Jerica's Story

It was Jerica’s lunch hour, perhaps the only break in her day.

Nonetheless, she picked up the phone.

“I’m in this little park by where I work. The sunshine feels fantastic. If I close my eyes, it kind of feels like vacation.”

“You’re working and also have a 12-week-old?” I asked. “That’s amazing! And you don’t sound the least bit tired!”

“I’m exhausted, but I’m ready to speak with you,” she said. “I will never pass down an opportunity to talk about Kay. That's how much I love her.”

It was instantly clear that Jerica was a force of nature, so I did exactly what my parents taught me to do when encountering such a presence: I listened, learned, and got out of the way.

Here are some of the highlights from our 30-minute conversation:

• I’m Puerto Rican, and my abuela still goes out to the garden, picks some herbs and crushes them into a tea to cure an upset stomach. I love the way our families and elders have, how do I say, a more natural path. But I get that modern medicine is also important. Blending those together, the traditional and the modern, that’s what works for me. I think that’s why I decided to go with a midwife. And I chose Kay.
• When I first met Kay I was instantly hooked: her attitude, her demeanor, how she treats you. It was almost like sitting down and talking with a family member, like an aunt that I'm close with. It was easy to be honest with her.
• Being a mother is the one thing I’ve always wanted. So when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, a thyroid disease that can make conceiving more difficult, that was devastating news for me.
• Following the diagnosis, it was suggested I try to take a more natural approach in my diet, to find a healthy balance. Sure, I love salads, but I’m not going to turn down a cheeseburger. I decided to eat what made me happy. And I was pregnant two months later.
• I had HG (hyperemesis gravidarum) with my first. Sick my entire pregnancy. Lost a lot of weight. I was at Women’s Care all the time, getting IV’s because I was so dehydrated. The nurses were all fantastic! (Shout out to Diane, who was like my best friend through all of it!)
• I had HG with my second pregnancy. And again with my third, delivered last November.
• Because of the constant nausea, I would be freaking out all the time. ‘Is this baby going to be okay?’ Kay was always like, ‘Your baby's so happy in there, just dancing around!” We had extra ultrasounds to make sure, not just because I was sick but also because I was over the age of 35, and you’re considered “geriatric.”
• Yeah, geriatric. We gotta change that name.
• I would have loved to have a midwife at home, but I guess there’s always a worry about complications. Again, it's the blending of two worlds, so I was getting that personal midwife feel but in the hospital setting.
• When I was laboring, Kay was walking the floor with me. When I’d have contractions, she'd be standing in front of me, counting them out with me. My first daughter was born on Christmas, so we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together!
• For all three, Kay always asked what my goals were with the pregnancy, what my birth plans were. First off, my birth plan was no plan at all, because if I plan something out and it doesn’t go accordingly, that's just going to stress me out. My goals were to go as natural as possible. I didn't want laughing gas. I didn't want an epidural. I wasn’t opposed to their use if needed, but I wanted to be encouraged to go natural. And Kay's like, ‘Sounds great!’ And I wanted to avoid a C-section. ‘Okay, cool!’ But if she was to say to me, ‘Jerica, you need to get a C-section,’ then we’d get a C-section. I wanted a safe delivery, a healthy baby, and a healthy me, but Kay’s the expert and I needed her to tell me when we were at that line, because I don't know.
• I was just talking to my husband about this interview. I think he wanted to be in on it, because he loves Kay too. And he’s been so great. He's so supportive. He’s always like, “Hey, you’re the one giving birth. Just tell me what you need from me. More specifically, what you don’t want me to do. And I’ll make sure I don’t do that.’ He went with me to every single appointment and got to see Kay every time.
• On my Facebook mom groups, when people are looking for a provider, I tell them this: GO TO KAY! GO TO KAY!
• Are we done having kids? Yes, we are done. Done.

Chelsea's Gender Reveal Story

It started with a Facebook comment, submitted last month for our Packer contest:

Shout out to our sonographer (I believe initials are KF on our ultrasound pics) who unknowingly had us convinced our baby was a girl and gave us the surprise of a lifetime when we opened her envelope and unfolded the sticky note that was folded a million times and read "Boy!" Thanks for being part of our super fun and emotional gender reveal!

 And a picture:

Then we just wanted more details.

And a generous mom gave us just that.

This is Chelsea’s Story:

Let me set the stage for Zayn’s gender reveal by starting with our first, Kenzie, who will be five in April. We were going to find out the gender at a little party, not at the anatomy scan. Therefore, the sonographer had me and my husband close our eyes when she was checking the genital area. Later, she asked us to close our eyes a second time, and she checked again. So when we found out that we were having a girl at our gender reveal, the double check experience was in our minds.

Fast forward to the anatomy scan for our second, and again we didn’t want to know the gender at this time. The same sonographer did the double check thing again, exactly like when we had our daughter. A tip off.

They wrote it on a sticky note and folded it up, but we knew. It was going to be a girl.

Soon after, a friend convinced us our suspicions were correct.

