Boston Community Midwifery and Doulas

Welcome Sweet Palesa! Born at home on 10.26.11

2011-10-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

A beautiful, sweet letter written by her mom....enjoy:)

Dear Palesa,
As I start writing you this letter, you are 2 days old. You are lying asleep next to me as I write down your birth story. I can’t wait to share this with you some day.
I went into labor with you on Sunday, October 23rd. Your “guess date” was the Tuesday before, October 18th, but I thought you would be a little bit later than that. Besides, I loved being pregnant with you so much that I wasn’t quite ready to have you on Tuesday anyway- I wanted a few more days to enjoy our pregnancy!

On Friday that week, I took a long walk in the Arnold Arboretum in the morning, and then around Jamaica Pond that evening. I was having “warm up” contractions throughout the week. At least I thought they were contractions, but I couldn’t really tell for sure- they could have just been you moving inside me. On Saturday your daddy and I took a long walk in the Arnold Arboretum, and then walked into town to take care of some errands. We ate Thai food for lunch, and I asked them to make the Pad Thai extra spicy, hoping that it might start labor soon. The waitresses all thought you would be a boy. That evening, we walked around Jamaica Pond again, and got to see the Lantern Festival. Afterwards, your daddy and I had a piece of apple cheesecake that we made a few days earlier. When I went to bed Saturday night, I was visualizing my uterus contracting, my cervix opening, you preparing to be born, and labor starting.

That night I had lots of cramping contractions while I was sleeping. They became part of my dreams, and I could still sleep pretty well despite the contractions. They felt like bad menstrual cramps, and very different than the painless contractions I’d been experiencing all week, where my belly would get hard like a rock. I woke up at about 5:00 am and went downstairs and wrote you a long letter. Someday you will read that letter too (but that one is by hand, not email). Afterwards, I went back upstairs and snuggled in bed with your daddy, knowing that labor was starting soon and that this would be the last morning just the two of us would be able to cuddle in bed. I used my phone to time contractions as best as I could, and they were all over the place and very irregular, which is typical of “pre-labor.” We got out of bed around 7:30 or so and ate breakfast- I had a piece of toast with butter and fig jam. Then, around 9:00 am I curled up on the couch and took a long nap. Your daddy gently woke me up with kisses on my arm at around 10:45. We were tentatively planning on hosting Church at our house Sunday night, and Jen had called to ask about our plans for the evening and how things were going. But before we could even call her back to tell her that we’d still like people to come over but that labor was quickly approaching, I had to call your Auntie Suz. I had promised her that she would be the first person we would call when we went into labor. So I called her to tell her that mild contractions had started, and though I didn’t think I was in real labor yet, we were getting close. Your Auntie Suz was so excited for your birth, and exclaimed, “Congratulations!” She reminded me that the next day, October 24th was the day she guessed you would be born. It was a very special day for her too- eight years ago she and Uncle Bryan went on their first date together, and the 24th was also the state competition for the Windsor High School marching band, where your Auntie Suz was a director. I told her I thought it was very likely you would be born the next day and she would have guessed right!

Then we got dressed to go to Jamaica Pond. Sunday was a crisp and beautiful fall day and the pond was beautiful. Your daddy went running, and I did some walking and jogging. I kept my phone in my pocket to time contractions, and when I was running, they would come as close as every 3 minutes. So I knew that the motion of running was helping start contractions. Plus, I really enjoyed getting to run one last time before giving birth to you! I tied my jacket around my waist and ran in a t-shirt, and got a lot of funny and amazed looks from the other people around the pond staring at a very-pregnant woman running!

After the run, I showered, put in a load of laundry, ate lunch, and called Audra, one of our midwives to let her know that I was getting pretty irregular contractions- anywhere from 8-12 minutes apart, with cramping that felt like menstrual cramps, and that overall this felt very different than the day before. We agreed to check in if anything changed, if I felt like I needed anything, or before going to bed.

Somewhere between 1 and 3 p.m., I realized that I was somewhere edging on the line between “pre-labor” and “early labor,” which basically means that my contractions were starting to fall into a pattern and they were starting to soften and open my cervix. We called a few more people to let them know that the birthing process had begun, and sent an email to some friends and family that had been praying for us and offered great encouragement. Everyone was so excited, and we were too.

At 5:30 or so, Jen and Aaron came over for church. Both of them had gotten to see you grow inside me for the past 9 months, and each were extremely excited to spend the evening with us- neither of them had ever seen a laboring mother before! I went to the bathroom around 6:30 and noticed my mucous plug when I wiped. It came out in a giant chunk about the size of my thumb. Normally I would have called your daddy to come look at it (it was actually very cool to see), but since we had company over, I couldn’t do that. I did whisper in his ear that I’d lost my mucous plug, and I think he was a little bit disappointed that he didn’t get to see it. At this point in the evening, I was having fairly regular contractions, about every 7-8 minutes, and though they were definitely getting stronger, I could easily manage them and talk through them. I was definitely pretty distracted though- I walked around a lot as we prayed together, and didn’t really want to stay seated as we ate pizza for dinner. I skipped having a piece of cheesecake even! During our prayer time, I remember your daddy standing behind me and rubbing my shoulders during a contraction, or encouraging me to lean on him as he comforted me.

After Jen and Aaron left, your daddy and I went downstairs and called a few people. We got to do a video chat with Grandma D and Grandpa Abe, who were both so excited to meet their first grandchild. I talked with Audra again, and we made a new plan. She encouraged me to try to get as much rest as possible, and I would call her when contractions were about 5 minutes apart, or I felt like I needed her there. She said she thought it was likely that she would hear from us in the middle of the night. Contractions were pretty regular at about 7 minutes apart, and although I could still talk through them, I definitely had to pay more attention to them and make an effort to breathe and relax! I remember being on the phone with Cyndi, who asked if I was having a contraction and asked me to talk through it. I think I said something silly about what I’d had for lunch that day!

About 10:30 or so, your daddy and I went to try to go to bed. We decided to have a small glass of wine to help me relax and hopefully fall asleep. Cyndi also encouraged me to have a good snack of complex carbohydrates, so I had a warm whole wheat tortilla with honey and a few stoned-wheat crackers. We sat on the couch and sipped our wine and cuddled, as your daddy gently stroked my belly. I remember how special the moment was that we got to share- it was a final memory your daddy and I got to make together before we welcomed you into our arms (though you had a very special place in our lives since the day we found out that I was pregnant with you!).

We turned out the lights at about 11:30, and after 3 contractions, I realized that I definitely was not going to be sleeping, and that I needed to get up and move through the contractions, just before midnight. I got dressed in cozy sweatpants and slippers and walked to the living room so that your daddy could sleep as much as possible. I rocked and swayed during contractions, and sometimes leaned over the dining room table, or or leaned forward on my knees on a medicine ball. Between contractions, I put down my head and closed my eyes.

At 1:00 am or so, I drew water in the bathtub to try to soak and relax. I had little LED light candles in the bathroom and the lights off, and just enjoyed the quiet time as I thought about how excited I was to meet you. Grandma Nancy had mentioned when we talked on Sunday that she thought you would arrive sometime after the sun came up the next day. I began to realize that there was no turning back- in just a few more hours, this pregnancy would be over, and we’d have a new baby!
I got out of the tub around 1:45 and went back to bed, still timing contractions. Though they weren’t extremely uncomfortable or painful, they were usually around 5 minutes apart, but sometimes 2-3 minutes and sometimes 6-7 minutes. Still, I woke up your daddy and told him that I thought I needed a little more help, and maybe we should call the midwives. We called Audra somewhere around 2:30 or 3:00 am, and talked for a good while. Because I was laying on the bed and looking at the bright screen on my phone, my peripheral vision became a bit splotchy, almost like I had a migraine headache. I remember us being on the phone with her for what seemed like a long time- at this point I was moaning softly through the more intense contractions, and some of them were coming fairly close together, maybe 2 minutes apart. When I couldn’t talk, I’d put down the phone and she would listen, or your daddy would talk to her.

Audra came over shortly after this. We sat in the living room and she took some of my vitals. She listened to your heartbeat, which was strong and excellent, and took my blood pressure, pulse, and temperature. Your daddy made both of us peppermint tea. We spent the next hour and a half or so talking and telling stories. Audra sat on our couch and could see a picture displayed of the day your daddy and I got married, and from that we began telling stories about our wedding and the other weddings of some dear friends we had attended this summer. Technically, you went to these weddings too! I could no longer tell a story during a contraction, so I would pause wherever I was in a story, breathe through a contraction, and then pick up again after it had subsided. I felt cheerful and excited, and encouraged your daddy and Audra to keep talking during contractions (which Audra was timing). Even though I couldn’t talk through them, I definitely enjoyed listening. I think I was sitting on the blue medicine ball and swaying and moving gently during contractions, but I don’t think I had to use a lot of breathing or comfort techniques, or really move into different positions to work through the contraction- I think I just swayed gently, possibly moaned softly, and breathed through them. I remember commenting how nice and unusual it was to be sitting in our living room telling stories at 4 in the morning! Before we’d gone into the living room when Audra arrived, we put classical music playlist on the ipod in the kitchen, and I remember hearing one of my favorite pieces, Mahlers’ second symphony, and my favorite place where the music crescendos into a wonderful trumpet trill.
There was part of me that still couldn’t believe that I was in labor and close to birthing a baby. I am also an aspiring midwife and a doula and a childbirth educator, so I know a great deal about the labor process intellectually, but I have never experienced it. Also, I didn’t want to get too excited, because I still had a lot of work ahead of me. I remember asking Audra if she thought that I was actually in labor. She laughed a little and affirmed that yes, I was actually in labor. I didn’t even realize at this point that I’d already been in active labor (versus warm-up labor or early labor) for a few hours by this time.

After this, the time all became a little bit fuzzy to me. Audra could see that the contractions were getting more intense and closer together, and suggested that I take another bath and just soak in the tub for a little while. This was somewhere around 5:00 am, but it did take a while to fill the tub. Our bathroom had an old and very deep jacuzzi tub with jets. Your daddy filled the tub with water so deep that only the tip of my belly reached over the surface of the water. He also placed the LED candle lights around the tub, and turned on the jets. When I got into the tub, my contractions seemed so much easier at first. Your daddy sat next to me and held my hand, and helped me breathe and stay loose. I usually moaned in deep, low tones through the contraction. Audra stayed close by and would come in periodically to listen to your heartbeat (always strong, just like you!), but she also recognized the specialness of the time between your daddy and I, and gave us some nice privacy to share this experience together.

As I stayed in the tub, the contractions got stronger and stronger, and soon I had to twist or turn my body through a contraction. My moaning and toning got louder and lower as the intensity increased, and Audra encouraged me that I was doing a great job staying so relaxed and moving with the contractions, which were opening my cervix and bringing down my baby. Soon, Catherine, the apprentice midwife arrived. I remember seeing her in the doorway of the bathroom, and I must have been between contractions because I cheerfully smiled and said hello. It was as if I were saying hello to an old friend at a coffee shop, not like I was in the process of birthing a baby, naked in a tub!
At some point (we can’t remember if it was before or after I got out of the tub though), your daddy made a joke and asked if I wanted to listen to Bob Oates, the NPR morning show we usually listened to in the mornings when our alarm clock went off. To me it was still in the middle of the night, and it seemed absurd that listening to Bob Oates was even a possibility, but your daddy reminded me it was after 6:00 am on a Monday morning.

The contractions in the tub continued to get stronger and stronger, and some of them were so close together that it felt like a continuous contraction. Your daddy, Audra, and Catherine each reminded me how hard I was working, and most of the time I agreed that although this was very hard, I could do it. I thought of all the emails and messages I’d received over the past day, and began crying a little, very moved and touched as I remembered how many of our friends and family around us were thinking of us and praying for us right then, and sending so much love and support and encouragement. I definitely felt the presence of people around us, though no one was in the bathroom with me at that time except for your daddy.

However, soon, it occurred to me that laboring was actually really hard and painful, and I didn’t want to be in labor anymore. I asked everyone to make labor stop, because I didn’t want to do this anymore, and I was just finished. Audra and Catherine encouraged me that I could definitely do this, that my body was doing exactly what it was supposed to be doing, and that we were getting closer and closer. I tried to stay encouraged, that each contraction was one contraction closer to getting to finally meet you. It was hard work, and I was making lots of deep and low noises, and sometimes the volume of my voice surprised me. I wondered if our neighbors upstairs were surprised at the noises of a birthing woman below them!

