ok, I'll start...

Yay, I'm excited to have a new forum to keep up with all the wonderful mommies that I've met on the BGM forum. now we can get to know eachother a little better as MOMS and not just as BGM victims...

My name is Lia. I am 20 years old and I have been married for going on 3 years. my husband and I have 2 kids, Preston is 2 (born on 1-31-04) and Lorelai is 1.5 months   (1-29-06....yes their bdays are 2 days apart!). We live in southern California & I am lucky enough to be a SAHM. I am in the beginning stages of studying to become a natural childborth instructor. It is a passion of mine because I have had 2 amazing birth experiences and I would love to share that with other women. another passion of mine is photography although I rarely take pictures of anything except my kids!

I am really excited to get to know everyone a little better 

this is my family last week...

 

 

Hi Lia! Any chance that you are studying to be a Bradley natural childbirth teacher? I taught that method for ten years, and I had three natural births (one in a hospital and two at home, all attended by midwives).

It's great to see a picture to go with the name! :)

Yes! I had a wonderful Bradley teacher and was inspired to hopefully be that for other women someday. I have been studying all the liturature as much as possible but I have not yet had the funds to go to one of the conferences. I am also a little worried about not being taken seriously because of my age, but I am very passionate about it. I realized that I actually may want to do it as a career when I had a friend become interested in the Bradley method and I sort of "home taught" her through out her pregnancy because she did not want to take a course. It was amazing to be able to share my knowledge and experiences with someone and she ended up having a great birth! what advice would you give someone wanting to become an instructor?  -Lia

I had to post what  a pretty family you have!! Your son looks so much like you in the pic!They're both adorible!

What a beautiful family!  I think you have a great goal, I would *so* trust you as a childbirth teacher! Here is what my childbirth teacher told us about pain...  "God never gives us more than we can bear; which is why He gave us drugs."  (I'm guessing that's not Bradley)

Well, as much as I hate to say it, I would not get certified through Bradley again. The method works wonderfully, and there are a lot of great Bradley teachers out there, but the people running the certification program are only in it for the money. They charge $1000 for teacher "training" and $175 a year for "dues." You really don't get much for that money, either. Certainly not enough to justify the costs. If I decide to go back to teaching, I'm going to go through the International Childbirth Education Association (www.icea.org), which is VERY professionally run and is non-profit. They offer several certification programs, and they don't keep track of how many of your students have medicated births or cesareans. Plus, the ICEA won't criticize you for having an emergency cesarean, the way the Bradley people did to me. (Yes, I'm bitter. Despite that, I still feel that ICEA is much more professional, as well as much cheaper!)

There's a company called Childbirth Graphics (www.childbirthgraphics.com) which makes really nice models and posters for teaching. I would buy a fetal model, a knitted uterus, a placental model, and a cloth pelvis (if available--it's not online, but they may still have it in their printed catalog) from them. Also, get all of the books that you can on childbirth and midwifery, including a book called "Heart & Hands" which is an excellent resource for natural childbirth. Joining ICEA (even if you decide to get certified through Bradley) and La Leche League will give you access to some great publications which will help you a lot in your chosen career. Personally, I'd request memberships to those two groups as gifts whenever family or friends ask what to give you for your birthday or Christmas. They are worth every penny!

Plan on keeping in touch with all of your former students. I had a lot of fun hosting "baby reunions," where I'd invite all of my previous students over for cake and ice cream. The parents loved seeing their classmates again, and of course, we all loved seeing the babies. I also made posters with pink and blue hearts, with each heart having the first and middle names of the baby, the birth date, and baby's weight and length. My students always enjoyed seeing what other people named their babies, and it was a nice way to keep track of all of the babies I helped bring into the world (in my own small way).

I am so glad that your friend had such a great birth! It's obvious that you've been bitten by the same bug I caught way back when. I really miss teaching, but I'm not sure if I can go back to it after all of these years. I certainly have more personal experience than most teachers do! :)

Let me know if you have any questions. I'd love to discuss this more with you. I will send you a private message with my phone number, just in case you want to talk. Good luck!

Hugs,
Roxanne

P.S. You are not too young for this! I was only 21 when I started, and besides, people will look at your experience more than your age. They aren't going to ask you how old you are, but they will ask you about how many children you have and what you liked most about your birth experiences.

Roxanne, thank you SO much for all of your input! I was actually looking in to the ICEA and after your post I think that is the way that I will be going. I would definately want to keep in touch with the students afterward like you mentioned. I still email with my teacher and I am so grateful to still be in touch with her. but as great as she is she is very pro-bradley so it is very nice to hear from you about the ICEA which I am interested in. Thank you also for sharing with me that you were only 21 when you began. it really helps me feel more confident and I definately have been "bitten by the bug" as you were. thank you so much again and I look forward to keeping in touch! -Lia

Roxanne--All I can say is....Dr. Spock ain't got nothin' on you!  I've never seen somebody who knows so much about so many different things.   You're like a walking, prenatal/infant encyclopedia!  Your posts never cease to amaze me.  You should write a book!  Jill

Thanks, Jill! I really just enjoy talking to pregnant women and moms of young children. I've been through so many different things that I can usually relate to what others are going through. Morning sickness? Been there, done that. Recurrent miscarriages? That, too. Home birth? Definitely! Cesarean? Yep.

I don't know if I'd ever write a book, but I'm certainly considering going back to teaching childbirth classes. I miss working with pregnant women, and after the extremely positive experience I had with Leia, I think it's time to return. With Matthew (number 7), I had a scheduled cesarean, and I hated it so much that I just could not go back to teaching afterwards. I felt too negative about it, and that sort of thing rubs off on others.

Thanks again, Jill, for the sweet post. You made my night!

Lia, I can understand why your teacher may feel the way that she does. I've encountered that before. There are a lot of good things about teaching the Bradley method, including having a well-defined goal and great tools for coping with labor. However, there are some negatives. I've lived in some areas of the country that are downright hostile towards anyone who teaches (or even simply attends) Bradley classes. Some teachers and students become absolutely militant about natural birth and fail to understand that nobody can control every aspect of childbirth. It's sad, because I don't think Dr. Bradley intended for his method to be used as a weapon against people who don't have a perfect birth experience.

Hey, Lia! My lactation consultant is also a childbirth educator, and she told me that she has been trying to get a program started through the military base where my husband is stationed. She is working on getting funding for the program. I'm sending in my paperwork to ICEA--I'm going back to teaching! Even if things don't work out at the base, I think it's time to go back.

How are things going for you? Are you still looking into teaching?

Hugs,
Roxanne

Roxanne, sorry this has taken me so long! I am still interested in teaching and i will be looking in to it more in a few months. i am just starting to potty train my 2 year old and with my 2 month old i am CRAZY busy. but after Lorelai starts not needing me 24/7 i will be looking in to it a lot more :) thank you so much for all of your guidance! i'll be checking back soon....Lia

*here's a recent pic of my sweet girl