Jacksonville natural childbirth moms

artsypriscilla

Hi Mommies! I'm new to the message boards, 29 weeks pregnant with our first baby (a boy!), and was wondering if there are any natural childbirth moms on here from the greater Jax area.  By "natural childbirth" I mean planning for no medication.  My husband and I are taking Bradley Method classes now (we LOVE the classes) and I'm curious if any of you are learning the Bradley Method too, who your classes are with, where you plan to deliver (hospital, birthing center or at home), etc.  Thanks!

Kristin&Adam

I'm a Bradley mom I did my classes with Cecilia Mitchell Miller.  I absolutely LOVED them, and she was a wonderful teacher.  I also used a doula, Heather Harper Palmer.  I am pretty sure she's out on maternity leave now though. 

I delivered at Baptist South, Dr. Greenhaw (he's with the North Florida OB/GYN office attached to the hospital) delivered B.

I had a fabulous experience, here my birth story if you're interested - [link deleted]

few

I'm a "natural" mom, but did not use bradley. I purchased Hypnobirthing, but didn't get to use that either b/c ds came early (it actually arrived the day I delivered). Just wanted to say "IT CAN BE DONE!". I felt I had little encouragement from family/friends on my decision to go natural. Even the during delivery I felt most of the Dr.'s were pushing the epidural. I delivered at St. Vincent's with Dr. Jago, who was awesome & encouraged me to go natural. Anyway, Good Luck & Congrats!

Kristin&Adam

few:

Just wanted to say "IT CAN BE DONE!". I felt I had little encouragement from family/friends on my decision to go natural. Even the during delivery I felt most of the Dr.'s were pushing the epidural.

I got the same.  Thankfully I had a few friends and my mom who were a huge support system for me, and of course DH.  If you set your mind to it, you can totally do it.  I think what really helped me was knowing where I was in labor and knowing what my body was doing and why.  Having a purpose for the pain seemed to make it more bearable.  Honestly, it never got as bad as everyone says it does.  Did it hurt? Yeah, of course, but it was never anything that I felt like I couldn't handle.  The pushing part actually didn't hurt, by the time I got to the hospital I was fully dilated and DH and the doula had been telling me not to push (apparently they didn't want to deliver B on the side of 95, haha!), so when they told me I could finally push, it was a HUGE relief!

Good luck and we're here if you have any questions!!

artsypriscilla

Thanks, ladies! You're both an encouragement.  I feel great about our decision to go natural, I just hope the Dr. there at delivery will be supportive and not try to push meds.  We're planning to deliver at Baptist South too, same practice of doctors as you, Kristin.  Cecilia's Bradley class was full so we ended up with Tracy Dixon and really like her.  A friend took classes with Cecilia and liked her too.  We're also going to an informational night at Fruitful Vine in a couple of weeks b/c I've been considering switching to their birthing center, but I'm nervous about switching so late in the pregnancy.  I feel good about most of the Docs in the group at Baptist South but have heard that one in particular isn't as supportive of natural childbirth and expressed to a natural childbirth friend that he is "just going to do what needs to be done anyways", so I'm just making sure I've done my homework so I can feel good about my decision.  Our next appointment is with that doctor so we'll see how I feel after meeting him and getting to ask some questions.  I'm also starting to consider having a doula to be an advocate for the kind of birth we want, if we stick with the hospital, and to have someone else there besides my husband (I don't want any other family in there during labor...they'd just stress me out), but I haven't told my hubby yet.  He's been very supportive but I hate to spring ANOTHER baby expense on him until I feel more confident about the decision.  If you have any other doulas to recommend, let me know.  Thanks!

Kristin&Adam

I could have written that almost word for word two years ago

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the doctor you heard isn't supportive is Dr. Paulk?  I heard the same thing.  I talked to him about this at length at one of my appointments and told him that I was planning to deliver med-free and I needed to know if he had a problem with it so I could switch practices if he did.  We spoke for almost an hour, he assured me that we would try.  He said we have to work together - he needed to know that if it was truly an emergency, I would be okay with the interventions, and I was.  I just didn't want them shoved down my throat for no reason.  Dr. Greenhaw ended up delivering B and he was AMAZING.  I had a nearly 10 pound baby with no episiotomy and no tearing.  You just have to advocate for yourself.  When you talk to them (and I strongly suggest talking to every one of them prior to delivery) about it, don't tell them how awful the interventions are, just let them know your reasons for wanting to try to deliver med-free, and if a problem comes up, you're totally willing to work out something that you're both comfortable with.  But only if there's a problem.  I got a positive reaction from every one of them when I approached it that way.

I've heard wonderful things about Fruitful Vine - one of my good friends delivered there and had a fabulous experience.  My doula and lactation consultant actually work out of their office.  Personally, I wanted to deliver in a hospital - I wasn't comfortable with a 15 minute ambulance ride if an emergency came up.  It's all about what you and your DH are comfortable with!  

I 100% recommend having a doula.  My anxiety level went from like ten million percent to maybe 10% once our doula showed up.  I didn't want anyone in the delivery room either, and it was nice to have someone focused on ME and not just the labor/delivery part.  She kept giving me water between contractions, chap stick, rubbing my back - she could tell what I needed and did it and it made the experience SO much better.  She's out on maternity leave right now, but if you'd like I can email her and ask if she has any suggestions for you

GOOD LUCK!!!  We're here if you have ANY questions at all!!  You can totally do this

artsypriscilla

Actually, I haven't heard anything about Paulk...I don't think I've seen him yet but I'd have to look back at my notes.  I was referring to Dr. Connor.  I've since seen Dr. Connor and I have mixed feelings.  He wasn't resistant to our desire for a natural birth, and he seemed reasonable in his approach, but his answers were a little long-winded and just over half-way through my list of questions, he said "Let's save the rest for your next visit."  That irked me, because I want to ask each of the doctors mostly the same questions to get an idea of their attitude towards natural childbirth and how supportive they may or may not be, but overall he wasn't negative about going natural and seemed to have a realistic approach.  We are definitely asking our questions with plenty of respect and expressing that we understand the need for meds and other interventions in some situations, but we are asking how do they feel about x or what is their opinion of x.  I think we see Greenhaw next time, so I'm glad to hear you had a good experience with him.

I also dislike the idea of a drive from Fruitful Vine to the hospital if there's an emergency, and I'm leaning strongly towards the hospital, but I'm still going to attend the information night at FV and see what I think after that.  I've had one friend who delivered in their birthing center and two who've had home births with them, so I have a good opinion of them, I'm just trying to decide which option I prefer in the end.

Way to go with the almost 10 pounder and no episiotimy or tearing!  I hope I am so lucky if our boy is a big baby!  My husband is 6'6" and he and his sis were both over 9 lbs, so that's definitely been on my mind.  I was 7 lbs 7 oz so I'm hoping the baby will be average-sized at birth.

Your doula sounds great!  I'm sure hubby will do a great job as coach but I do think having someone else there will be a big help.  I'd love to hear her recommendations if you don't mind, since she's out for now.

Thanks!

Kristin&Adam

That would annoy me too.  I only met Dr. Connor one time, I don't really remember how he reacted to my questions.  Hopefully you'll like Dr. Greenhaw, he's delivered a few of my friends babies and we were all really pleased.

I emailed my doula and I'll let you know when I hear back from her