I had awful heartburn during much of labor, and started to feel a little funny. Catherine brought in a bowl, and your daddy held it nearby. At the end of one particularly intense contraction, I vomited violently. All over the wall, the tub, and in the bowl. The nice thing was that I also peed at the same time, which felt good. Normally, when I would sit down on the toilet to pee, I’d have a contraction, so it felt really good to pee without having a contraction! After vomiting, the midwives used the shower hose to clean me off and I got out of the tub feeling very good. In fact, I sat on the toilet to try to pee some more, and your daddy took a picture of me with a big towel draped across my body and a wide and relaxed smile. A few minutes before this, a smile would have been almost impossible, let alone a wild grin!

I also remembered Audra helping me out of the tub and asking her to get me a hairbrush. I told her I didn’t want to give birth without brushing my hair. I pulled it back into a high ponytail.
I assumed that during my time in my tub I’d gone through transition, which meant that pretty soon I would be feeling ready to push. It is very normal for labor to slow down just after transition and before pushing. It is called the “rest and be thankful” phase- so I was eager to take advantage of the chance to rest. I moved back to the bedroom to get more comfortable. Contractions were mild and seemed to be spaced further apart. I didn’t want to lay down right away, and I remember enjoying that labor suddenly got much easier. I was in good spirits and comfortable. For a while, I stood in front of the bed and leaned forward if I had a contraction. Tara, our other midwife arrived, and I waved and said hello to her from the bed, as if standing naked when company comes over was the most normal and natural thing in the world. I remember laying down and resting, or moving gently on my feet, and greatly appreciating that labor no longer felt as intense as it felt in the tub. It must have been around 7:00 or 7:30 by then, because I asked your daddy to call Auntie Suz. I knew she would be on her way to to the State Marching Band competition, but that she would be awake. I talked to her for a few minutes too, and told her that soon i expected to be pushing. She was so excited.

I remember while I was lying on the bed watching Catherine set up some birth supplies in our bedroom. She plugged in a heating pad and very neatly and with a clear pattern folded our receiving blankets around the heating pad so that when you were born you would be immediately dried and warmed with toasty blankets. I enjoyed watching her do this, and it reminded me that as part of their jobs, they were preparing to care for a newborn baby.

I can’t remember when, but sometime after the sun came up your daddy made a big pot of oatmeal that everyone enjoyed (I had some the day after you were born!). Later that morning too, he also made some vegetable and turkey soup. I had a bowl after you were born, and like everything your daddy cooks, it was delicious. I don’t ever remember him being away from me long enough to make oatmeal or soup, but somehow he managed to be two places at once, because he hardly left my side, continually talking to me, touching me, and encouraging me.

Your daddy reminded me of the importance of resting, especially because I hadn’t slept at all since my nap Sunday morning. I laid across the bed and your daddy laid next to me, facing me. We held each other’s arms, and I shut my eyes and slept between contractions. He slept too- both of us were very tired. We listened to a playlist of songs we had made for our wedding, and it made me happy to listen to them. Some of the contractions were so mild that I didn’t even have to really move at all- my eyes stayed shut and I softly moaned through them and then fell back asleep. But most of them were a bit stronger, and I’d roll over to my hands and knees, rock and sway and moan through the contraction, and then lay back down again. Catherine or Tara came over and put pillows beneath our heads.
Somewhere about 8:15, I got out of bed and went into the kitchen to visit with Tara and Catherine. They had been listening to my contractions (from my voice) and Tara mentioned something about wanting to time them and get a sense of what was going on. Labor had slowed down during the rest phase, and it seemed that just when she mentioned to me their awareness of how close and strong the contractions were, they did seem to pick up. I remember asking them if they thought it was likely that my baby would be born that day. I still didn’t want to get my hopes up that I would be meeting you soon. I wondered if it was possible to have labored this far, but still have another day like this to go before the baby arrived. They both encouraged me that we all expected that I would meet my baby that same day. I was actually surprised that I felt no urge to push at all, but contractions kind of similar to what I’d felt hours earlier while sitting in the living room talking with Audra and your daddy in the middle of the night. Tara suggested that if I wanted, we could do an internal exam and see where things were and how things were progressing.

After another 15 minutes, I woke up your daddy, still asleep at the foot of the bed and was ready for an internal exam. This was my first internal exam all pregnancy, and just like Tara had warned me, the exam triggered two very strong contractions, one on top of the other. She was graceful and eloquent in telling me that I had been making great progress, and that there was still a little bit more work that my body was doing before I would be ready to give birth. She said that she still felt a hard ridge of cervix (the rest of it had soften and almost melted away), but that my cervix was opening up very nicely and that I was doing a really great job working with my body as my cervix continued to open and the baby moved down.

I don’t really remember too much of the next 3 hours, except that I labored on the bed, and sure enough, things were getting intense again. I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees, and sometimes standing and rocking or swaying. At one point between contractions I thought it would be a good idea to call your Grandma Nancy, right around 9:30. I think I said hello to her, and then an intense contraction started and I gave your daddy the telephone. I continued to have bad heartburn. The midwives all offered me drinks with straws- a mason jar of coconut water, and another of water. Your daddy brought me a few frozen grapes, and they were absolutely delicious.

As I found myself back in intense labor again, I continued to moan and make deep, low sounds. Sometimes my voice was very loud, like an actor on a stage projecting their voice in front of an audience. I wasn’t yelling, but using the sounds to stay relaxed and open. Tara sometimes chanted with me, “Oooooooooooo-pen” or “loooooooow” and that helped me relax my jaw and stay loose, and visualize my cervix opening and my baby moving down. My voice matched the intensity of the contraction, and your daddy was next to me with his hands on me, helping me stay loose. At the end of a contraction, and for less intense contractions, I would buzz my lips together to help me keep my jaw loose. Tara told me her little daughter Melina, who is about 3 months older than you) would absolutely love me. Once during labor, maybe after Tara said this, I lifted up your daddy’s shirt and blew a raspberry on his belly.

For one moment I was really hot and overheated, and then I had chills and would shake with cold. Your daddy had a hollow rolling pin full of ice and a warm rice sock that he alternated putting on my back. They felt so good. Catherine also placed washcloths soaked in ice water on my neck and forehead. Your daddy also tried to comfort me with other techniques, like the rebozo. He lifted some weight off my belly, but I remember having to concentrate so intently on each contraction that I couldn’t even pay attention anything but just breathing and rocking through each contraction.
Eventually, Audra encouraged me to try taking another bath, as it had seemed to really relax me before. At first I wasn’t interested at all. First, I grew up in Colorado, where we have to be very aware of water usage. I had already taken two deep baths, and a third seemed excessive and extravagant! Who was I to waste water? Also, part of me was a little afraid that if I got into the tub again, the same pattern would be repeated- labor would get easier at first, but then I’d go through transition again and then labor would stop. I remember telling Audra that I didn’t want to get into the tub because I didn’t want to go through Transition again! Plus, I’d vomited two or three more times into a bowl while on the bed, which encouraged me that things were probably moving along and I must be pretty close anyway. I was also starting to feel a lot of pressure on my pelvic floor, in addition to the intense cramping of the contractions. Your daddy was encouraging me to try some of our breathing techniques, but all I could do was was make the moaning sounds.

After I initially declined going in the tub again, your daddy repeated Audra’s encouragement, and I finally agreed that getting back into the tub would be a good idea, and they drew the water for me, but this time much cooler than before. I remember it taking me a long time to move into the tub- it always seemed like just one more contraction before I was comfortable enough to be able to move. They were so close together at this point that often I would feel a new contraction beginning before the prior one had fully disappeared.

Slowly, I moved back into the tub. At first, contractions became much easier, just like the first time. Your daddy sat next to me, and we prayed together. He would constantly ask me, “Have I told you how proud I am of you?” I sunk down deep in the water, taking as much pressure off my body as I could, and relaxed and breathed as he held my hands. He told me I looked incredibly beautiful I looked in that moment, and took a few pictures. It must have been somewhere around 11:30 when I got into the tub again, because I asked your daddy to go downstairs and send a quick email to our friends and family and let them know we were still laboring. Thank goodness for time stamps on email and cell-phone call-logs!

This time in the tub, the contractions felt very different than earlier. When a contraction started, it wasn’t so much a cramping sensation anymore as it was intense downward pressure in the front and back. Catherine dripped cool washcloths over my chest and neck, and poured water over my belly as I moaned and rocked in the water through each contraction. I was so focused and intense that I often was unaware if anyone was even in the room with me. Between contractions I closed my eyes and leaned back my head. I remember your daddy asking if I had any focal points during my contractions, and he tried to encourage me to use some sort of focal point, and to find a sense of grounding which I could labor and breathe around. I told him that my voice and the sounds I my body were making were my focal point. With each contraction and between contractions, I was in my own place, at the same time both aware of my surroundings and apart from everything going on around me.

For a moment, I even wondered if I was rude, ignoring everybody else in the room who were all there to support me, because my eyes often remained closed. I remember just being so grateful to Tara, Audra, and Catherine, and so in love with your daddy. Every time they brought the straw to my lips so I could sip water from the mason jar, I felt genuine gratitude, and did my best to say “please” and “thank you.” It was such an honor to be in the presence of these three midwives as well, also fellow sisters of mine who had each birthed babies of their own. I welcomed all of their encouragement, soothing voices, and gentle touch as they comforted me. I would hardly notice when they held the doppler to my lower belly to listen to your heartbeat during and after contractions. Each time they reminded me how strong your heartbeat was and how well you were doing with labor. When I got in the tub, we put Bebel Gilberto, some of my favorite Brazilian music on the ipod. Her first song is called Baby, and I smiled when Tara realized that we were both singing about our babies (except I would never get a recording contract with my deep moans and tones, and her Baby was a lover, not an infant!)

I threw up one or two more times in the tub as well, and was uncomfortable with the heartburn. Catherine watched me step my feet against the tub wall through a contraction and reminded me that my baby was doing the same thing, stepping its feet against the top of my uterus as it moved down. It made a big difference to make a connection to the intense and uncomfortable sensations I was experiencing with each contraction to the baby inside of me that we were going to meet very soon. After particularly strong and long contractions, Tara always seemed pleased and gently told me how strong contractions like that were exactly what was going to help birth this baby, and that the uncomfortable pelvic pressure was the baby moving down the birth canal. Audra often called my contractions “beautiful,” I believe both because of the strength of my body working to birth you as well as the way my body knew just what to do and just how to move as I did my best to stay relaxed through contractions. I was so thankful for the gentle reminders that the pain I was experiencing had a very special purpose, and even though I hadn’t met you yet, you were that special purpose.
But just like the previous time in the tub, things got very hard. Contractions were on top of each other, and I remember crying for a moment that I didn’t even get a break between them. I felt as if I was entitled to at least have a few seconds between contractions before the next one started! I felt daunted that I wasn’t even finished yet. I’d been working so hard for such a long time, and I hadn’t even begun to start pushing yet. How would I find the energy and strength to get through pushing? I complained (again) that I was just too tired of doing this, and I wanted labor to be finished. I wanted all of the sensations to just stop. I remember crying that I would be in labor forever, and I couldn’t do it anymore, be in labor forever. Tara reminded me of all the progress I was making, especially with the pressure I was feeling, and how it was very clear that my baby was moving and getting ready to be born. Audra told me how different this was than the last time I was in the tub, and how my body was doing just what it needed to do.

Still, I remember being daunted that labor had been so much effort up until this point and I still hadn’t even started pushing yet. How in the world, I wondered, would I ever find the energy and strength to push? It took everything I had to just move through contractions! Sometimes I also felt like I should apologize to Audra, Tara, and Catherine for taking so long to birth this baby, as if my labor was a huge inconvenience to them. But I never said anything, because I also knew how much they were also honored to be there birthing with us, and the entire labor they made me feel so good because I knew they were here to support and care for me physically during labor, and be part of the experience with us of your daddy and I welcoming you into our family.
I remember your daddy being in the bathroom with me when things were especially intense, and just shouting out to God to help me get through this, praying for the strength to get through. Your daddy prayed with me as well.

The pressure was becoming so intense with each contraction that I flailed through contractions, writhing from side to side, but unable to find a place or a position that offered any relief. I started feeling a little grunty pushy, like I wanted to bare down just so slightly to get some relief during contractions. Sometime during a contraction, I felt a little pop inside me that almost felt like gas in my bowels. It felt like I had a gigantic poop waiting to come out in both my butt and my birth canal. The pop was my water breaking. Tara saw a small gush of blood come out as well, and a few pieces of vernix. They continued listening to your heartbeat, which remained strong, as usual. I think I may have vomited when my membranes ruptured, because I vaguely remember making a joke about things coming out of me from all over the place.

