I thought I would explain my links. ICAN is the support group that has really helped me with making important decisions with this pregnancy. It stands for the International Cesearean Awareness Network. They are a support group for women who have had c-sections and have been very helpful for me personally. There is a local group that meets here in Portland and I've been attending their monthly meetings.

VBAC stands for "Vaginal Birth After Cesearean" and is my chosen "mode of delivery" for this baby. In recent years, it has become very controversial, but not for health or safety reasons....its just that in our litigious society many Drs. just don't want to deal with rising malpractice insurance rates and fear of lawsuits so they just decide that if you've had a c-section, you will just have to have another one, even if its not the healthiest decision for the woman in question. I actually had to find a new doctor mid-pregnancy due to this issue.

We have decided to hire Shari Saldana as our doula (labor attendant). She's just wonderful and, the mother of 4, is a VBAC mom herself. Chad and I are excited to have her on our team! If you are completely unfamiliar with what a doula is, her website gives a great explanation.....I, myself, had never heard the term "doula" until well after Gavin was born.

I also included links to my sister Kelly and my friend Melissa's blogs. I've been following Kelly's Xanga site very closely every since she created it while she was in Texas. If anyone else has a blog or personal website that they'd like me to know about, please email me. (Even if you'd rather me not publish it on my blog....just let me know that, too.)