Jessica-

I've been meaning to email you for weeks! I was taking your prenatal class prior to having our little bambino - due date was Dec. 21, but the little fella decided to show up a few weeks early! I went into early labor Thursday night (Dec 9) active labor began Friday late afternoon and Paolo McLeod Morris Pesce was born at 1:16pm Saturday, December 11th.

We had originally decided upon a home birth with Leslie Stewart and her partner Elizabeth Dubbs as midwives. Leslie had the flu, so Elizabeth showed up once labor became active and was incredibly supportive. My doula was Margie Levy and she was great, she did Reiki when things got rough and it helped immensely.

We got to 8 1/2 cm's at home, and then Paolo decided to do some weird little flips - he finally ended up posterior which seemed to basically stop my progress - for whatever reason, he just couldn't get out that way. That was at about 2am on December 11th. Our midwife tried everything - herbs, breast pump, breaking my water, trying to move the cervix while I was pushing - but at 9am that morning nothing had changed and she recommended that we transfer to
the hospital.

My OB, the wonderful Susan Cohen, met us at Cedars and had a room ready. The whole gang - me, my husband PJ, Elizabeth and Margie traipsed into the room along with the nurse and Dr. Cohen. She also tried a number of things to try to turn the little guy over, but nothing doing. Unfortunately, after a few hours of that, the little guy started going into distress - he was just not recovering from the decelerations during contractions. Both the doctor and midwife had prepared me for what would happen during a c-section should it come to that - which it did. When it happened the third time, we rushed into surgery. Not really what I had in mind, but our guy was ok and that's what important.

It's a bit of a tale, but it definitely wouldn't stop me from recommending home birth to anyone - this little guy just decided not to come out that way - and I really was happy that I went through most of the labor at home. I definitely had trouble with the idea that I'd had a c-section - I did all the pre-natal yoga, hiked, did my cat/cows, all that stuff - but there are just some things you can't control. So many of my friends with kids had told me that you have to stay flexible - every birth is different and you've got to go with the flow - and now that it's all over, I'm just glad I have this fun litle guy to hang out with!

Thanks so much for the yoga and for the workshops you organized - both really helped me feel more prepared (and slightly calmer!). It's important for both mother and baby, and I absolutely appreciate all the hard work and heart that goes into what you do.

best of luck to all the up-and-coming Mamas.

many many thanks,

Susan

Leslie had the flu, so Elizabeth showed up once labor became active and was incredibly supportive. My doula was Margie Levy and she was great, she did Reiki when things got rough and it helped immensely.

We got to 8 1/2 cm's at home, and then Paolo decided to do some weird little flips - he finally ended up posterior which seemed to basically stop my progress - for whatever reason, he just couldn't get out that way. That was at about 2am on December 11th. Our midwife tried everything - herbs, breast pump, breaking my water, trying to move the cervix while I was pushing - but at 9am that morning nothing had changed and she recommended that we transfer to
the hospital.

My OB, the wonderful Susan Cohen, met us at Cedars and had a room ready. The whole gang - me, my husband PJ, Elizabeth and Margie traipsed into the room along with the nurse and Dr. Cohen. She also tried a number of things to try to turn the little guy over, but nothing doing. Unfortunately, after a few hours of that, the little guy started going into distress - he was just not recovering from the decelerations during contractions. Both the doctor and midwife had prepared me for what would happen during a c-section should it come to that - which it did. When it happened the third time, we rushed into surgery. Not really what I had in mind, but our guy was ok and that's what important.

It's a bit of a tale, but it definitely wouldn't stop me from recommending home birth to anyone - this little guy just decided not to come out that way - and I really was happy that I went through most of the labor at home. I definitely had trouble with the idea that I'd had a c-section - I did all the pre-natal yoga, hiked, did my cat/cows, all that stuff - but there are just some things you can't control. So many of my friends with kids had told me that you have to stay flexible - every birth is different and you've got to go with the flow - and now that it's all over, I'm just glad I have this fun litle guy to hang out with!

Thanks so much for the yoga and for the workshops you organized - both really helped me feel more prepared (and slightly calmer!). It's important for both mother and baby, and I absolutely appreciate all the hard work and heart that goes into what you do.

best of luck to all the up-and-coming Mamas.

many many thanks,

Susan