Catherine helped me out of the tub and dry off. I sat on the toilet to pee, which triggered a contraction but I felt like I had nowhere to go but just sit through it. I turned around and looked at the clock, curious. I was sure it must be about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, but it was only just past 1:00 p.m.. They helped me over to the bed, which was now lined with chux pads. I climbed on my hands and knees. I had cold chills and was sweating with heat, plus still a little wet. It was all I could do to muster “blanket” to ask for it either on or off. Tara instructed me a bit on how to push, encouraging me to wait until I had the urge. Earlier, I had asked Audra if the contractions went away during pushing. I quickly learned that no, they don’t go away.

I leaned forward on propped up pillows and soon had a contraction where I felt the urge to push. I wasn’t sure how, and my first push felt like I was just testing the waters and figuring out what to do. With the next contraction I bared down and pushed. At first, pushing was a very scary feeling, the first moment in labor that felt truly out-of-control. I could feel the strength of the contraction and it was a scary feeling to meet that contraction with my strong pushes. The sensation was unfamiliar and frightening, something very big (you!) inside of my birth canal. After the contraction ended there was no relief to the intensity I was feeling, and for a moment I felt a little panicky. I had never felt something so strong and powerful in my life, and it was pressing on me from the inside of my body and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. It was so scary at first because even when I finished pushing, the sensation remained. It was so intense. Tara encouraged me to let the sensation to push really build up, because pushing takes a lot of energy. So with every contraction, I chanted to myself, “Let it build, let it build.” I realized that in order to push and get through these intense sensations, I had to let myself go and meet each contraction with the strength of my pushing, the strength of my own body. Withe the next contraction, I pushed. I waited until the peak of the contraction, and pushed a few times, baring down with everything I could find within me. The sounds that came out of my mouth surprised me. I have never felt so strong and powerful as during pushing. Pushing was hard work but it was nice to not notice the contractions themselves anymore, and it was nice to finally participate in a way that I couldn’t during contractions. I liked how my body knew how to push, and when the urge came to push, there was nothing to do but to just move with it and push.
However, I was still aware that your head inside me was BIG. It sure felt big. I told the midwives that there is no way it was possibly going to fit, it was just impossible. I thought that if your daddy and I ever had a second child, we should probably just adopt, but at this point I realized that there was no way out but through, and that somehow I was going to push you out. But Tara and Audra both insisted that your head would fit, and it was fitting. Not only did I have a roomy pelvis with plenty of room through which to push you out, but I was also pushing effectively and making progress. The baby was just working now to get under the pubic arch, they told me, but it was close. Just reach inside and feel your baby’s head, they told me. I thought it was impossible, but I reached down to feel your head inside me. I thought it would be impossible for me to feel your head inside me, but I did. You were only about as far away as my second knuckle or so. I couldn’t believe you were that close. I exclaimed, “That’s our BABY!” and was amazed and encouraged to feel your head. It instantly reminded me that you were the purpose for all the work I’d been doing- we had been doing-and that you were that purpose!

Your daddy knelt on the bed beside me, touching and comforting me, and Tara wiped cold washcloths across my forehead and offered me sips of water after each push. Audra asked me if I wanted to see your head, and placed a mirror on the bed below me. It was amazing to see a sliver of head peeking through. I was working so hard and concentrating that I wasn’t really even paying attention to watching you, but I definitely noticed that with each contraction and each push, I could see more and more of your head.

Finally, I felt an uncomfortable burning sensation and I didn’t want to push any more. But when I looked down, I could see so much of your head, and even after I stopped pushing, your head was still visible. “Am I crowning?” I asked, though it was pretty clear and obvious that your head was on its way out! Maybe one more contraction and your head was definitely more out than in. I asked if the head was out, and she said it was out to the chin, and asked me for one more small push and then to stop pushing while she checked for a cord around your neck. I could see the back of your head as I looked down between my legs. I don’t remember anything what your daddy and Audra and Tara each said, but Audra put some oil on my perineum. I watched your head rotate to my left thigh, and then heard the word “shoulder” and before I knew it, you slid out of my body. I didn’t even push out your body, but you glided out of me and were gently eased onto the bed. I heard you cry and I saw you beneath me and joyfully shouted, “We have a baby! We have a baby!” I looked over at your Daddy and felt overwhelmed with how much I loved him, and how we just had a baby together. I felt like it would be impossible to love him any deeper, but I was just so happy, exclaiming that we have a baby! Someone helped me roll over on my back, and I was propped up leaning against pillows with you on my stomach. Tara and Catherine dried you off with warmed flannel receiving blankets, and I was overwhelmed with love for my family. My legs shook uncontrollably. I wasn’t hot or cold, but I was just shaking. Your daddy embraced and held me closely, and we looked at you with amazement.
After a few minutes, Audra asked me to feel the cord, which had stopped pulsing. She believed that our placenta detached from the wall of my uterus very quickly. She started preparing to cut the cord, and your daddy came back from the bathroom. When you came out of my body, you splashed your daddy and got him pretty wet with blood and amniotic fluid, even soaking his pants. Audra clamped the cord and your daddy cut it. By this time the cord had no more blood in it, and you couldn’t feel it at all when it was cut.

I put you to my breast immediately, but you weren’t yet interested in nursing right away. You still had a bit of fluid in your lungs which you were still getting out, and Tara reassured me that it was normal for you to take a few minutes to be interested in nursing. So I just held you, naked against my chest, and fell deeper in love with you, and deeper in love with your daddy. I felt like I must be the most blessed person on the planet to have such a beautiful family. You were created out of the love between your mamma and daddy, and we welcomed you into our lives with so much joy and excitement.
We still didn’t know if you were a boy or a girl yet. We were just so excited to finally meet you and we were already so in love with you that we forgot to even check. None of us can actually remember if we checked before or after your cord was cut. We all think it was after, but logically, even your daddy wonders how he could have cut the cord but not noticed. Anyway, we soon learned that we had a daughter, and we were so thrilled! Secretly, I had hoped the entire pregnancy with you that you were our daughter, and it was a wonderful joy to finally see you!

Afterwards, I easily delivered my placenta with a small push when I felt a cramp. Audra reminded me that the placenta had no bones, so it would feel very easy. Then, your daddy held you against his bare chest while Tara checked me for any tears. I had a very small first-degree tear. Tara put a few stitches in to help it heal, and I didn’t even hardly notice because you were back on my chest and I was distracted by how beautiful you were.

At some point we all asked what time you had actually been born, and no one seemed to have paid attention except for Catherine, who said you were born at 2:18 p.m. on Monday, October 24th. After a few hours of holding you against both of our chests, Audra examined you. I sat on the bed eating some rice and soup and watched. She listened to your heart and lungs (both strong and perfect), your respirations, and checked all your reflexes. She checked each part of your body. You were so tiny and precious that I just wanted to kiss you all over. You were born with a full head of soft dark hair. We put a hat on you so that you would stay nice and warm, but I loved to smell you. As I write this, you are now three days old, and I still hold you next to my nose and inhale you. I love the way you smell, and sometimes I want to just lick you the way a mother cat licks her kittens. Your head still smells like it did the day you were born, and I like to take off your little hat and drink in the smell.
Your head was about 13” around, and you were 20.25” long and weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces. You have a little dimple on your right cheek, and your fingers and toes are long, like piano players. You make beautiful little faces, and your arms would move all over the place, because you couldn’t quite control them. Your APGAR scores were 8 and 9 (at one minute and five minutes), and you are healthy and perfect. There were no complications for either of us during labor. In fact, your heartbeat stayed strong the entire time and you handled labor really well.

I know that this story of your birth makes it sound like giving birth to you was really challenging and hard. While it is true that it was the hardest thing I have ever done, it was also the most incredible thing I have ever done. Even more, it was the most incredible thing your daddy and I got to share together. Neither of us will ever forget this experience of your birth. With your daddy, even though a baby (you!) came out of my body, we brought you into this world together. Your daddy and I both had a baby the day you were born. I did not labor alone. Every challenging moment of the birthing process was worth it to see your face for the first time, and the moment we first held you, I forgot everything about how much work labor had been. We expected labor to be hard work, and it was worth every second. You, my precious daughter, were worth every single moment we spent in labor together, and I would do it again for you in a heartbeat. The amazing thing was how quickly I forgot about the hard parts!

I also want you to know that you were also a part of my body, as well as your daddy and I, giving birth to you. While you were in my womb, you were also experiencing the contractions, and you were moving and working your way down, settling your head into my pelvis, and moving and adjusting as you navigated down the birth canal. You worked really hard to be born as well, and I remember feeling so grateful for you and the way you and I worked together during labor. You also worked really hard, and you were so strong the entire time.

Your midwives, Audra and Tara, and their apprentice Catherine all agree that you are precious and amazing. Audra expressed to us how much she enjoyed being at a birth as beautiful as ours. She said that attending your birth helped remind her why she became a midwife in the first place. Tara also told me how special it was for her to witness you being born and share in this special time of watching our family grow. She told us that it was very much an honor to have spent this time with our family.
The day your daddy and I got married was the first best day of our life. The day you were born was also the best day of our life. We are just so happy, and birthing you was so amazing. You made us each a mother and a father. We are YOUR mamma and daddy!

As I write this, you are now 3 days old and just as precious as the day you were born. Last night I looked at you sleeping and began to cry, remembering that you would never be 1 day old again, and you would never be 2 days old again. I was so in love with you that it made me cry with joy. Today, I love you even more. As I’m typing, you are curled up on my chest, inside of my shirt. Your cheek is against my skin and you are easily close enough to kiss, which is good because I can’t stop kissing you.

I loved being pregnant with you, and I loved giving birth to you. Since you were born, I still think of your birth constantly. I want to remember every single detail of the experience and share it with you. My precious daughter Palesa, you changed our lives the day you were born, and completely filled our hearts with joy. Your daddy and I are overwhelmed with love for each other, and love for you.
I know this letter has gotten very long, but before I end it, I want to tell you the story of how we chose your name, Palesa Sela May. We named you yesterday, and below is something your daddy wrote.
Amy Benson May and Osei May have chosen a name. Our daughter shall be called Palesa Sela May. Palesa (pah-LAY-sah) is an African name from the country Lesotho meaning "flower." Sela (SEE-la) is a biblical name/word meaning "rock." Our little daughter is preciously beautiful as a flower and strong like a rock. She has might in her hands and a strong grip. She can lift up her neck already and she can suck like a Dyson. Her name suits her features and personality. We wanted to get to know her first before naming her. You can see why we waited.
Much love,
Mamma

Congrats to parents of baby Mojo Born at home on 2/12/11

2011-03-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

I was cautiously excited and trying not to get my hopes up for real labor since there were three previous times that week that I thought I had been in labor. I called my homebirth midwife, Tara Kenny. We called our parents and my husband’s sister around 4pm and told them that I “might” be in labor and that we’d keep them posted. We returned home and started organizing the last details for our homebirth. My husband (D) set up the tub, but Tara had cautioned us not to fill it till I was in active labor and I still wasn’t totally sure I was in labor. We finished making some playlists. We turned on “In the Line of Fire” which we had started the previous evening. The contractions were getting stronger and were about 6 minutes apart. I needed to focus during the contractions but between them I was normal and chatting.

By 6:30pm we decided that this was most likely labor and started organizing childcare for our son and calling D’s sister- who was going to be present to take photographs and help out with anything else. I was feeling a little nervous that this was not labor and that we were going to get all these people organized and then have to tell them that it wasn’t the real thing. I asked my husband to call Tara to see if we should fill up the tub. I didn’t feel like talking on the phone.

After the various calls, we decided to turn off the movie and listen to some of the music. Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You” came on and we danced together in the dark living room. This was one of the best parts of the whole labor! I was starting to realize that it was the real thing – we were really going to have this baby – really soon – really now. I felt a huge gush of love flow out of me for my husband, for my son, for Mojo (baby on the way) and for our family. I felt very lucky and thankful to be there in the dark living room so full of love.

Not long after this I started to feel like I really needed to concentrate between the contractions as well. I asked my husband to move the rocking chair into the birth room (our second bedroom). We moved there, turned on the crystal salt lamp that we borrowed from our yoga teacher and I rocked. I didn’t want D to touch me but I wanted him close by. I think this was around 8pm although time starts to get very fuzzy here. In between contractions I was half-heartedly helping D fill the birth tub, but knew I wouldn’t be able to do this for too much longer.

