Wednesday the 13th of February, I couldn’t sleep. I went to bed at 9pm and I was straight back out at 9:30. I sat on the couch with Penelope and Shadow (fur children -dogs!), watching random stuff on TV and playing iPad bingo. At 12:30am, I felt a slight gush of liquid and I was a little suspicious. Thursday 14th…
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Ari’s Journey Earthside {A Story of Down Syndrome}
Ever since I can remember, I have known that I wanted a natural birth. My mom had me naturally and presented a positive outlook on birthing and our ability to birth un-medicated, as women have done since the dawn of time. Through the years, my image of birth began to look, more specifically, outside of the typical hospital setting. With…
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Painfree Vaginal Birth {OP Position}
A brief background: I am a midwife, it is a calling I have had for many years, and on my first day on the job I honestly felt like I had done it before. The work just comes so easy and naturally to me. I loved my job with a passion. Before I got pregnant (and whilst I was pregnant)…
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A Healing Natural Water Birth
This was a very healing birth for me. My first son’s birth I was induced at 41 weeks, had an epidural, and left in love with my healthy baby but feeling robbed of my birth experience. We suffered a loss 3 years later. Henry is our “rainbow baby”. It was amazing to learn to trust my body, and watch and…
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A Midwife-Assisted Cesarean for Breech Rainbow Twins Complete with Skin to Skin
After a year of trying to conceive without success I saw a doctor and was diagnosed with PCOS. A year later I conceived with our first round of fertility injections and IUI. We were beyond excited…we ordered a crib the same day I got the call about my blood test! Sadly, I miscarried at 6 weeks. But our little one…
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My Fearless Birth {Home birth turned hospital}
My wife, Jenny, and I tried for two years getting pregnant, so when we found out on our 2 year anniversary trip that I was pregnant we were more than excited! I had known since we started trying that I wanted a home birth. I educated myself as best I could. I started taking a Hypnobabies class, hired a midwife and…
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The Birth of Archer {Fast, Intense, and Beautiful}
38 weeks, 4 days 5:53am Wake up from a few hours sleep. POP. Gush. There goes my water. “Honey, throw me a towel, my water is breaking…HONEY, WAKE UP…throw me a towel. No, under my bum, not on my stomach. My water broke.” 5:55am BAM. Contraction. Okay, time to get up. That was strong. David is awake now, and this…
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A Home Birth on Father’s Day 2013
Father’s Day For my Father’s Day, I was given the gift of a fourth girl. At home. Part of that gift was being the first person she looked at and providing the hands that caught her and gave her to her mother. Father’s Day 2013 will be one that I always remember. Even though Delaney is our fourth child, she…
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Home Breech Birth 2003
Well, this photo is of my planned breech home birth in 2003. My little girl is still very cautious and likes to “test the waters” before jumping into anything. I was 38 weeks when my midwife discovered a little head under my ribs. I did all the visualizations, yoga inversion poses, wore bells low down, etc. to get her to…