Birth Stories from our Graduates
While in our Lamaze labour and delivery classes we focus on the "normal" birthing process, there are a myriad of possible variations; in fact, every woman's own experience is unique.

See the birthing stories below provided by some of our class graduates (and some lovely baby pictures too).

My little bundle of joy arrived 19 days early and almost in the car!!!  My labour went very fast.  I had contractions that were 5 mins apart at 7am and 2min by 8:30am!

She is small: 5pounds, 7oz.  It is like having a premie!!!

Oh well, She will grow fast!!!  

Thanks to Alba for all the advice and reassurance.  Although all the plans I
had set in place where thrown out the window!!!

Hello everyone;

I took the weekend "crash course" lamaze class in September of 2009. My original due date was October 10th, but I ended up giving birth on September 29th. Thanks goodness I was able to get into the class that I did! I found Alba to be a great instructional help. She was extremely personable, very flexible, and was willing to focus closer attention on topics the class was more interested in.

My birthing expereince ended up being a lot longer than I had anticipated-my labour was 41 hours long! I had originally intended to have a natural birth, but on the second day of contractions, I gave in and got the epidural. The experience had both positives and negatives. Obviously the best positive was the lack of pain, but I didn't like not being able to feel anything at all. I wasn't even sure that my pushing was effective because I was so entirely numb! The actual "pushing" portion of my labour was very short-less than half an hour-but was the most intense, physically and emotionally. After giving birth, my son, Sawyer, had some initial health concerns. He had difficulty breathing as he had swallowed some amniotic fluid during his delivery and was not eating. He ended up spending a night in the NICU unit and this was, by far, the most difficult night of my life. He was able to be discharged from the NICU the following day, but continued with the eating difficulty. He did eventually decide to feed from my breast, but his enthusiasm was short lived. I was disappointed that my efforts to breast feed had failed, but I have simply pumped and bottle fed him breast milk since his birth.

So far, being a mother has been the best experience I have ever had. There are difficult days, but the first time your child smiles at you or coos when you speak to him, all is forgotten. The simplest and best advice that I have received is "Sleep when your baby sleeps". You don't realize how very much a lack of sleep catches up with you. I can feel fine for a couple of days, but eventually I need a day where I can simply sleep! Being patient and remembering that your baby is doing everything he or she can to communicate their needs to you is extremely important. The ability to read what your baby is "saying" comes to each parent differently.

Concerning the class, the only area that I would suggest including would be preparing a parent for the chance that your birth did not go as smoothly as hoped. I know that I was completely unprepared for my son's stay in the NICU, and having the possibility of an experience like that brought to my attention would have been helpful. I realize that the topic is a definite "downer" in a class that utilizes humour and the excitement of first time parents, but the reality is that unforseen things happen.

My experiences with Port Perry Lamaze was great and definitely helped to prepare me for not only labour and delivery, but bringing home my son and truly becoming a mommy!

-- Tara