At 8:30 Tara arrived and came in to say hello and monitor the baby’s heart rate. I said “hi” between contractions, but immediately went back to concentrating and rocking. My sister in law arrived shortly thereafter. I labored in the rocking chair until about 10pm (which I only know because of looking at the timestamp on the photos) and then Tara suggested that I get in the tub.

I was very hot so it felt nice to take off my clothes and get in the tub. It felt great to be in the tub water and to feel somewhat floaty. I labored there for awhile and Tara asked me if I felt pressure or wanted to push. I said maybe, but maybe not. I really wasn’t sure and definitely felt like there was no way I was at the pushing stage yet. In retrospect, I guess I was psyching myself up for a marathon labor like my first one with my son, so during the experience I was sure I needed 4-5 more hours to get totally dilated.

Somewhere in here D got in the tub with me and held me or pressed on my back during contractions. This was great to have him so close. I was acutely aware of his presence throughout the labor and didn’t want him to leave my side.

Somewhere around 10:30/11, Tara’s partner Audra Karp arrived with Catherine Stamatos, a student midwife.

At a certain point, Tara said she thought I was holding back and I told her I was scared to push because I didn’t think I was ready. She said she could check me (they had not done any checks up to that point) and Dave said he thought it was a good idea. He knew I was not convinced that I could be ready to have the baby yet. So I said yes, let’s check, but then Tara said it would be best to get out of the tub to pee and then be checked. This was a terrible thought to me and I couldn’t think of moving to the other room and getting on our bed, so I said I would stay in the tub.

After a couple more contractions, I decided I would try and get out of the tub to pee. I thought to myself that there is no way that any pee is coming out of me but I got out to try. She suggested pushing while on the toilet. I started and gave a couple of real pushes – whoa! It felt good and it felt right to push. I started feeling elated! The baby really WAS going to come much faster than my first. Here I was already pushing – amazing! I started really going for it and Tara said “OK if you want to have a water birth…get back in the tub.”

I somehow maneuvered back to the tub and got on my knees with my hands on the edge of the tub. I gave a couple of giant pushes over the next few contractions and was so excited to feel the head coming down and out. It was almost out. So on the next contraction I gave several huge pushes (they really ARE pushes, not “breathing the baby down”) and felt the head come out. Someone said that he was being born in the bag of waters and to reach down and feel it. I did and it felt very bizarre – gelatinous and sort of alien.

I asked “Is the head out?” and the midwives said “Not quite”. Arg! I was sure it was out! So I decided that now the head would REALLY come out and gave a huge push and Mojo’s whole body shot into the water. D said later he was so stunned that he couldn’t catch the baby. Luckily Tara was ready and caught him. Tara handed me my baby and we didn’t even look to see if it was a boy or girl. I held him and cried “My baby, my baby” and felt the hugest sense of relief and elation and wonder and everything all at once. I couldn’t believe how smoothly and quickly this birth had gone! It was amazing and perfect!! In retrospect, from the midwives’ notes, I only pushed for 15 minutes.

After a couple minutes of catching my breath and holding little Mojo against my chest I said “oh we better see if this is a boy or girl”. We looked and although I had bet on girl this baby was definitely a boy. I said something like “Oh My Boy!!! Well, we have to have a girl next!” D told me later he was amazed that I was talking about having another about 5 minutes after giving birth.

From there, everything was cake. They got me out of the tub to deliver the placenta, baby Mojo started nursing almost immediately, and everyone went about cleaning up and celebrating and chatting. D cut the umbilical cord. We did the newborn exam in the bed. They got me up to pee a couple times (which felt like amazing relief). And I snuggled with my brand new baby . Somewhere around 4am I ate the rest of the turkey sandwich that I had at lunch (the best sandwich ever, from Hi-Rise Bakery) and felt really thankful that I was at home, in my bed, with my new baby, awesome husband, loving sister-in-law and best-ever-turkey-sandwich. YUM!

Congrats to Kerry and her family! A beautiful homebirth on 1.8.11

2011-02-07T07:25:00.000-08:00

Kerry's oldest daughter cut the cord

My Amazing Homebirth

For my previous two births, I prided myself in choosing an OB affiliated with a large Boston teaching hospital. And when there were placental complications (one major) during both deliveries, I was convinced at how “lucky” I was to be in that large teaching hospital with that experienced OB.

It wasn’t until I was entering the third trimester of my third pregnancy that I came to my senses and realized that the complications I experienced in my previous deliveries were a direct result of the unnecessary inductions and medical interventions of OB-orchestrated, medicalized births. After much researching and soul-searching, I realized that my body could birth a baby without incident if I just let nature do what it was meant to do.

I was very lucky to meet Audra Karp randomly at a toddler playgroup prior to my “epiphany” about the potential dangers of medicalized, hospital births. As the weeks passed into my third trimester and I finally arrived at my decision for a natural homebirth, I was thrilled to have Audra as my midwife. Her knowledge, reassurance and calm demeanor were the key qualities that led to my amazing homebirth.

At 41 weeks, I happily went into labor on my own and my contractions quickly progressed from 10 minutes to 3 minutes apart. Audra, her student midwife, Catherine, and Audra’s partner midwife, Tara Kenny, arrived in the middle of the night and prepared their supplies while I labored in my living room. The early part of labor was much more tolerable than I anticipated. Having had two prior inductions with early epidurals, I was apprehensive about what real labor would feel like. Fortunately, it was nothing like Pitocin contractions and it was so nice to be able to walk freely through my home and labor as I needed to. As the contractions grew stronger, I gravitated more toward the bedroom where the midwives were located. I had no desire or need for a shower or bath but as the labor intensified and I got close to pushing, I was thrilled to use Audra’s birthing stool.

Prior to labor, I was worried that I would lose control at some point in the labor and think “this was a mistake,” or “I need an epidural,” or “I can’t do this.” Fortunately, that never happened for me. I feel like during the most intense part of labor, I went into the natural labor “zone” where it’s easier to block out external stimuli. It was just as intense as I thought it would be, but I never felt like it was more than I could handle. Audra and her partners were unbelievably supportive. They provided constant care and attention—at my request—and reassured me when contractions were most intense with calm statements, like: “That’s just your baby,” and “You’re fine, your baby’s fine, you’re doing great.”

At labor’s peak, I remember thinking, “someone please help me!” And when it became clear to me that I was the only one who could help me, I pushed the baby out! I had a slight hemorrhage after the baby was born, which Audra quickly stopped with a Pitocin injection. The placenta was ready to be delivered, but I think given my previous hospital-birth baggage, I subconsciously couldn’t push it out until after awhile Audra reassured me that the placenta was detached and everything was fine. When I ultimately pushed the placenta out, I sobbed and sobbed, filled with such relief that all was fine, anger over my previous births, and joy at my amazing, perfect homebirth.

I truly wish I had known in my earlier pregnancies what I learned in my third: that homebirths are safe, beautiful, empowering and truly the way that nature intended for babies to be born. Thank you Audra, Tara and Catherine!

Welcome Galen Nathaniel! A beautiful homebirth in the blizzard on 1.11.11!

2011-02-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

My first son was born at exactly 37 weeks, and so my husband and I were prepared (and we somewhat expected) to have this baby early too. But 37 weeks and then 38 weeks came and went with no sign of labor. I was frustrated and confused since I had not imagined myself still being pregnant in January! Finally on Friday January 7th I lost a big chunk of mucus plug. "This is it!" I thought surely labor would come soon. Then on Saturday evening came the bloody show, and what I "thought" was my water breaking. But no, it was just more mucus. I was having irregular cramping sensations, but there was no pattern. For two days I experienced escalating contractions in the evening, but they would always fizzle-out overnight. In the morning I awoke frustrated and impatient. Where was this baby?

When I talked to Tara each day, she assured me that although I was not in active labor, my body was still doing essential work preparing for birth. I tried to see each day as progress even though I felt stalled and anxious.

As my husband Chris and I looked at the weather forecast, which predicted a big blizzard in the wee-hours of Wednesday morning, we joked; surely this stubborn baby would arrive smack in the middle of a blizzard!? Sure enough, on Tuesday afternoon my pesky, irregular contractions seemed to be getting stronger, although they were still sporadic. I talked for a long time with a friend on the phone and she helped me to relax and stop worrying about when "real" labor would start. Later in the evening, after putting my son to bed around 7pm, I was getting pretty uncomfortable. I decided to take a shower to see if I could relax enough to sleep. Once in the shower, the contractions intensified significantly, so much so that I was having to moan through them. Once out of the shower, I told Chris to call Tara and our doula Evelyn.

While waiting for Evelyn, I found the most comfort kneeling on our couch and flinging my torso over the back so my head and arms could just dangle over the edge. When Evelyn arrived, we sat on the couch talking in between contractions, and I would simply throw myself over the couch with each oncoming pain. Chris was busy upstairs in our bedroom setting up the birth tub and filling it with water. Finally it was full enough that I could go upstairs and get in.

Once upstairs the contractions definitely kicked up a notch. I laid on the bed moaning through each one while Evelyn and Chris tried to get the temperature in the tub a little bit warmer. Tara and Audra arrived at this point. It was close to 10:00pm. At this point, I lost track of time, and my recollection of events becomes blurred. At one point I remember someone telling me that my moans sounded a little bit "pushy." Really? It didn't feel that way, though the sensations were intense. And I was shivering cold. Finally the tub was ready and I got in.

This is when my labor became like a freight train and I was just a passenger along for the ride. Contractions came one on top of the other, and with each one I felt a bit more grunty, a bit more pushy. Finally my body started doing its own thing. I did not feel an "urge to push" so much as bearing witness to my body's pushing and being powerless to stop it. Unlike with the birth of my first son - where I was told when and how to push - this experience was otherworldly. My body was on autopilot. I could feel my tissues expanding and stretching and had trouble integrating all the sensations because it was all happening so fast! Finally I reached down to feel a giant bulge and the smallest bit of head starting to crown. (All this time I was probably screaming and howling, but miraculously my toddler didn't make a peep on the baby monitor.) Then I was kneeling in the tub and reached down to exclaim that the head was OUT! I vaguely remember asking Tara "now what??" I tried to push with the next couple of contractions but not much progress was made. Tara and Audra had me flip over so Tara could assist with the shoulders. I remember starting to panic, but then Audra told me to focus all my energy downward and OUT. Then with that next push, out came our baby!

He was up on my chest, and it was complete euphoria. Not only was I no longer in any kind of pain, but we had a baby, finally! I wasn't even thinking about gender, but Chris looked and told me we had another boy. I was mesmerized as our baby boy made eye contact with me. I looked at him all over and noticed that he had a dimple on his cheek. Unlike my hospital birth, no one scooped him out of my arms, no one put goopy ointment in his eyes or wrapped him in a million blankets. It was just before midnight, the snow was just starting to fall outside, and our baby boy had the coolest birthday ever: 1/11/11

Welcome Olivia May! Born on 12/31/10

2011-01-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

Congrats to parents Jennifer and Alvaro! Their sweet daughter came just before the new year. She weighed 5 pounds 14 oz.

Welcome Kanna Takano! Born on 10.23.10

2010-11-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Hiroko! Who had a pretty quick first birth completely natural. Awesome job!

Welcome Taku! Born at home on 7.11.10

2010-09-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Twin brothers and father welcome Taku

Thank you Tara for the wonderful homebirth of Taku!
We are so happy that we could share our joy of his birth with you.
It was such a wonderful experience to get to know each other
through prenatal visits, labor and birth, and postpartum visits.
I can say that home birth was a right choice for our family.
Taku's brothers and father were so happy to be together with
him at home right after the birth.

Thank you again for your support and warm smiles.

Welcome Berwin! Born on 4.23.10 at home.

2010-09-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

Big brother Asher holding Berwin

Almost three years ago, my husband and I welcomed our first child into the world naturally with the help of a midwife and a nurse in a hospital not far from our home. The experience was as good as we could have hoped for in a hospital. Yet, being a hospital, there are rules, procedures, shifts and staff who operate within the rhythms of the building, as opposed to its visitors. This element, the ‘hospital machinery’, was our primary concern as we prepared ourselves for the birth. And although it was a smooth and relatively quick labor and delivery, we felt as though we always needed to be on our guard, almost defensive, so that we were not swept up into the current that has come to define the hospital birth in modern U.S. society.

