Who am I?

I'm sure I will go into more detail about each of my births but right now I'll start with a brief introduction.

I am L or Mrs. Baker. I am a 25 year old stay at home mother to three beautiful children, ages 3, 2, and 2 1/2 months. Online I refer to my kids as C, J, and E. C and E are my daughters and J is my son. I am married to my high school sweetheart and love of my life. He is my partner in life and best friend and I am so thankful for his love and support.

I have had three births. My first delivery in July 2007 was a planned necessary c-section with EXIT procedure. I was put under general anesthesia for the surgery (put to sleep) and my daughter C spent a week in the NICU. She was born at 38 weeks gestation and weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 21 3/4 inches long.

My second delivery in July 2008 was an unnecessary scheduled c-section 12 months and 2 days after my first. I didn't ask enough questions or do enough research and my son's life was put at risk. I thank God he was okay. J was born at 38 weeks 2 days gestation and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Before J's birth I thought I could trust every doctor to put the best interest of the patient first in every decision and learned unfortunately this is not the case. There are some trustworthy doctors still out there but they aren't all. I learned I have to put forth the effort and educate myself to make sure the doctors who are taking care of my family and I are truly doing what is best for us.

In 2010 I found out I was unexpectedly expecting after a miscarriage. I had been educating myself on birth options since my son's birth in 2008. I joined the Atlanta Chapter of ICAN (The International Cesarean Network)and found a supportive care provider in Dr. Joseph Tate.

I continued to research and plan for every possible situation that might come up in my delivery. I found an amazing doula, Talitha, who was also an ICAN member. My husband and I took an Intuitive Birth Class through BabySteps. I also kept a stack of my favorite birth books at my bed side. And in September at 40 weeks 3 days gestation E arrived after a fairly quick labor via natural VBA2C. She was 8lbs 11oz 20 inches long.

I am thankful for each of my children's births. All my children are perfect and healthy and their birth experiences have made me who I am today. Honestly I do still have some resentment over the unnecessary risks taken with my son's delivery but I have learned a lot from it and grown since it. I am looking forward to continuing to educate myself and talk with women who've been through all kinds of birth experiences.

I got my VBAC, now what?

This was the topic of last night's Atlanta ICAN meeting. We've done so much and worked so hard for our VBACs and we did it! So what happens now? How do we continue our birth activism?

Some ladies have gone on to become doulas and childbirth educators. Some have signed up to do volunteer work with ICAN. Some people try to inform their friends, family, and colleagues to stay as informed about their birth options.

As a stay at home mother of three I decided I would try to do the latter of these, sharing information through a blog. So that's the reason for this blog.

I am not a medical professional and I have no problem with cesareans when necessary. I do think in most cases vaginal delivery is the best option but not in all. I do have a problem with people not educating themselves before their births and just thinking "Oh it won't happen to me." I am planning to use this blog to share my birth stories, how I got to my VBA2C, and random information I find on VBAC, Cesarean, and Birth in general.

And I hope sharing my stories and thoughts can maybe help someone else get the best birth for them and their baby as well.