INTERNATIONAL CESAREAN AWARENESS NETWORK (ICAN)

 ICAN CHAPTERS IN GEORGIA - LOCAL VBAC SUPPORT GROUPS Hearing from other moms who have been there

VBAC SUCCESS - Stories

 "I was told through out my entire pregnancy that my baby would be too big and I would need another Cesarean, because my hips were apparently too narrow like a boy.  I did not want to believe that, I felt there had to be another way.  I contacted Corrinna after being referred by my cousin who had just had a natural birth and explained what was going on.  She explained to me that if I want things to be different this time, I really needed to do my research, get second opinions from care providers known to support VBAC and talk to other successful moms.  She was so kind to pass along numbers and information so I could do my homework.  Eventually I found a nice team of people ready to assist me including a new Obstetrician who supported my decision and believed I was perfectly capable of birthing my possibly "big baby."  Corrinna stood by me every step of the way and with her supporting myself and my husband, in the birthing room I was able to focus and my husband was amazing - she trained him to do exactly what I needed to get through all my fears as well as the natural birth process I was experiencing for the first time.  It was amazing, I (me with the "narrow" pelvis) birthed a beautiful 9lb 90z baby vaginally with no interventions or complications.  She was bigger then my first born via cesarean section.  I did it!"  Amy, RN- Hypnomom

"Corrinna  is the type of person that can change people’s lives just by how much she cares for them. In my twelve businesses, I have had many employees and business associates and I have also been treated by numerous doctors and nurses and I have never come across anyone as detailed and caring as Corrinna.  She assisted me going through some of the toughest times in my life; an emergency c-section with my fourth child, a vaginal birth with my fifth child and finally reconstructive surgery on my stomach muscles to repair damage due complications from the c-section. I could not have made it through this time or the births without her valuable, priceless service.  The doctors told me I couldn’t have a vaginal birth after my c-section, but with Corrinna’s assistance and knowledge I did it and had a healthy baby girl.  She is so comforting and caring that you feel like you are a member of her family and I will always be forever grateful for her services.  I strongly believe without her, my children would not have made it safely into this world and I would have never been able to recover and be healthy following my surgery.Her personality and motivation is priceless and she has unlimited promise to accomplish all she wants to do and become.  I am proud to say that I know her and I tell my children each day that Corrinna helped me to get them here on earth and we are forever grateful for her as I am sure all the other families are that she has assisted.   She has created and built a very special business that assists women in one of the most important aspects of our lives.  What she does and the services she offers can never be duplicated or replaced.  I am not having any more children due to the complications and my age; however, if I was, I would never even think about doing it without Corrinna’s assistance every step of the way.  I ask the Lord to bless her each and every day so that she may continue to bless other families like she had blessed mine.!" Julie Brown - Entrepreneur, Hypnomom

"Hi Corrinna, I wrote up  my birth story for the Atlanta ICAN website and I thought you might like to read my story! 

 Thanks so much for all your help, advice and guidance.  You were a big part of this experience.

  This is the story of Rose Corinne Thursby, born April 1, 2009.  Baby Rose is my VBAC.

 Let me start by giving a little background on why my first birth ended up being a C-section.  At 40 weeks my Dr. suggested being induced.  Since she would be out on vacation for the x-mas holiday it would be best to plan the induction so that she could be the Dr. to deliver my baby. What did I know.  Long story short I checked in at 4am, and finally by 11am they had a room for me.  In went the IV, in went the Pitocin and before I even started to labor my water was broken.  I had already been 4cm dilated and fully effaced three weeks prior so everyone thought I would just shoot this baby out!  After laboring for a couple of hours I was checked and ready for some pain relief…at 7cm I decided to get an epidural.  Now my labor still progressed and before we knew it I was 10cm dilated.  Time to push…I ended up pushing for three hours and apparently my son was stuck.  My dr. suggested a C-section or very kindly told me that I could push for another couple of hours (with the same outcome).  In tears they rolled me into surgery and Reed was born at 11:01 pm on December 23, 2005.  I felt like this should never have happened.  At my six week post partum appointment I was told by the very same doctor that I would never be able to have a vaginal birth…that my pelvis was too small for such a big baby.  Reed was 8lb. 8oz…not that big!!

Needless to say I was devastated.

  Three years later, three OBGYN practices later, I stumble upon ISIS OBGYN and Margaret Strickhouser.  There has been a lot of turnover and change at ISIS but I decided to stay with Margaret…she was the only person who treated me like I was just another woman having a baby—and not a high risk c-section patient.  I love her for that!

  I prepared this time for the kind of birth I had always hoped for.  Took Hypnobirthing with Corrinna Thompson, read the Bradley Birth Method, read Ina May Gaskins books, the VBAC companion, read Pushed--I could go on) and hired a doula.  I wanted to be as knowledgeable as possible about natural childbirth.  I knew that I needed to have a natural child birth in order to have a successful VBAC.

  So my birth story is pretty amazing, incredible and everything I had prepared for.  As you can imagine I started to get a bit anxious after my due date came & went.  I was due on March 23^rd and decided since I did not have the baby yet that I would work another week.  Good thing I did!   Three weeks prior to my due date I asked Margaret to check me to see if I had made some progress.  To my excitement I had…I was 3-4cm dilated and 80% effaced.  By week 41, I was 5-6 cm dilated and 90% effaced.  We had a feeling things might move fast when I started labor.