The experience was a whirlwind. We were in and out in about a day and a half. People came in and out of the room to take tests and do blood pressure readings. They even woke me in the middle of the night to check my vitals. I remember thinking that we needed to hurry home before the “cutoff” just so that we could have a nurse visit us at home. Frankly, I couldn’t wait to get home. The experience was as good as we could have hoped for, but it was still a bewildering tango with the “machine”.

As time passed, and I had a chance to reflect on the experience, I became more and more aware that although the hospital was OK, it was not what I wanted the experience of childbirth to be, and was certainly not what I thought it could be. The natural process of labor was interrupted by having to get into the car to go to a hospital that wasn’t even a mile from the house. There were red lights, quick stops, and bumps in the road that were extremely uncomfortable and may have even prolonged the process of labor. On arrival we had to deal with admission while I was trying to breathe and relax through each surge. I finally had to get settled into an unfamiliar environment with people who I had never met. All of these extra intrusions and distractions happened before actually giving birth, and without anything even being amiss.

We loved welcoming our child into the world, but there had to be a better way. When we decided to start trying for a second child, we began learning more about home births, and it was clearly the right choice for us. We had interviewed many midwives, but once we met Tara, we knew she was going to be the one to support us. Her personality, calming disposition and genuine ability to connect with us made us even more comfortable with the idea of a home birth.

When the big day came, everything felt so natural. There was no rushing around, no unfamiliar people, and no moments of intrusion to take me out of the beautiful process as it unfolded. With my mind and body at ease, our second child was born during our older son’s nap. In hindsight, it was fast. Labor was only three hours. Because we were able to do it at home, and Tara was so good at both warmly reassuring and professionally monitoring the birth, my husband and I both felt a strange absence of time. The birth was neither fast nor slow, we just experienced everything as it happened. No stressors, no intrusions, no pressure. I felt relaxed, safe, and at peace in the comfort of our own home. It was everything that I hoped childbirth could be, and was an amazingly powerful experience.

Welcome O.T. Born at home on 8.28.10!

2010-09-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

After several weeks of the baby’s head being parked on my bladder and Braxton Hicks that left me breathless, early labor started around 5:30′ ish or 6:00′ ish in the morning. My father-in-law took V to a friends’ house in the morning when contractions picked up around 8:00 or 9:00am.

Tig and I went for a short walk and I needed to stop at each contraction. When we came home, Tig filled up the birth tub, and we were joined by our two midwives (Audra Karp and Tara Kenny) shortly after.

From there, I watched a bit of Lord of the Rings and a bit of the new Fame movie as a distraction between waves. Later, I switched over to a simple counting breath technique. I labored until about 12:00′ish, when contractions started to become more and more challenging.

Audra checked me at my request and I was at 9cm. Shortly after, my water broke and the waves kept coming one on top of the other, and I started to have doubts about crossing the finish line. After an hour of pushing, and some hollering, O shot out like a cannonball.

“Oh, there’s the baby,” Audra said calmly and scooped him out of the water. So *technically*, no one “caught” him.

Welcome baby O, we’ve been so eager to meet you.

Welcome Sachi! Born on 8.12.10

2010-08-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

Sachi’s Birth Story

The birth of my daughter began very slowly with two days of latent labor. On Tuesday I woke up to some signs of impending labor, and by midnight I started having mild contractions. They were small enough that I wasn’t excited about an imminent delivery, but strong enough that they interfered with my sleep. The next morning I called in sick to work and went shopping with my husband for some supplies in case that day was the day, although I didn’t think that was likely. I spoke with Tara by phone, and she told me to keep doing what I was doing – the process could take a while. But she also assured me that even though the contractions were small, my body was doing some very important work. It was reassuring to have her “with us” from at the very beginning.

Wednesday night the mild contractions continued, and I slept fitfully. On the morning of Thursday, August 12, I called my obstetrician to see if I should still go to my scheduled prenatal appointment, and she said I should come in. My doctor examined me and told me I was one centimeter dilated and ninety percent effaced. I was definitely in early labor, she said, but things could still take a long time. She asked if I wanted to come back at the end of the day so she could examine me again and let me know how I was doing. I had some reservations about a second examination as I thought it would be frustrating if my labor hadn’t progressed. I talked to Tara about this and she agreed, telling me to do whatever felt right. We went home and spent the day doing the same as we had the day before – reading, watching movies, eating, and getting fresh air when we felt like it. At this point I was convinced that it would be at least a few more days before anything happened, and I was prepared for the entire process to stall entirely and restart later. I was frustrated, but I knew I had no control over the situation. Little did I know my daughter would be born that day!

Later in the afternoon I did go to see my obstetrician again. I learned that I was two centimeters dilated and one hundred percent effaced. It still didn’t seem that encouraging me to me, however, because I didn’t really feel that I was “in labor,” but my OB said that she considered the fact that I was one hundred percent effaced to be significant. She also said that things could pick up quickly from now, but I was still prepared for a long wait. I just didn’t feel any momentum to the labor.

Back at home I practiced relaxing, stretching, and breathing through the contractions. As time passed I developed a constant backache that intensified during the contractions but didn’t go away when they ended. I took a warm bath to try and ease the discomfort which felt great. It was while I was in the bath that I started to really feel that I was in labor. At about 5:30, I told my husband to call Tara, update her on how I was doing, and see if it was time to come over to help me labor at home. Tara agreed that we should start thinking about her coming over, and I was relieved as it was exactly the time I started to feel that I really needed her support. After that I labored in the living room, bending over the couch with each contraction and moaning with my husband by my side, rubbing my back. I visualized myself opening up with each contraction and letting go. We had agreed that we would delay going to the hospital as much as possible, because it was more comfortable to be at home, but because I hoped to have as natural a birth as possible.

At about eight o’clock Tara arrived at our place. She was calm and smiling, and I took comfort in the fact that, though I was increasingly uncomfortable, everything I was experiencing was normal. She assured me over and over, “your body knows what to do,” and this definitely helped me to let go with each contraction. Soon after Tara arrived, I began to feel we should head to the hospital. Not only was I anxious to get to the place where my baby would actually be born, I was secretly thinking that then I could also ask for an epidural. We labored at home for about an hour, my husband and Tara helping me with each contraction. At about nine o’clock we headed to the hospital and arrived twenty minutes later. By this time I was really in the throes of labor. My husband pushed me in a wheelchair up to the labor and delivery floor. Once there, the nurses saw how uncomfortable I was and got me quickly into a room. It was at this point I turned to Tara and said, “I want an epidural.” She calmly and gently reminded me that most women hit a wall at some point in labor, and I was hitting mine. Though I had asked her to help me go without pain medication, I wasn’t happy to hear this. But somehow I managed to trust her and focused on managing the next contraction and adapting to my new surroundings. Tara helped by minimizing the number of people in the room, dimming the lights, and simply remaining calm and present.

My initial exam revealed that I was six centimeters dilated. Everyone said how great this was, but I felt I should be more like eight centimeters by that point. Being up on the bed was at first uncomfortable, but after a while I got used to handling the contractions lying down. I remember that a few were so bad, I broke from the low moans and let out some higher-pitched screams. Tara coached me back to vocalizing at a lower register and kept me as calm as possible. I remember again saying that I couldn’t do it. Tara and my husband kept telling me that yes, I could do it, and that I was doing it. Then the three of us would deal with the next contraction. That’s how we got through transition – one contraction at a time.

At around eleven, the doctor did another exam and told me I was fully dilated. I was so relieved I think I cried a bit, or at least felt like crying. A few minutes later we began pushing. All along, I had been most frightened of this stage because I couldn’t imagine how a baby could pass out of me without huge amounts of pain. But ironically, it felt good to push because it was relieving a lot of the pressure I was feeling and putting the contractions to use. The pushing went quickly – half an hour after we started my daughter was born! I remember opening my eyes, looking up, and seeing the doctor hold her up. The next thing I knew she was on my stomach, and I held her to me. I will never, ever forget the moment she opened her eyes at looked at me. That was really when I saw my daughter for the first time – her eyes said everything. We named her Sachi, a Japanese name meaning “happiness.”

Soon after, I delivered the placenta, and had a small tear stitched up. As we had planned, Sachi stayed on me the entire time, except for a few minutes when she was weighed and swaddled. Though there were several medical professionals in the room, they gave us a lot of space. Sometime after midnight Tara helped us start breastfeeding. I was grateful for her guidance; there was no pressure to get it “right” on the first try. Sachi proved to be quite a determined baby, and attempted to latch over and over. We didn’t perfect our technique right away, but later that night Sachi wanted to eat again and that’s when we had our first successful feeding.

I honestly never really thought I would have a completely natural childbirth. I just knew I wanted to participate as actively as possible in my labor and to avoid most medical intervention. But generally, I was simply open to whatever seemed right. I was completely confident that Tara understood our wishes and would do all she could to make them happen. In the end, things turned out better than I had hoped. With the help of Tara and my husband, I was able to experience birth at its full intensity. It was extremely difficult and at times terrifying for me, but it ended up being one of the proudest moments of my life, and certainly the happiest.

Welcome Isabella Valdesolo! Born on 6/17/10

2010-06-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Tara's patience, kindness and knowledge kept us sane throughout the pregnancy and birth. Thanks for helping introduce us to Isabella!

Welcome Maybe Amelia! Born on 5/16/10

2010-06-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

On day 12 past her due date, we headed to Tara's house to do a non-stress test to make sure we were good to wait it out. I was in tears before I even got into her house, the frustration of being even later than I was with Sam was taking a toll and I didn't want to watch my homebirth slip away. That familiar feeling of wondering if my body was failing at this was not a pleasant one. Tara was wonderful and reassuring, and said she might be comfortable going a day or two past the 42 week mark (assuming the NST and BPP were okay) since I was not 100% sure of my dates.

We talked about natural induction methods, and agreed that a stretch & sweep was the first thing we'd go for if I hadn't started labor by Saturday. I wasn't entirely happy with the idea of having that done, but if we had to coax labor along, this was a better alternative.

The baby passed the NST with flying colors . Then we went to the ultrasound place for a bio-physical profile...baby was fine, head down, average sized (not that I was concerned about that, Samantha made me less afraid of 10+ pound babies) and the fluid level and placenta were both great. So, we headed home to continue to wait.

Friday night after we went to bed, things started to move. Lots of pink tinged mucous, and then full on bloody show as the night went on. A few random scattered contractions but nothing exciting. The next morning they petered out, but the "show" continued. We called Tara and agreed to put off the stretch & sweep until further notice. We went about our day, Alex set up the pool and filled it halfway with room temperature water, and we made up the bed with plastic underneath between two sets of sheets. We made sure all the odds & ends supplies were in place and then went to Framingham to the farm to pick up milk (and raw milk ice cream, which they finally had for the first time!) Joan got a kick out of seeing me again, still pregnant, and thought it was a riot when I told her I was actually in early labor.

Contractions were picking up on the car ride home, coming about 10-15 minutes apart, and were "for real." I called Tara back when we got home to let her know to expect a call maybe tonight.

We ordered pizza for dinner, and sent Sam off to her karate movie/pizza night. I wasn't sure how much time we had so there was some debate about what time she should come home. Contractions were still 10-13ish minutes apart, as they'd been for most of the day. Jess and Jeremy were at a soccer match an hour away, so they weren't readily available for shuttling Sammy if things switched up fast
.
Around 9:00, things went from 10 minutes apart to about 5 minutes apart, very quickly. After a half hour of contractions that were that close together, I called Tara to have her come over. She arrived around 9:30, and she hung out for a bit and brought her supplies in. Cully was still awake and bouncing off the walls, so Tara thought if I put him to bed and got Sam home things might pick up. We put hot water in the tub, and Tara was going to bring back her pool cover to keep it warm. She left, said she'd wait to hear from us, and after I put Cully to bed I called Jess and had her swing by on the way home from the match and pick up Sammy from karate. Bella came over about this time and was hanging around upstairs in the hallway, outside the kid's bedroom doors. Sam put on headphones and stayed in her room kind of listening and kind of reading.

