I was blessed to have a very easy and healthy pregnancy. Praise the LORD for that! It was truly one of my favorite seasons of life. I felt great for the majority of the time, was able to remain very active, and even got relief from my horrible allergies for many months. I had taken two pregnancy tests that confirmed…
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Olive’s Home Birth
Our daughter, Olive Magnolia, was born New Year’s Day at 11:13pm. She was 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches in length. Her birth was a gift and it will forever be one of my most cherished moments. On New Year’s Eve, I met with my midwife and she performed a sweep, at my request. I was 5cm dilated, but still quite…
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Third Time’s the Charm: A Successful HBA2C
The birth of my first child was a failed induction that ended in a cesarean. I remember the nurses laughing at my natural birth plan when we checked into the hospital and telling me to “wrap my head around what was about to happen”. It wasn’t long after they started the Pitocin that I could feel intense cramping, but with the comfort…
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A 45 Minute Home Water Birth
I had four hospital births, all with an epidural. That’s what I thought you were supposed to do when you had a baby – get an epidural and escape from the pain. No one likes pain, so why not skip that part? My first birth was at 41 weeks and three days after my water broke. The second birth was…
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A Healing Home Birth After a Fourth Degree Tear: Part Two
If you haven’t read Part One of this story, please start here. The choice for me to have a homebirth was easy. I was emotionally and physically healed from my 4th degree tear, and BOTH are necessary to deliver vaginally again, which I call a VBAST (vaginal birth after a severe tear). For others who have had a 4th…
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Quinlan’s Birth Story
It took me over a month to write my son, Sawyer’s, birth story. There was so much to process. Some parts were so traumatic and others felt triumphant. I spent over a year in therapy after his birth, to work through my anger and fears associated with the violation that came with being physically and verbally assaulted through my labor.…
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A Wilde Birth Story, from NYC
We named him Wilde, just as his entry into this world was. My partner, Simon, and I arrived to the hospital early on a late, September, Monday morning. My water had broken and I had been laboring lightly at home. I was just barely full term, four days into my 37th week of pregnancy. My midwife said to come into…
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Homebirth of EllieMae
In the days leading up to the birth of EllieMae, I had been having contractions irregularly that would, right on time, wake me in the middle of the night, as well as my husband, Jeremiah. They would last for a few hours and then flitter away as if nothing had happened. I was sure I was going to be pregnant…
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Choosing to Have a Happy Birth
“Come on baby, eviction notice has been posted!” At 42 weeks pregnant, I feared induction or possibly a C-section. I only wanted to give birth naturally, knowing Pitocin’s negative effects on the body and the instantaneous increase in likelihood of a C-section. I didn’t want to be near a hospital. I did everything to get the little one out, thinking…