‘I’ve got three boys,’ she said, ‘and I never had to have a double check for any of them. You’re having a girl.’

And now a little backstory. We struggled with infertility, or, as Dr. Reed calls it, subfertility. So there was a lot of extra stress and effort and emotions that went into creating our family. While we were going to be happy with either a girl or a boy, we were kind of hoping for a boy, because if we had two girls, we were probably going to try for a boy. It was just going to take some of the pressure off of us with our third child.

Anyway, the gender reveal party was only a few days removed from this whole discussion, a party we wanted to be as unique as our daughter’s was (fireworks on NYE!), something that went beyond a blue or pink cake.

My Packer-loving husband liked the idea of having a Packer theme. Why not have it on a game day? And since the draft was coming to Green Bay the following spring, why not do the reveal like a draft pick?

So we filled up a private room at a local establishment with family and friends, and when the time was just right, and we were on the clock, we silenced the crowd with the sound of the ESPN NFL Draft chime. Just to make it official.

‘With the first pick in the 2025 draft,’ my husband said, ‘the Cook family selects . . .’

We opened the envelope and immediately burst into tears.

‘BOY!’ we read.

We could not believe it. We were hysterically happy.

And that struggle with creating our family I mentioned before, well, that all came flooding back. How in 2019 we found out it wasn’t working to create a family on our own. Started with fertility meds, got pregnant, and miscarried right as Covid was starting to shut the world down. Then six months later we got pregnant with our daughter. And because that worked for us, we figured it would work again. For a year or more we were back on the same meds and it wasn’t happening.

So we did more.

IUI was the next step. We took it as a sign when my husband’s company changed health insurance to include fertility coverage. This was going to be our year! Starting in January of 2024, we did four rounds of IUI and they all failed. IVF was going to be next. And we were all in for that.

After the fourth failed IUI, we didn’t do medications for the next month. You wait for your period to start again, and then the first step is birth control. So we’re doing all this IVF stuff, labs and prep work, just waiting for my period, and guess what? It doesn’t come. I take a pregnancy test. And I’m pregnant. Just as I was about to start an IVF cycle. That definitely added to the emotions of gratitude and gratefulness.

We’re Christian and give all the glory to God. We believe that he creates these little miracles, and he had this story written for us. He wanted to challenge us.

And He sure did.

Mom’s Note #1: Back to the Packers. While we had already picked the name Zayn, my husband’s head was stuck on Jayden. Yes, the very name of one of his favorites on the Packers, Jayden Reed. I wasn’t so sure. When our son was born we just couldn't decide right away, so he went three hours without a name.

My husband left it up to me. Jayden’s a good name, but it just wasn't our boy.

Mom’s Note #2: KF is Kathy Feldkamp, our ultrasound sonographer. Thank you so much, Kathy, for being part of our special gender reveal!

This and top image by Sara Jean Photography

BOY!!

Courtney's Story

Doctors often don’t receive the recognition they deserve. My experience with Dr. Johnson was truly life-changing and has significantly improved my quality of life.

In October of 2023, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I was fortunate that it was caught early and treated surgically. As with any surgery, there are risks and potential complications—you just never expect to be the one it happens to. During surgery, my bladder suffered nerve damage. I lost the sensation to know when I needed to urinate and had difficulty initiating voiding leading to urinary retention.

I tried pelvic floor therapy with little improvement. I saw other urology specialists, underwent testing, and was eventually told I had a neurogenic bladder—and that there was nothing that could be done. I was told catheterization would eventually be my reality. I was led to believe that was simply the path I was given.

For about a year, I stepped away from appointments and tried to live my life. But by mid-2025, it was becoming increasingly difficult to urinate and, without sensation, I often forgot to even remind myself to go. Then, by what truly feels like divine intervention, I was scrolling Facebook and came across Women’s Care and Dr. Johnson’s bio. I had never considered a urogynecologist as someone who could help me—but I took a leap of faith and scheduled an appointment the next day.

That first appointment left me hopeful. Dr. Johnson was incredibly knowledgeable about everything I had been through. The visit wasn’t rushed. I felt truly heard and respected. He made vulnerable, personal topics feel like any other normal conversation. And most importantly—he had a potential treatment option. Something I had been told did not exist.

He introduced me to InterStim, a surgical implant essentially functioning as a pacemaker for the bladder. He explained everything thoroughly, and I left without unanswered questions. In November, I underwent the trial and permanent placement surgeries. To my surprise and relief, the InterStim worked. The surgeries were uncomplicated and straightforward, and the device restored significant bladder function. It has reduced urinary retention, helped preserve my kidney health, and—most meaningfully—allowed me to live without alarms dictating when I need to use the bathroom.

Because of Dr. Johnson, this is the most normal my body has felt in the last two years. This experience has not only helped heal my physical body, but has also helped me process and move through some of the trauma of the past. I am incredibly grateful for Dr. Johnson and the care he provided. His expertise, compassion, and willingness to listen made all the difference in my healing journey.