We are so excited to finally be sharing our birth story with you. There are many beautiful moments in our lives, and giving birth is on that list. There is so much magic, wonder, power, and beauty in pregnancy and childbirth. We are truly blessed to have been able to experience the beauty in this. We are also delighted that we could birth our babies in the comfort and love of our own home.
When I was pregnant with Jacey, our first babe, we were unfamiliar with home birth. I had heard of it a couple times in passing, and that was it. I called our local hospital to get in touch with a midwife to start prenatal appointments, and they didn’t have any midwives on staff. They would assign me to some new male Dr. who had recently begun there and said I would be in good hands. I immediately got off the phone and cried. It didn’t feel right. It just didn’t seem like the kind of care I was looking for. This sent me on a journey to find a midwife.
I reached out to a local doula who had given me the names of a couple of midwives who have their own practices and offer home birth services. So I called gently borne midwifery and spoke with Monica, and we had an instant connection. My husband and I set up our initial appointment with her and knew that we wanted to continue this home birth path. We love our midwife so much. She has been an inspiration to us and has offered much guidance through pregnancy and postpartum.
One of the things I love about our experience is that our prenatal appointments were always about an hour-long, and Kevin came to every single one. We were heard. Our questions were answered. I felt comforted, and I didn’t feel alone in the pregnancy and birth. Our connection with our midwife is so important, especially when it came time to deliver. I trust her, which led me to trust myself and the process. Our birth team consisted of a midwife, doula, and birth assistant. I never felt scared during the process. There were so many moments where I didn’t believe I could do it, and my birth team and Kevin were by my side, assuring me I could. There is NOTHING easy about giving birth. Women are warriors.
Looking back on these moments reminds me of how much support and love we truly have in our lives. It also reminds me of how powerful I am. It’s incredible. Our birth team communicates so well with one another. They have an unspoken language. They always made us feel safe. I knew I was in good hands every step of the way. Our parents were, of course, worried we were having a home birth the first time around because they didn’t understand it. It was taboo for them. However, our moms were able to come to our home visit appt and meet the birth team, and it helped answer the questions they had. Our midwife is prepared with common interventions such as IV, oxygen, Pitocin (postpartum bleeding), etc. If a situation arises. They monitor very closely so that if you need to transfer to the hospital, it will happen before any real emergency occurs.
Our second birth was much quicker than our first, where labor was 4.5 hours vs. 19.5. Two wonderful and different experiences. I didn’t even have time to make it into the birth tub. That was super sad for me because it’s essentially a huge warm tub in my living room, and one of my favorite things is a warm bath! I created a beautiful birth playlist of music that included my favorite artists like Trevor Hall and Rising Apalachia. Also our pup never left my side. We love him so much and was such a source of comfort for me. In the early stages of labor, I also put on Seinfeld, and our photographer captured George’s face, which perfectly represented how I was feeling at one point.
I love being able to go back and relive these moments.
I can’t believe our sweet boy is already 4 months old, and our sweet girl is 2 years. They say don’t blink. We get caught up in parenthood, life, work, and we do blink, and it all goes by so fast. Way too fast. I try to remind myself to slow down and take all of the beauty and chaos all in. My soul’s purpose lives in love and in family, friends, connectedness, and life. All these life moments are magical in their own way.
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