I called Molly (the photographer) and she made her way over as well. After I put Cully to bed, things started moving much faster. Contractions were strong enough that I needed help through them. I was on the birthing ball in our room, the pool got filled with hot water, and I got in and had Alex call Tara when we had a half hour of them 1-2 minutes apart. I tried to listen to the Hypnobabies tracks, but that just wasn't working. Tara got there around 10:30, and shortly after her assistant Audra showed up. Molly took lots of shots of us around this time. I labored in the tub for a while, then got out and moved around from the birth ball to the floor, to the bed, and hanging off Alex for them all. I asked him to help remind me to release tension with each contraction, and I was saying to myself during each one "LET GO." I could feel myself tensing up against the pressure and had to really concentrate on relaxing all my muscles, starting with my hands and face and then legs and shoulders and back and finally everything internally. Every so often I would want to disappear by myself, and that was the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet was comfortable and let me focus on "releasing into the pain" instead of tensing up against it. I think it was around this time that I started having to vocalize through the contractions. I felt so stupid, honestly, but it was the ONLY thing that allowed me to "open up" and relax through them. I was either "aaaaaaaaaaaaahing" or "Oooooooooooooohing" or repeating my mantra of "LET GO LET GO LET GO LET GO."

At one point I got out of the tub and my hands were shaking, my legs were shaking, and my teeth were chattering (I was NOT cold, the tub and room were very warm and I was having people put ice cold wash cloths on my neck and arms because of the heat of the pool). I said to Tara "this better be frigging transition" and she assured me that it was most likely getting to that point. I headed into the bathroom again at some point, and decided to check to see if I could feel anything...to me, it still felt like I was 3-4 cm. I freaked out and called Tara in to tell her, I was kind of weepy and freaking out at this prospect and told her I was really afraid that I hadn't progressed at all. She said she could check if I really wanted her to, and I said yes because I was losing it. She did a quick exam on the bed and said no, I was at 8-9 cm and very stretchy with a bulging bag of water and that the baby was definitely moving down. This helped me a lot - I got back in the tub, moaning and yelling and straight up whimpering here and there. I know I said a few times that I couldn't do it, and asking for help and telling everyone that it hurt so much. Alex was so good, holding onto me through each contraction (on top of each other at this point) and guiding me through each one. Tara and Audra were both telling me how great things were going, and how each contraction was bringing me closer to the baby being out, and after each one telling me that I wouldn't have to do that one ever again. I remember Tara telling me to "ride it" and that helped as well. I had to really concentrate on releasing tension for each contraction, moreso than before, and it was really hard to do. I was starting to doze off between contractions at this point, my head on the pool.

So at 2:21 am, I was breathing through a REALLY awful contraction that Tara was helping me through and my water broke. I felt the pop and the gush and I felt my eyes pop out of my head as I said "my water just broke" and kind of shrieked a bit, because as soon as that happened the head just FLEW like a freight train through my body. Molly and Audra bolted upstairs (they were downstairs hanging out for a bit). I reached down and could feel her head almost crowning, and was involuntarily pushing. The next few minutes are a blur, but I remember saying that I couldn't stop it, that I was tearing, and then getting some control over myself and saying over and over "it's just the head, it's okay it's okay it's okay." With Cully's birth, feeling his head in the birth canal was a panicky feeling for me and I was having it again, so I somehow managed to have the sense to talk myself out of that and just became okay with the feeling of her head right there. With the next few contractions I let my body push her out, while stretching the tissue around her head with my hands. With the next one I could feel her head coming out, Tara asked me if I wanted to catch my baby, I said yes and she helped me sit back in the water. I yelled out for someone to wake up the kids. I could feel her entire body moving still - arms and legs and feet in very different spots than where I was used to feeling them. It was so bizarre. When I was reaching around I felt something else - I thought it was a cord, and told the midwives as such - her head came out all the way, and Tara felt for the cord. Audra asked her if she could loop it, she said no, they asked me to push with the next contraction. The rest of her body came out at 2:30 am and they helped me pull her up onto my chest. The cord was around her neck three times but she was perfectly pink and screaming. Tara and Audra somersaulted her around a bit to remove the cord, and I checked to see we had a girl! I had to check twice I was so surprised. I yelled to Alex that "It's a Maybe!!" and noticed he was very pale in the hallway. A cord issue was a big fear of his and when he saw the cord and a little flurry of activity from the midwives, he lost it a bit, emotionally. The midwives put warm, wet blankets over her and I while she screamed - her lungs were good! They helped me to the bed a bit later. Alex at this point yelled "HOLY SHIT" and we laughed as everything just sunk in. No tears, no stitches! A small abrasion on each side, but nothing major. Her hand was what I felt by her face, not the cord, we think, looking back on it. I delivered the placenta nearly an hour later, it felt HUGE, it was cut by Alex seconds later.

The midwives helped clean up for a bit, took my blood pressure and pulse and stuff, and then let us hang out for a bit, just Maybe and I and Alex and the kids on the bed watching her yell (she was starting to let up but still had a lot to say. She really WAS comfortable in there!)

Tara helped me into the shower a bit later, which felt great. Alex worked on draining the pool, and around 4:30 Audra and Molly left. Tara went home around 6, Bella had gone downstairs with Cully where he fell asleep on the couch, and Sam had gone back to bed around 4. Alex and I lay in bed, but couldn't sleep much as the adrenaline was still pretty strong. Maybe nursed and slept and looked around for a while before we all got some napping in. It was everything I hoped for the birth to be. I felt incredibly supported by Tara and Audra and of course, Alex, who, just when I think I can't possibly love him any more intensely, manages to prove me wrong. Bella stayed all day long, doing laundry and helping Cully, and Jeremy and Jess brought up a giant, decadent macaroni and cheese. An absolutely amazing support team.

Welcome Milo Jackson! Born on 5/4/10

2010-06-03T16:38:00.001-07:00

A soft landing.

Our first child, Milo Jackson Yeh Sperry, was born on May 4th. Within 30 minutes of being discharged from the hospital, there was Tara, sitting in our living room, helping us get to know our newest family member.

Like most new parents, we'd spent most of our time focused on the pregnancy and the delivery. However, as soon as Milo was on the scene, breathing and delivery techniques were quickly replaced with breastfeeding, diapers and an entirely new world order. Tara was just the guide we needed. Warm. Positive. Confident. Nurturing. And most importantly, fun. "Fun" is not something usually associated with the first two weeks, but we really credit Tara for helping to make it possible.

Here's a few pictures of the little guy, including a few of his "firsts." Luckily, we were able to give Tara a few "firsts" of her own… including her first Dr Suess massage and a Tummy Tub bath.

We were honored to get to know Milo with Tara's help.

A soft landing, indeed.

Welcome Arie! Born on 12.19.09

2010-04-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

After being with Sarah and Craig half way through the night...I received a phone call from my sister saying "my water just broke." So I got home and had 2 hours of sleep then attended my # 2 nephew's birth. VERY COOL:) My sister worked very hard and did an amazing job laboring. Welcome sweet Arie Spek. He was born at 2.45 pm and weighed 9.02 lbs. A pretty sturdy little guy.

Welcome Maceo! Born 12.19.09

2010-04-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

Congrats to parents, Sarah Poulter and Craig Melzer! Maceo Isaac Melzer was born on December 19, 2010 at 6:46pm. He weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. Unfortunately, I ended up missing Maceo's birth (my back up doula-Sarafina Kennedy went instead) since my sister went into labor the same day. More to come.....

The birth of Rassa June, born at home, 1:43pm

2010-03-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

I had been having waves of nausea and on and off short spurts of mild contractions that were a bit stronger than Braxton-Hicks for a good 3 weeks. I woke up on 12/8 because my downstairs neighbors were noisy and I was enraged and weepy. I think this was the upsurge of estrogen that precedes labor. I calmed down, and tried to relax and have a restful day. When Seth came home we went for a long 2-hour walk. On the way home I got an enormous roast beef sandwich and some cookies and woofed the whole lot down. I went to bed around midnight. At 2:30 am (now 12/9) I woke up to pee and had some bloody show when I wiped. That got my attention. But I had been determined to not have any false alarms, so I shrugged it off and went back to bed.

Within a half hour of lying back down I was having mild crampy period contractions not unlike what I had in the weeks before. But soon they turned into something a bit sharper and closer together (all within 10 minutes of each other). There was no way I was going to sleep through them. I still wasn't convinced this was the real thing, but I woke up Seth at 3:30. We lay in bed and talked about what to do, whether this was real or just more warm up labor. Around 4am I got up and took a hot shower (I had the irrational thought, “I can’t have a baby with dirty hair”). Seth began cleaning and prep in the kitchen, where we were going to set up the birth pool.

After the shower I checked email, had some oatmeal and trail mix, listened to birth affirmations and strolled around the apartment. The contractions began to get closer together and strong, different from the period cramp contractions. They weren’t all that painful, partly because I didn’t stay still through them. I breathed and swayed and rocked and let them wash over me, thinking about opening my cervix. I was mostly on the opposite side of the apartment from Seth, content to be alone and do my own thing, with occasional forays into the kitchen to say hi. I also had to use the bathroom like 20 times.

By 6 am I wasn't able to really talk through them and they were about 5 minutes apart and close to a minute. At 7am Seth called the midwives, who, as luck would have it, were at another birth, which had begun an hour before mine. Luckily hers was going fast too... We didn’t know this at the time though. I think both they and we thought I had much more time than I did.

I continued to wander around the house, listening to birth affirmations and leaning against walls and into chairs, swaying through the contractions. I took a second shower, which felt like heaven, and that really seemed to speed things up. Around 8am I began moaning through them, not because they hurt, but because it was a way to release, to let them wash over me. I asked Seth to get the pool ready, since we had estimated it would take 2 hours. I didn't know if I was jumping the gun because it was our first time, but things seemed to be moving along pretty quick and I could almost feel my cervix opening. Seth also kept in touch with Audra and Tara about once an hour.

After 8am I was in my bedroom leaning against the wall on the floor in a hip opening posture. I was trying to rest but I found lying down through a contraction made them really hurt and it was annoying to have to scramble to my hands and knees every 3-4 minutes. During a contraction it was much easier to get on my hands and knees and rock back and forth from a sitting position. I stopped talking at this point too, except for the occasional monosyllabic necessary communication. One of these was to ask Seth for a bowl when he came in to time contractions again. I felt somewhat nauseous but didn’t end up throwing up or really even getting close.

Around 10:30am I got in the pool, which was not warm enough, and Seth was frantically boiling water in our big pots, waiting for the water heater to recover. But it was good enough. It made the contractions, which had gotten much more intense, so much better and it made my body easier to relax. I must have been in transition at this point because I was thinking, "This is really hard, I don't want to do this anymore" and "We are so not having any more kids." But I didn't actually say anything beyond grunting, monosyllabic demands and hand waving. My moaning at this point was still sounding like I was having really loud, really good sex. But Seth and I were still alone and didn't know how far along I was, though at this point we knew that Tara was on her way from the other birth. It was snowing and generally very bad weather outside so the drive was long.

At about 11:15 I had a contraction that ended in an involuntary push and we were still alone. I was so surprised, and at that point I thought maybe we should have someone here with us who knew what the hell they were doing! Seth just assured me that Tara was on her way and held my hand. I think we sat in peaceable silence. I just continued to let my body do its thing, neither fighting nor encouraging it.

Fifteen minutes later Tara arrived and a little later Rebecca came (Audra had stayed behind at the other birth to finish up). At some point Molly, the student photographer, came too, but my recall of this time is not so good. I do know that my vocalization shifted at this point to more of an animalistic grunting. The contractions were pretty intense and I was totally inwardly focused, clutching Seth's hand and shoulders in a death grip and hanging over the side of the pool in between, which didn't seem that long (2-3 minutes). This was the most painful point for me; there was this dull painful pressure all around my pelvic bone, which I later realized was my bag of waters.

The whole labor I could feel the baby's feet pushing against my upper and then mid-belly, like she was helping me by trying to push her own way out. The whole time I was concentrating on taking long, slow, deep breaths and during contractions exhaling with a low moan and loose jaw. I drank a lot of water too. The midwives monitored the baby while I was pushing and she was doing fine. I think I was a little crabby about being monitored because I had to shift positions to help them find the baby’s heart beat with the Doppler.

I think somewhere around 12:30pm Tara told me that I could start pushing, so I tentatively began to put some effort into those involuntary pushes that were happening on their own. At this point (I think) my water broke with a loud pop that kind of scared me and made me clench up. But relief was almost instantaneous, and the pushing began to get much more serious. Contractions would start with two or three pretty intense pushes and then begin to taper off. That beginning two or three involuntary pushes were when I added my own active efforts.

