From the WBWC Blog:

Month: February 2019

The Birth of Weston Paul

By Dana Jarmon Weston feels like a miracle baby. In November of 2017 we lost a baby to a rare cervical ectopic pregnancy which resulted in a uterine artery embolization. Due to this embolization, I was told that it was quite possible I would lose my fertility and not be able to have any more children. Only time would tell, so we were surprised and over the moon when we got pregnant our first time trying in May of 2018. It was a beautiful pregnancy, free of complication, and we felt so grateful for the amazing care we received from all of the sweet midwives. I dealt with some anxiety after having a challenging birth with our first son, Beckham, and they helped me work through the ins and outs of a subsequent pregnancy after birth trauma and loss.  On Saturday, January 26th at 5:15 AM, I got up to use the restroom and had a contraction on the toilet. It was noticeably different than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having, and I was surprised when another one came just six minutes later! After a few more contractions, I decided to take a shower to see if they would continue before waking up my husband, Joseph. Sure enough, they continued to come every six minutes! By 10 AM, they were coming every 3 minutes, and my doula (and best friend) Morgan had come to join us. Although the contractions were close together, they weren’t intense enough to make me feel like it was time to head to the birth center yet. We ate together, I rested, bounced on our birth ball, stood and swayed while I held onto Joseph, and we laughed and chatted and wondered aloud what this baby’s birth would be like.  Then by 12:30 PM the contractions fizzled out. I found myself getting frustrated. Why were we going backwards?! If we are having a baby, let’s just have a baby! We went on a walk around our neighborhood, tried some Suki’s Labor and Delivery Blend, and had some time alone to make out with my man. None of these things helped labor to pick back up, so I called the birth center and talked with Emily to see what I should do. She told me to relax and enjoy our day and to stop trying to stimulate labor. She said that whatever happened throughout the day, … Read More

New Arrivals

*Kamden Paul Ryan– December 25 – 6 lbs., 1 oz. Amara Nylah Cadogan – January 2 – 5 lbs., 12 oz. Salah Muhammad Atabek – January 2 – 7 lbs., 10 oz. Magnolia Grace Henson – January 3 – 7 lbs., 4 oz. Eliana Joy Johnson – January 5 – 8 lbs, 12 oz. Mia Rose Goodman – January 3 – 7 lbs., 6.5 oz. Nora Lilly Josefina Cogswell – January 10 – 9 lbs., 14 oz. Clara Mae Harvey – January 11 – 8 lbs., 1 oz. Griffin Elijah Smalley – January 14 – 8 lbs., 14 oz. Katie Maria Malik – January 16 – 7 lbs., 6 oz. Leota Grace Strobino DeGree – January 17 – 7 lbs., 13 oz. *Orion Apolinar Castelo – January 19 – 8 lbs., 11.5 oz. Henry  Graham Davis – January 22 – 6 lbs., 2.5 oz. Cypress Grey Pacoe Hartley – January 24 – 7 lbs., 8 oz. Caroline Mackenzie Larimore – January 24 – 6 lb., 12 oz. *Weston Paul Jarmon – 8 lbs., 3 oz. – January 26 William Aslan Jurgensen – January 28 – 6 lbs., 10.5 oz. Martha Maeve Clendenin – January 30 – 6 lbs., 12 oz. January Stats Total babies born: 46 Biggest baby: 9 lbs., 15 oz. Smallest baby: 5 lbs., 2 oz. To be included in this celebratory list, please email Missy at missy@ncbirthcenter.org with your baby’s birth announcement information that includes their name, date of birth, and birth weight as well as a photo, if available.If you would like to send us your birth story, we are happy to include that in a future newsletter! Also, if you have a printed birth announcement to share, we’d love to have a copy to add to our bulletin board in the clinic!

MILC Moment

In 2019, we will be sharing some stories of breastfeeding from our MILC mamas. Just like birth stories, every breastfeeding story is a little different, with its own challenges and triumphs. We believe sharing these stories helps normalize breastfeeding – all of breastfeeding, including the hard parts! Thank you so much to Melody for sharing her story this month – she navigated various obstacles on the way to reaching her breastfeeding goals. By Melody Walker I don’t often reflect on my journey with labor, delivery and breastfeeding, because it’s taken a long time to come to a place of peace with how things went. One of my good friends had both of her boys at home, and struggled to finally get to a good place with breastfeeding. She was one of my biggest influences. I didn’t think my husband would be OK with a home birth, so I decided on the birth center as a compromise. I didn’t have any other face-to-face friends to talk with about this, but I joined every Facebook group and reached out to those ladies I knew had similar values/goals, even if they were far away. I labored at home/running errands for about 6 hours before my water broke. I didn’t rush in, but headed that way to check where I was. The aforementioned friend served as my doula, and I also had a photographer – they were so amazing and exactly what I needed. I labored all over the place in and around WBWC! I was there 30ish hours before I transferred. There’s so much I would say about this point in labor but ultimately it was a dark place. My doula and photographer left. My husband refused to allow my mom in the room. I was given the epidural and was able to sleep for about 2 hours. I woke up and was ready to have this baby. She still wasn’t earthside for a few more hours (over 40 hours of labor). I had several nurses and lactation consultants visit me and try to help me nurse. The doctors talked me out of revising her tongue tie. I had a healthy baby, but it was a far cry from the dream I wanted! I become more determined that no one, and I do mean no one, was going to take breastfeeding from me! I didn’t realize at the time how hard I was struggling with … Read More