Emily welcomed her son, Fritz, on June 26. "Emily ROCKED IT!!!!!" says her doula, Sarah!
Bridget, Tom, and big brother, Liam, welcomed Lucille Dee on July 1 at 1:21 a.m.; 7 lbs, 10 oz
Rachel, Tim, and big sister, Flora, welcomed Theodore Ely on June 25 at 5:37 p.m.; 8 lbs, 2 oz
Miryam, Mara, and big sister, Rayzie, welcomed their little one earlier this week on July 6 at 7:28 a.m.
Welcome! Mamas, send us photos of your Blooma Blossoms! We love pictures with you in them, too. That way your friends from prenatal yoga class can recognize who your new, sweet baby matches with!
Jolie Renee March 25, 2009, at 10:12pm 8lbs 15oz, 22 inches
Mama Robyn says: We are so happy to announce the arrival (finally) of Jolie Renee. She must have had the plan all along, because she came on her Nanee's 60th birthday. I was very happy to not have a C-section again, and am recovering much easier this time around. Thanks for all your words of encouragement along the way.
Baby Finola
March 11, 2009 at 9:04am
7 pounds, 9 ounces
20 1/2 inches
Mama Rachel says: Just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the wonderful yoga and amazing support I received at Blooma over the course of my pregnancy. Our beautiful baby girl, FINOLA CECELIA, was born with a head FULL of adorable hair!
My birth was not at all as I had planned. All along, my husband and I hoped for an all-natural experience and I was dead set on bringing our baby into the world the good old fashioned way. She was not on board for this, though! She was in the complete breech position from 30 weeks on. I tried a zillion methods to turn her ... yoga classes, LOTS of bridge pose, everything on SpinningBabies.com, moxibustion, and even had a failed external cephalic version. My doctor informed me that in the complete breech position there was no option for me to deliver vaginally in the hospital. I was devastated to find out I'd be having a C-section. I felt like I had failed my little baby. The support I received from your classes, especially bridgett and the couple times i saw jala, helped me accept that there was a reason that this baby wasn't moving and really helped me to trust my little one.
the mantra i practiced throughout classes and anticipated to use for my labor and birth experience was "i trust you baby, i trust you, body." i decided there was no reason i could not still use this to keep myself calm through the cesarean birth and to do my part to bring the baby into a peaceful and welcoming space. i repeated this mantra over and over from the time of the spinal block and into the delivery itself. it turns out, this baby WAS the wise one, and the reason for her breech position was that i have a heart-shaped uterus (baby love, i guess!). she was QUITE stuck and the doctors had to work very hard to deliver her head. In the end, it all worked out and we are both doing great.
i just wanted to say that what kept me coming back to blooma originally was that you really create an atmosphere that promotes natural birth and empowers women to believe in their bodies - but, after my experience, what will KEEP me coming back is the support and encouragement blooma gives to all women and the way they celebrate all kinds of birth. you have helped me truly believe that my experience was no less special than the natural delivery i had hoped for. and that means a lot.
i REALLY think the yoga helped with my ability to cope with and heal from the surgery. i am feeling great, physically and emotionally.
Milla Rose February 20, 2009 12:47 AM 8 lbs 14 oz, 21 inches
Mama Jennifer says: Milla was born after a long start-stop labor, and gave us a scare when her shoulder got stuck and her face turned purple. But she's a fighter and she came out just perfect. I was able to labor without any drugs or interventions, with the help of our wonderful doula, Emme, and we're very much enjoying Milla at home now. I very much enjoyed the challenges and support of our prenatal yoga classes! Milla's big sister Zara is very proud of her baby sister and we look forward to many Blooma yoga classes to come!
Mama Cheryllyne says: We are both sooooo sleepy. He was born with his placenta intact (midwives had to tear it) and a double loop knot (2 knots) in his umbilical cord. A very unusual phenomenon, according to the midwives.