Tara and Rebecca were encouraging me and Seth seemed to take his cue about what to do from them and he began encouraging me too. They were praising me for how careful of my perineum I was being by not heaving her out in one go. At one point I was reaching down to support myself and Tara told me I could reach down and feel the baby’s head if I wanted. I snatched my hand back; I didn’t want to be reminded about what was going on from the outside, it would break my concentration. Tara also told me I should wait for a second after the head came out so that she could make sure the cord wasn’t wrapped around the baby’s neck. I felt her head come out in increments, got the all clear and then (probably a little too enthusiastically but I was ready to be done) gave one good heave and she shot out into the water like a cannon ball.

The midwives caught her and put her on my chest, but I couldn't bring her up very far because the cord was pretty short. Because of this, having some mucus in her mouth suctioned out, she got pissed. This is when things got stressful. She cried for a good 30 minutes and was too angry to nurse. I had gotten out of the water at this point was reclined on some pillows and blankets on the kitchen floor against the fridge. I gave her to Seth to do some skin-to-skin and calm down while I delivered the placenta. He did managed to calm her down by singing her Sonic Youth’s Schizophrenia. After a couple of hours I was getting worried because she hadn't nurse yet and was only calm while dozing. She screamed through the whole newborn exam and was too upset to nurse until close to 6pm. I was feeling shaky and all this was pretty overwhelming.. Argh!

Tara stayed and helped me get her to nurse a little and help Seth with the worst of the clean up (draining the nasty water out of the tub). After she left the baby was still really cranky. If we moved her she screamed. But around 1am, she farted, shat a diaper load of meconium and barfed up what looked like the rest of that mucus that was in her mouth at birth, and calmed down immediately. And the next morning, I got to wake up in bed with Seth and our new baby, Rassa June, to hang out, work on breastfeeding and rest.

I feel so totally lucky to have had the kind of birth that I wanted that seemed surprisingly easy to handle. It was painful there at the end, but not unreasonably so and didn’t go on for too long. I got to stay at home and I never had to deal with things I didn’t want to. Tara and Audra were important in making this happen for me throughout my pregnancy and birth. Welcome Rassa, aka Angry Goddess.

Baby Annika's Beautiful birth Story: 9/19/09

2010-03-02T16:19:00.000-08:00

The contractions began on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 11 pm. Kyle was watching the end of the movie, Watchmen, when I came down and told him that contractions had started. This was the 3rd time they began and I was 10 days late so we were hoping this was the real deal. The contractions weren't painful yet, just present, so I couldn't sleep. They started to become more regular at 2 am and I woke Kyle up to call Tara Kenny, our midwife. Over the previous 7 months, Tara had made home visits monthly, then bi-weekly, then weekly. I came to anticipate each visit as it was really nice to talk about what my body was going through. In the end, she became a close friend.

Back to the birth. I turned on the tv to keep me from going crazy in the middle of the night and The Cosby Show was on...and while I chuckled, the contractions got REAL. After reading every birth story I could get my hand on, I was disappointed not to find a description of what the contractions were like and I swore I would try my best to convey the feeling. As my friend, Tracy Blankenship, told me...contractions feel like "the countdown", which is the feeling one gets when they have 10 seconds to find a bathroom before their drawers are completely wrecked. In other words, the worst intestinal cramps you can imagine. There's definitely sweating and concentrating involved, but there's also a menstrual element to it. At that point in the birth, contractions were 10 minutes apart and about 30 seconds long. To attempt relaxation I hopped in the shower and cranked up the heat. Holding the shower head directly on my stomach made a HUGE difference in lessening the contraction intensity. And this is when I knew it was time to fill the birthing tub with water, which begins my fondest memories.

First Stage. It was about 4 am when I climbed into the tub. We set it up a month prior near our gynormous windows in the living area. Kyle hooked up the garden hose to our kitchen sink and turned on the hot water. There were also two heating pads within the tub that maintained the temperature. When the water was full to the recommended line, I could sit cross legged on the floor and the water level would sit right below my shoulders, but I did a lot of belly-up floating with my hands and the ground holding me. Kyle laid on our small couch in the fetal position trying to sleep while I worked through the contractions. Our mac played a Pandora radio station that I specifically made for the birth with a lot of Sigur Ros, but it would also insert some Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service and Jose Gonzalez. When I first laid down in the tub, I rested my head on the edge with my eyes looking up out the window at the stars. Slowly, the dawn started to show and contractions got more intense as the sun came up.
Second Stage. Right about the time that Tara came over, around 8:30 a.m., I had started to pace and at the onset of a contraction, I would lean against a counter and concentrate. Tara guided me through the hard ones. I would switch between the tub, to our bed upstairs, to the kitchen and the shower. Audra Karp, another wonderful midwife and Tara's backup arrived around noon. They both fed me water, smoothies and applesauce. Tara also took my temperature, monitored the baby's heart rate with a stethoscope, and monitored my heart rate/blood pressure periodically throughout labor.
Transition. During the hardest part, the transition stage, I was on our bed with the birthing ball and the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I would take a nap in between. Tara had me walk down to the shower and every time I got up to walk, the contractions came faster. In the shower, I got down on my hands and knees and felt the need to push. After Tara checked to measure my dilation, I was still a centimeter away from full dilation. So I worked through another hour on our bed with Kitty standing by... at one point I thought, I'm not going to have the energy and just wanted the whole thing to go away and let me sleep.
Pushing. Around 5 pm, I got in the tub and started pushing. For motivation, Tara told me to feel inside me for the head. I thought she was crazy and I was pretty delirious at this point, but I did. This was equivalent to seeing the 12 mile marker in a half marathon. I could feel the head and one small, unbroken bag of water in front of it. The pushing then became a fight to the finish and even though I was beyond exhausted, I knew that it was almost over and the surprise would be here. When the head was crowning, it truly felt like a ring of fire. Tara coached me to slow down and take deep breaths so I wouldn't tear anything, so as hard as it was, I put the brakes on. The head slowly came out, thirty seconds went by and the body came out under water. Tara handed me the baby and I was able to see that I had a GIRL! Annika laid on me crying as exhaustion blanketed me. I looked at Kyle and wept.
Post-birth. Tara and Audra helped me out of the tub and lied me on our couch covered with a bunch of chux pads. They helped Annika nurse on me to stimulate contractions so they could retrieve the placenta and Kyle unintentionally sat right across from me as they did this...first time I had a laugh in 24 hours. Now it was time to pee, which seemed daunting. They helped me to the bathroom. The three of them wanted to feed me something substantial, but I just wanted smoothies and to go to sleep. Tara's husband brought over an air mattress and we "slept" downstairs in our living area with Annika in between us.
The Morning After. My body was still pretty exhausted, but I was on a high every time I noticed the small bundle laying there and from what my body did the day before. "Did I really do that?" I kept asking myself. I felt so empowered. One of my favorite shows, CBS Sunday Morning was on and Kyle made me a HUGE breakfast. Tara visited us that night to help with breastfeeding and check on Annika and I.
Thank goodness Kyle had the week off from work! He helped me walk around the condo, take Sitz bathes and cook ungodly amounts of food while I taught myself and coaxed Annika on breastfeeding.
People ask me if I had the choice to do a home birth again, would I? ABSOLUTELY! I treated my pregnancy like a training period for a marathon. Three times a week for Yoga and twice a week to weight lifting and sculpting and to get to the gym I rode my bike. I actually rode my bike two days past my due date which was liberating. Per Tara's recommendation, I also made weekly appointments during the final 6 weeks for acupuncture and chiropractic care. My acupuncturist, Sharon Levy, was extremely knowledgeable about pregnancy and induction methods and her sessions really relaxed me. Lisa Geiger was my chiropractor and she did an excellent job at aligning my body to make labor a seamless process! The whole point of all this is, I was in control of the pregnancy and the birth. Owning the birth, with Tara as the guide, was the best decision I've made in my life, and if we live far away from Tara for our second child, I want to fly her to me for that birth!

Baby Izzie Born on 9/1/09

2009-10-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Isabel’s Birth

For about ten days before Isabel was born, I was having pre-labor symptoms that would start and stop – Braxton-Hicks contractions, some crampiness, nausea, and a general feeling of all systems being “go.” But labor itself kept not coming! Although I was at only 38.5 weeks, I started getting pretty impatient. When are you coming, baby? On the evening of August 31, I went for a walk and the pre-labor symptoms started up, as usual. This time, though, there seemed to be a little amniotic fluid coming out as well. This got my hopes up that maybe today was “the” day, after all.

Coming home, I began listening to my Hypnobabies (hypnosis for birthing) CDs on my iPod. I’d been listening to these CDs for the past two weeks, training myself to relax during labor and let it happen. The CDs made me feel calm and peaceful, as well as focused on the task at hand. Jacob, in the meantime, was packing the bag I would take to the Birth Center. Everything was going smoothly, until the pre-labor symptoms suddenly stopped – just as they had so many times before. I just sighed, turned off the iPod, and told Jacob it was all off, once again: “This baby will just not make up her mind!” We went to bed, as usual, at 11 pm.

This time, though, things turned out differently. I woke up at 1:20 am certain that I was in labor. Big, fairly intense waves of contractions (“birthing waves,” as my CDs called them) kept coming over me. I got up, sat on the couch in the living room and listened to my CDs some more, observing what was happening in my body. I tried to maintain a peaceful mood, slowly moving around the house in between the contractions, gathering the stuff for the bag that Jacob and I had given up on. Around 2 am, I called Tara. I told her that things were finally happening, and she said she would be right over. In about half an hour, Tara and I were sitting on the couch together. During each contraction, I would just get quiet and close my eyes, breathing deeply and evenly. In between contractions, I was fairly social and chatty. Tara brought me some food and drink. After about an hour of hanging out, Tara suggested that we try to get a bit more rest, since we didn’t know how many more hours lay ahead of us. She lay down on the couch, and I stretched out on my side on the bed in the study, still listening to my CDs, and actually managed to drift off for a little bit. Then the contractions started to become stronger. Lying there I did begin to wonder what kind of intensity the sensations I was experiencing would build up to in the course of the night – and whether I would be able to maintain a peaceful and calm attitude toward them. Would I yet regret the fact I chose not to go the routine epidural route? At that point, I told myself, “This is the race I chose to run, and at this point I will just focus on running it the best I can. I won’t think about what other race it could have been.” With that, I felt like I was ready for things to really start happening: “OK, let’s run the race, then.”

I went to wake up Tara. We called the Birth Center and told Tiffany, the midwife on duty, that we were ready to come. Tiffany later said she was kind of doubtful as to whether it was time to come yet – I had been in labor for only three hours, and my contractions had only just started to be some 5 or 6 minutes apart. But I seemed certain that it was time, so she said OK. Having Tara there made me feel more confident, I think, in my own sense of what was going on, since she was supporting me emotionally and making me feel that she respected my own rhythm of birthing and my way of experiencing it. I went in to the bedroom and told Jacob what was going on. I said we’d call when the birth was imminent so he could come over with Maja.

We got to the Birth Center at 5 am and met Tiffany. The exam Tiffany gave me revealed that I was about 4.5 cm dilated. I settled in at the room in the Birth Center and thing really started to happen. I was no longer talking in between contractions, since the time in between them was getting shorter and shorter. I stood by a tall mantelpiece with my eyes closed, leaning on it with my arms and head during every contraction. I was still listening to my CDs and I was in the zone. During contractions, I swayed my hips gently from side to side. Tara held a hot pack to my lower back, since the contractions were building a lot of pressure there. Then Tara said the birthing tub was full and I could get in if I wanted. I got in.

Once I was in the tub, I was able to relax so completely, that the intensity built very quickly. After about twenty minutes, I was in transition. The contractions in these burning waves now – building, building, building – and they were long. In fact, they never really stopped. After the first one or two, I began to rock from side to side in the tub and to moan during the peaks, as well as let my legs kick out some. This was as much for the benefit of physical release for myself as to communicate to Tara and Tiffany that things were really picking up. The intensity was powerful, but I wasn’t really able to think at this point and consider how I was reacting or how I would handle it. I was just in the middle of it – like standing in a hurricane that was swirling all around me and through me. Then, all of a sudden, I really had to push.