  At 10 days past my due date—Wed. April 1…Margaret had me come in and do a stress test.  Basically sit in a chair and have the fetal monitor on for a short period of time.  So I went in and was hooked up for about 40 minutes.  I was definitely having contractions while being monitored…but Margaret said they could be Braxton Hicks or early labor…either way I thought today is still not the day!  But even though I was 10 days late…induction never came up...just as I wanted. Margaret checked on me several times and said that everything was fine.  The baby would come when he/she wanted!

  Margaret brought us back to talk and see what we should do next.  Margaret asked me to get another stress test at North Fulton Regional on Saturday and then we scheduled another OB appointment for the following Monday—in which I would be 42 weeks.  Margaret made a call to Sherry to find out who was on call the rest of the week.  Sherry was on call on Wed & Thur and then Diane went on call, then on Monday Margaret was on call…I was wondering if this baby was holding out for Margaret.  So after spending 2 hours at ISIS my husband and I left slightly disappointed but OK with where we were.  I did not want to go into North Fulton and have them break my water, I wanted labor to start on its own…so we wait.  I didn’t have to wait too long…my husband and I decided to go eat after the dr. apt.  I was sitting in J Christopher’s thinking that something was going on.  I was getting up every 10 minutes or so because I just couldn’t get comfortable.  Little did I realize that my contractions were getting stronger!  We ate, paid the bill and I went home while my husband went to work.  I ran errands with my mom and my three year old son.  Picked up his uniform, and then went food shopping at Kroger…all the while in labor!  When we got to Kroger I had to stop every few minutes or so because the contractions were getting stronger and closer.  By the time we were done food shopping I could barely walk out to the car without stopping.  I asked my mom to drive us home.  We get home and put groceries away, I head upstairs to see if I could start to track how close the contractions were.  Hmmm about very 7 minutes or so.  My mom thought I should call my midwife…so I did.  It was probably about 12:45pm at this point so I had to leave a message with the ISIS operator…Sherry called me back pretty quickly.  She said she was at the hospital so it was up to me when I wanted to come in.  I changed, called my doula 4 times (I could not reach her) and then decided to call my husband and tell him that we were heading out to the hospital.  We get in the car (I am about 8 miles from NFRH) and I am pretty much in full blown labor.  I am breathing through each contraction and holding on to the handrail in the car for support.  My mom is doing the best that she can to stay calm.  By the time we were half way to the hospital my contractions were 3 minuets a part!  All I kept thinking was please don’t let my water break in the car.  My mom says I started to get pushy, “move into the other lane, the speed limit is 45 do 50!!  etc…I was not mean but I was a bit snippy!  We get to the ER, my mom drops me upfront & my husband is just getting out of his car.  We head to L&D…no wheel chair thank you…I want to walk!!  Boy that was a long hard walk.  Lots of stopping and breathing (and lots of people asking me if I wanted a wheel chair!!!). My arm band said we checked into L&D at 2:20pm. We finally get into a room and the nurse—Denise, asks me if I can put on a robe and go to the bathroom…I told her maybe after this contraction.  Once the contraction was over I went to the bathroom and sure enough there was my mucous plug!  Things were moving right along.  I get a robe on, my doula walks in and Sherry walks in shortly after.  My contractions are really strong but I am just breathing through them the best that I can.  Sherry asks if she can check me and I said yes…I was fully dilated all she could feel was my bag of waters!!!  Hold crap this is really happening!!!.  We switched positions to see if we could get the bag to break on its own but after about 20 minutes or so Sherry asked if she could break my water…she said this baby would be out as soon as my water broke…and sure enough she broke my water, I changed positions and I pushed for about 10-15 minutes.  I heard Sherry say that the baby was crowning and all I could do was bear down and try to push this baby out.  “Do you want to feel her head?  No I said I just want her out…with a few more good grunting pushes I pushed my baby out and to our surprise it was a beautiful baby girl!!!  My husband announced the sex and cut the umbilical cord.  They plopped her on my chest…she was born at 3:17pm. Not even a full hour in the hospital and Rose was born!!  Just as I had envisioned!!  She was breast feeding within seconds of being born.  I had no perineal tear!!  How awesome!  Rose was absolutely perfect, she barely had anything on her…she was so clean.  She came out so peaceful looking straight at me!  I was so lucky to have things go the way I wanted.  But that is just it...Sherry did everything I asked and just let me labor.  That is all I ever wanted…just let my body do what it was supposed to do!!

It was so hard, so incredibly hard but I was so determined to do this that I just channeled the pain and kept thinking this is exactly how it is supposed to be.  Every push was the right kind of push, every contraction I breathed downward... every possible fear I had I kept outside that delivery room. I had great support and was so thankful for everyone in that room.  My husband was a rockstar and I didn’t yell at him or anyone for that matter.  No cursing, no anger, no yelling just a lot of animal grunting noises J  I am so happy and blessed to have had an amazing birth experience.  My baby girl weighed 8lbs. 14oz, and yes she was bigger then my son…go figure! " Stacey, Hypnomom