Alex Steven February 5, 2009 4 pounds, 12 ounces 18 inches
Mama Jillian says: Our little Alex Steven came 5 weeks early. My water broke in Babies-R-Us and he arrived exactly 24 hours later. Our waterbirth plan with a midwife at Ridgeview went out the window because of his preemie status and we ended up via ambulance at Abbott. Thanks to my wonderful husband Steve (who sprained his ankle and ended up in a wheelchair himself!) and doula extraordinaire Angie Sonrode (who we highly recommend), everything worked out in the end and it was all worth it. Alex finally got to come home on Feb 13th, after 8 days at Children's Hospital. I want to thank Blooma for making my pregnancy such a happy, peaceful time.
Mama Amanda says: I had my baby at home. He was either 2 weeks early or 2 weeks late, I'll never know, since I was confused about my due date! The home birth was amazing. It all went so fast. The midwives arrived 30 minutes before he was born. I delivered in the tub 15 minutes after my water broke. The biggest surprise, though, was that he was a boy and not a girl as we had expected for 6 months! We just laughed hysterically and the boys were equally gleeful to have a brother!
Thanks for all your classes and positive stories (they came to my mind throughout my labor).
Carter Arvid January 30th at 2:36am 6lbs, 15 oz 19.5 inches
Mama Sarah says: All went really well!! I had a wonderful labor at home for over 16 hours and delivered at ANW hospital with my wonderful husband, my favorite doctor (who just happened to be on call and carried out every last detail of our birth plan), our doula and a fabulous nursing staff. I couldn't have asked for anything more!
But I feel that my calm, focused, "drug-free" labor had a lot to do with all the wisdom and strength I gained through the blooma staff, and all those wonderful yoga classes!!! I can't say thank you enough. I'm so happy that Sarah opened Blooma and that there is such a wonderful place in our community with endless and well-rounded resources for moms, prenatally and postnatally.
We are truly enjoying our new roles as parents and getting to know this sweet little guy...even with the sleep deprivation! I'm really looking forward to coming back in the next couple weeks. I went for a run/walk around Lake Harriet today and it felt fantastic so I'm hoping to get back to Yoga soon!
claire elizabeth january 24, 2009 7 lbs 8 oz 21.5 inches
Mama Andrea says: "We had a beautiful baby girl on saturday morning. Claire Elizabeth has beautiful dark hair and the cutest little dimple on her left cheek!
My labor was about 18 hours long. It was harder than I ever could have imagined. And I'm sure I could not have done it without all the yoga training. I swear all those push-ups gave me the strength to use the squatting bar and hold myself up for what felt like hours! My biceps were unbelievably sore still. I also made a lot of noise getting through the contractions--I favored the very loud, very low "oh" sound we had practiced in class--a huge help. I always wondered when we did that in class if i would be able to let loose and be vocal during the actual labor. That ended up not being a problem at all. In fact, I think I might have frightened my friends with my primal animalness :-) I also made sure I used all the laboring positions we'd practiced--although I didn't do any three-minute goddesses!
I really can't tell you enough how integral my prenatal yoga practice was to having the kind of birth experience I wanted. I can't even imagine how things would have gone differently without all those months of physical and mental preparation. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to come to Blooma every week and prepare myself for the biggest event of my life in such a supportive, positive space.
Hopefully Claire and I will be in together for our next yoga class soon!
Mama Jill says: I went in for an ultrasound on January 14th as the doctor was tracking a low-lying placenta. I was relieved to hear that I was out of the woods for that, but unfortunately vasa previa was found. I was told not to come to yoga and a c-section was scheduled for a C-section on the 20th. Everything went really well and we have a beautiful baby girl named Lilly. I am very grateful that they found the previa and there was no emergency that would have been very likely with a vaginal birth. I am just mourning (sometimes that word feels just right and sometimes when Lilly is gazing into my eyes it seems like a silly exageration) not getting to experience the last 3 weeks of pregnancy and not getting a chance to labor. I do want to thank you for all of the wonderful yoga classes. They really helped to make the pregnancy an even more magical time than I had imagined. I also wanted to thank you for the couples child birth prep class. Even though we didn't get a chance to use a lot of the great information that you gave us, it was a very good bonding experience for Erik and I. I loved that Erik got a chance to taste a little bit of what I was experiencing in yoga and the techniques that you taught made him feel more confident about supporting me through labor. I am really looking forward to being healed enough to come in for postnatal and BYOB yoga. Keep up all of your wonderful work.