I pushed for one contraction and Tiffany scrambled with her gloves, “Hold on, hold on – turn on your back, so I can catch the baby – OK? Can you hold back?” I just managed to grunt, “No.” “Do you want me to check if you’re fully dilated?” Again, I grunted, “No,” and I puuuushed. I didn’t even feel myself stretching, I just wanted to push so, so much. Tiffany said, “I can see the head – hold on!” But I couldn’t hold on at all. One more push, and a full head of dark hair popped out, followed by a long pinkish-bluish body. Plop – something was on my chest, and people were wrapping blankets around me. Tara took a picture, as I had asked her to. I was pretty stunned – a baby! Tiffany said, “What do we have here? A girl.” Isabel. My dark-haired night baby. I really realized only then that Jacob and Maja, whom Tara had called while I was in transition, did not actually get to make it for the moment of birth – it had happened so fast. It was only 6:45 am, and I had gone from 4.5 cm to pushing in one hour. Jacob and Maja arrived 10 minutes later to greet baby Isabel.

This Summer was crazy busy...

2009-09-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

For the few of you who follow this blog...you have seen I haven't posted anything for a few months. Now it is fall and the leaves are changing. It was a very full summer with lots of births and babies. I am adding in pics trying to play catch up. Enjoy:)

Jack was born 6.25.09!

2009-09-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Jack was born on June 25, 2009 at 1:52pm. He weighed 7lbs, 15 oz. He is almost three months old now, and he weighs 14lbs--breastfeeding is amazing! Thanks to Tara for her wonderful support before, during, and after a very difficult delivery that ended in a c-section. We recommend her highly!

A postpartum doula client!

2009-06-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Tara Kenny is a veritable Pied Piper of babies! She showed me tricks for soothing our newborn that worked like a charm. I have no idea how I would have survived the first weeks after my c-section without Tara’s help. By caring for the baby and me, as well as our household, Tara facilitated my early recovery from surgery and gave our family some much-needed space to learn the ropes of parenting a newborn. During those joyful and challenging weeks, I gained a sense of how the world looks from a newborn’s perspective and a deep appreciation of the importance of meeting my own basic needs in order to care for our son. Tara’s sensitivity to the needs of new mothers and babies is truly remarkable. I simply cannot recommend her highly enough!

Welcome Baby Carl!

2009-06-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

Carl was born on 3/29/09 at 7:31pm. He weighed 10# 11 oz! Biggest baby yet. Congrats to parents Charlotte and Carl Betterley!

Welcome home Sean and Cian!

2009-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Marla and Fintan are proud to have their twins- Cian and Sean-come home! They were born on 4.20.09. The boys are growing well and adorable. Congrats!

Elijah Marcus Born at home 5.22.09!

2009-05-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Congrats to parents, Carolyn and Ben Marcus, and to sister's Aeden and Naomi! Elijah was born in the comfort of his own home on Friday afternoon. He is a very sweet baby:)

Here is what Carolyn had to say:
Like every birth, Elijah’s birth was a true miracle. It was also a reminder that everyone is unique, as is their entrance into the world. Already being a mother of two and having had wonderful home births with them, I hadn’t given much forethought to how my labor and delivery with this third one would be. I just assumed it would be similar, but just faster. And while that was the case, there were definite differences. I’ve realized that it’s those differences that allow Elijah to have his own birth story.
Because this was my third child, I was pretty confident in my ability to birth a baby. However, as labor progressed into a very difficult stage, I was immediately brought back to that feeling that I had with both my first and second labors – that feeling of complete incapability. In the moment, that feeling was frustrating and even scary. Now, as I look back and reflect, I accept it as an incredibly humbling experience and a very real reminder that, ultimately, despite any physical and mental strength of my own, I am not the one in control.
I will be forever grateful for both of my midwives - Audra and Tara. I feel that being a midwife – and especially a home birth midwife – is a balancing act. It seems that a midwife must balance her belief that birth is a completely natural process with her responsibility of being the medical caregiver of a woman and her child. Both Audra and Tara balanced the roles perfectly. They let me labor in whatever position that my body was up for, and were incredibly encouraging throughout it. However, when it became apparent that little Eli would need some help to enter this world safely, they were quick to help make that happen, while at the same time respecting my body and reassuring my mind. This type of care continued immediately after the birth as they had to focus more on me and my body losing more blood than desired. Looking back, I am amazed at their ability to remain calm in moments that were certainly stressful.
Their amazing care throughout pregnancy, labor and delivery only continues during the post partum period. I have no doubt that they genuinely care for me, my son, and our whole family. It’s that personal care that makes them more than just the people who helped me deliver my child. They were the first people to ensure that Elijah’s first experience of the world was a positive one. And while he was only able to respond to the whole ordeal with some rather deafening screams, I’m pretty sure that one day those screams will become words of gratitude.

Grayden Maxwell born on 4.27.09!

2009-05-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Congrats to parents Melissa and Pete Loeb! Grayden was gently born on 4.27.09 at Newton Wellsley Hospital. He is a very cute little guy.

Welcome Ewan Foster Cullivan 3-15-09!

2009-03-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

AKA. Baby Fossie

At 4am on Saturday morning I woke up having somewhat regular contractions. I was a few days past my due date and fully expected this to be it. My In-Laws planned to come right away and take the girls out. By the time I had breakfast the contractions had slowed down and I began to suspect we'd be waiting a little longer. Contractions continued on and off all day. The girls spent the night with their grandparents and Lee and I had a nice quiet evening to ourselves.

I spent that whole night and into Sunday morning having contractions every 5-10 minutes and dozing off in between. I had been through this before and was pretty relaxed about it but when things hadn't changed much by morning I began to get a little discouraged. I was tired and didn't know how much longer I could hold on. I had early labor contractions with my first that lasted about 4 days and ultimately ended in a c-section. Even though my second was a home birth and the labor had been completely different I still held onto the memories of that first experience.

Tara and I spoke on the phone a few times and she reminded me that all labors are different. I knew she was right but we really wanted our baby!

I spent Sunday having contractions and tried to rest as much as possible. I knew that I would need the energy. I didn't really try to encourage labor. That might sound weird but looking back I think I was right to follow my instincts. I knew that if I was really in labor I couldn't slow it down but if my body was still just preparing then I should take advantage of the opportunity to rest.

The only slightly crazy thing I did (in hindsight of course) was take a trip to Whole Foods with Lee! We needed some groceries and I wanted to get out for a bit. I had to have him pull over for a few contractions and waddling around the supermarket wasn't very comfortable but I think it may have convinced me that labor was imminent. Or did it?

I guess after all those early labor contractions I still questioned whether or not I was really in labor. By late afternoon my In-Laws had left and my parents had arrived. I continued having contractions and resting. At around 6pm the contractions were stronger and I found myself unable to sit still. Everyone was eating dinner but I was feeling queasy. I walked around the apartment and leaned on a windowsill during each contraction.

During the next 45 minutes the contractions we even stronger and coming every 2-3 minutes. Still not convinced this was it...but had Lee start getting the tub ready just in case. I waited a few more minutes before calling Tara. She said she'd make her way over within an hour. I hung up the phone and with the next contraction my water broke. I called her back right away and she said she was on the way.

I was very excited that my water broke. Now I knew this birth was really going to happen and soon! My parents started getting the girls ready to go with them. With all the activity in the apartment my bathroom felt like the most comfortable place to be and I spent the next hour or so having very strong contractions in there. First standing in the shower holding the curtain rod (it was sturdy!)...learned that position from Ina May and it was a good one!

Then I moved onto all fours and leaned over a birth ball on the floor. The contractions were so strong. Lee was setting up the tub and sat with me when he could. Tara and Audra had arrived by then and were setting up and coming to see me as well. They reminded me to breathe during the contractions and just let them happen. My body's instinct was to fight the contraction and I had to work at relaxing and letting the contraction do what it needed to do. The short breaks in between were such a tremendous relief and allowed me to prepare for the next one.

With one of the contractions I suddenly felt like I was pushing and I really wanted to be in the tub. It was still not at the ideal temperature but we decided I could still get in. I couldn't believe I was already pushing. I was really so happy this was finally happening and my physical reactions to the pain were not in my control. I really trusted my body to do what it needed to do and it needed to yell!

The room was dimly lit and I felt totally safe and calm. When his head was finally out we waited for another contraction so I could push out the body. I tried to push without one but I couldn't. Audra told me to get on my hands and knees and push...he was a big boy and was maybe a little stuck. Tara and Audra were timing how long his head had been out but everyone was still calm and I never worried. I knew he would be out soon. And with the next contraction I was able to give one last push and he was here. They said, "pick up your baby!"

I scooped him right up...he was slippery and gorgeous and it was all over. 8:39pm. Overall a very quick labor!

I love all three of my birth stories because each has been so different and empowering in its own way. While we are 99.9% sure we won't have a fourth baby I know when the time comes it will be hard to decide if 3 is really "it." Each child, pregnancy and birth affects you in so many ways it's hard to say you're every really done!

Janice

Baby Ndoga Born at Home on 3.15.09

2009-03-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

Here is what Ina had to say about her experience:

During my third pregnancy my previous dream of having a home birth was nagging on me more and more as my due date came closer. My previous children were born naturally and unmedicated in an outpatient setting back in Germany. I liked to be able to go home a couple of hours after the births to recover in my own bed. But having to drive to the hospital during my short labors and being in an unfamiliar setting during the births really bothered me a lot.

I started talking with my boyfriend Cesar about the possibility of a home birth, especially in a for both of us foreign country (he is from Congo) with all the terrible stories of interventions, c-sections and being pushed into something I would not want for myself and our baby. I believe a baby should be born at home were it is conceived. I also very strongly believe, that a woman's body is totally capable and made for receiving, growing and birthing babies without intervention.

Cesar was very skeptical about the idea. He believes in natural childbirth, but he also thought a hospital setting would be the safest place to deliver his first baby. We decided on a birth center as a compromise but I still kept working on changing his mind. When we finally met Tara, at week 32, she explained with confidence what will happen during and after the birth, about her training and about statistical outcomes of home births. Cesar felt secure enough to commit to a home birth. I am so thankful for Tara's influence on his decision.

The birth itself was fast and smooth. Tara and Ann are both great midwives and have the right mix of humor, focus and encouragement during and after the birth. They both managed to give Cesar tasks to calm him down (there were times were he questioned his decision) and they gave me the space and support I needed. After Ndoga was born the joy and peaceful atmosphere was a great experience compared to my previous births. And my son, Gino, was involved cuddling and checking out his new baby brother right away.

Cesar and I felt safe and comfortable at any time during my pregnancy, the birth and postpartum and Tara is a great resource for all the questions Cesar had as a new father. She is also very sensitive to cultural differences and open minded for different views on things.

Thanks Tara (and Ann) for sharing this important time for us as a new family ;-)

Rowan Born on 9.12.08

2009-03-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

One of the most positive c-section births I have attended. Baby Rowan wanted to stick to being in a footling breech position so instead of a home birth we went to the hospital.

Here are some sweet words that my midwifery clients wrote: We are so glad that Tara was part of our birth experience. We worked with Tara to prepare for a home birth but as our due date approached with our son in a footling breech position, Tara helped us accept the reality that our baby would be born in a hospital. Tara seamlessly transitioned to providing doula services for us, and gave us the continuity, support and advocacy we needed in the hospital setting. Tara's prenatal care is top notch. Our choice to have a homebirth was met with some skepticism from family, but meeting Tara and attending a prenatal visit erased their worries. Tara is extremely knowledgeable and capable, and more importantly, supported our informed decisions. Pregnancy was a beautiful, empowering time for me, and though we didn't have the birth that we had planned and hoped for, it was exactly what we needed it to be. –GD

Oona Pearl born on 2.26.09

2009-03-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

Baby Oona was born at home to parents, Danielle and Brendan. This was by far the fastest labors of all-1 1/2 hours long. She is a sweet, strong & mellow baby. Congratulations to big sister Rosa!

Baby Amelie's Birth 2.12.09

2009-03-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Proud parent's Brenda and Paul welcomed their baby girl-Amelie just before Valentine's day. Brenda did an amazing job laboring. I thought that the baby might have been born on the way to the hospital! Good thing I know how to deliver them.

Many baby's born in Senegal 11.08-12.08

2009-03-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

I decided that I needed to get out of the country and learn about birth in Senegal for three weeks. I went with a group called "The African Birth Collective." Their website is www.africanbirthcollective.org. Here are some pic's from that amazing trip!

Baby Llewyn Born on 10.3.08!

2009-03-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

Jessie Groneman and Andy Toomajian welcome sweet baby Llewyn to their family. He was 10 # 4oz. and born in the water. It was a very sweet home birth. A joy for me to attend one of my dearest close friends birth:)

Baby Ruby was born at home on 8.2.08!

2009-03-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Lissa Harris for giving birth to Ruby! She did a fantastic job and had a beautiful water birth during an intense rain storm in the comfort of her own home.