Breast milk is amazing. It provides everything a baby needs to grow into a chubby ball of cuteness. It fights disease. It’s nutritious. It’s delicious (yes!). It’s always on hand, it requires zero preparation, and it’s close to free. But sometimes, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Enter, OVERSUPPLY. Clad in stained pajamas, she runs to center stage…
-
-
Loving My Body {One Scar at a Time}
My fourth baby, an attempted VBA2C, left me with my final scar of childbirth. After 3 premature deliveries, progesterone shots allowed me to carry to 38 weeks 6 days. Labour began on its own and after a stalled labour, forehead presentation and Bandels Ring I delivered by a calm and quiet c-section, the final chapter in my family’s growth. I…
-
A Cesarean for Breech Birth with Video
In the early days of my pregnancy, back when I was an un-crunchy as could be, my husband told me I wasn’t going to get an epidural. Told me. He was on the other side of the world serving the last couple months of his tour in Iraq and I was in sunny Hawaii, where we were stationed at the…
-
Hospital Trauma and Healing at Home: A Story of Two Births (Part II)
Pregnancy and/or Parenting Through Adoption/Infertility/Loss blogger Sarah Robertson-Barnes shared the story of her first birth yesterday – a hospital birth which left her feeling guilty, dehumanized, and depressed and which she chronicled on her blog, Little Chicken Nuggets. Today, she shares the victorious, redemptive experience of her second birth, midwife-attended and completed at home. You can read the first part of her…
-
Hospital Trauma and Healing at Home: A Story of Two Births (Part I)
**Trigger Warning: This post narrates a traumatic birth.** Sarah Robertson-Barnes, former contributor to the Pregnant and/or Parenting Through Adoption/Infertility/Loss (PAIL) blog collective and writer of Little Chicken Nuggets, shares two birth stories with us. With grace and humor she here describes the challenges of being pregnant after infertility and loss, and the traumatic hospital birth of her son, HGB. Tomorrow, Sarah…
-
I Am Strong {2 Sets of Twins}
I am strong because after 5 years of TTC, I became pregnant with a set of twins. I am strong because after fighting to keep them in, I went into labor at 32 weeks and had to have a c/s. I am strong because they were in the NICU for over a month and a half, fighting for normal breathing and heartbeats. I’m strong…
-
Vaginal Twin Home Waterbirth With Postpartum Transfer
“In January 2012 my husband and I found out we were expecting our third. We had two other kids, Asher was 2 ½ and Evie was just barely 1. We were excited, three was going to be awesome; our two bedroom house was going to feel a little smaller, but nothing we couldn’t handle, our blue impala had room for…
-
The Birth of Hazel Ann
I began having a few random contractions on October 31st, this was the day I hoped our baby wouldn’t be born. It’s not that I hate Halloween, I just didn’t want a holiday baby. I felt good throughout most of the day, a contraction here and there but nothing to think about too much. I left work to help Ida’s…
-
The Freebirth of Apple Blossom Light Hawk Summer Willow Wind
March 10, 2011 It’s the middle of the night. I’m laying awake, thinking of how there will be three of us sleeping here soon. I can’t lay still. I’m feeling different, off, restless. Every once in a while, I’m compelled to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. I don’t think a whole lot of it. I’m…