Laila Leora January 15, 2009 11:40 p.m. 7 lbs. 14 oz. 19 3/4 inches
Mama Stephanie says: Our baby girl arrived the day after last Wednesday's yoga class. I was more relaxed after I got home than I'd been in a week (despite the flat tire I discovered after leaving Blooma on that cold, cold night). I woke up at 4a.m. thinking that my water had broken. It hadn't. But after more bloody show than I thought possible, and contractions that were getting closer together, we consulted with our midwife and decided to head for the hospital before our son woke up for the day. After all, I was already 4-5 cm dilated and 75-80% effaced. My contractions stopped completely after being at the hospital for an hour or so, and we went home feeling frustrated.I took a long bath, and the contractions started again at about 3 in the afternoon, consistently 10 minutes apart and uncomfortable but not getting stronger. At 8:50, more bloody show and ruptured membranes, leading immediately to contractions 5 minutes apart and getting stronger. As soon as we got Gabriel into bed at 9:00, I called the hospital to tell them we were coming back in. We arrived around 9:30-9:40. I was 6cm when they first checked me, in active labor, and we called our doula, Emme, to join us. My labor progressed quickly, and when the contractions were 3 minutes apart I was allowed to get into the birth tub. After maybe 3 contractions I was seized out of nowhere by the most powerful urge to push, and in 10 minutes our daughter -- her first name, Laila, means 'night' in Hebrew; her middle name, Leora, means 'light is mine' -- was born! It was such a different labor and delivery than my first. In the past weeks I've been trying so hard to let go of any expectations that I had about how things were going to turn out. I think your yoga classes helped me do that.See you when I'm cleared for BYOB!
Zoe Mae Monday, January 12, 2009 7.4 pounds, 20 inches
Papa Phil says: What an absolute little blessing she is. Zoe graced our presence on Monday morning. Healthy and happy, Zoe has brought all of us great joy, especially her big sister, Lucia, and big brother, Vincent!! Monica and Zoe are both doing well!!
Mama Candance says: "A special thank you to the instructors at Blooma, who I strongly believe helped me to have a quick and smooth labor and delivery both in terms of my physical and mental coping strategies."
Evelyn Jean January 8, 2009 4 lbs. 11 oz. 18 1/2 in.
Mama says: Thanks so much for being Blooma. I believe it's because of all the things I was involved with at Blooma that helped me have the successful VBAC that I was hoping for. I miss my weekly times there, and can't wait to start some postnatal or baby and me classes soon!!
Elise Marie January 1, 2009 (first baby of the year at St. Joe's) 7:14 AM 9 pounds 4 ounces 20 inches
Mama Rose says: 11 days overdue and with a required induction date scheduled for the following week, we aggressively tried natural induction methods to get things started. Went to yoga in the morning and acupuncture in the afternoon. By that evening, I was in labor. It was a long one (Tuesday evening to Thursday morning) and at times quite "challenging", but it was filled with a lot of music, laughter, and love – just as we wanted it to be and as it should have been.Rose and Florian can't sing the Blooma and St. Joe's praises enough and are thankful to have had such a caring and supportive community to lean on during the pregnancy and now during this "4th trimester." Thanks for everything!
Blooma nurtures the mind, body, and spirit of women and their families. At Blooma, we believe that creating a healthy, meaningful life ought to be both a family value, and a family tie.
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