. When we heard that we were certain this was the right choice!! My due date was December 10th. My grandmother had said the full moon was on the 8th, so everyone was wondering if I might go a few days early. Sure enough, my labor started at 1 AM on December 9th. My contractions were 7 minutes apart from the start and were pretty intense I tried lying down to do the relaxation techniques we learned in class, but there was no way I could lay or sit. Walking and pelvic rocks were the only thing I could stand. Errin could not believe the contractions were this close. At about 5 AM, Errin paged the midwives and told Gretchen my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. She said she would meet us at the hospital in half an hour. Errin started packing the car with our bags, meanwhile I was getting very impatient!! The car ride was absolutely horrible. It took us 30 minutes to get to the hospital and sitting was unbearable. We got to the hospital around 6 AM. After we got checked in, Gretchen checked me. I was 7 centimeters!! I was so glad because if I had only been 2 centimeters, I would have been devastated. The nurse needed me to get on the monitor for a few minutes and I had to have antibiotics since I had tested positive for Group B Strep. Sitting in the bed was awful. After about 15 minutes, I was able to get up. I got in the shower and that seemed to help a little. My back was killing me so Errin tried to rub it with a tennis ball. That felt even worse. Leaning on Errin and getting in the shower were the two things that helped me the most. Gretchen was very helpful with suggesting positions. Finally I felt like pushing. I tried the squat bar, but by this time I was so exhausted my legs could not take squatting. I ended up on my back, which was the one position I did not think I would end up doing. Gretchen broke my water to hurry things along. It seemed as if I had a steady trickle throughout my labor, so I do not think there was much left.

The pushing was the hardest part. I think I pushed for two and a half hours. Bryce was born at 10:49AM. He weighed 7lbs 11ozs and was 21 inches long. He was just beautiful even with his little cone shaped head!!!

I felt so proud of myself for not having any medication during labor. Errin was a great coach. The nursing staff at Mercy Jeannette Hospital are wonderful!! Mary Ufnar, the lactation consultant, was very helpful and available to answer questions during the first few weeks of nursing. I am so thankful we took the Bradley classes and switched to the midwives at the last minute!!!

Sarah Miller, Blairsville.