Our first answered prayer, a beautiful little girl named Kailie Sera Jolene was born on June 21, 2003. Although I had had my appendix removed when I was 18.5 weeks pregnant with her, my pregnancy, labor and delivery was absolutely wonderful. We had midwives and had labored at home and then given birth at the hospital, but went home to …
Finding the bliss
Giving birth is one of the most normal everyday kind of things, while at the same time so miraculous. I still get spun out by the fact that a birthing woman’s body is the exact spot in the universe that splits open and allows a new soul to come into this existence. I feel so honoured that I get to …
Things are Different
When Allison told me that she was pregnant it was a very surreal feeling. I felt somewhere between excitement (feeling that we are finally here) and shock (we’re really going to be parents). When week 11 came, it was time for our midwife appointment. Our midwife would try and hear the heartbeat, our excitement began to build. Upon leaving the …
The Place Where Hawks Fly
On November 23rd, 2009 I awoke around 2:00 a.m. with mild contractions that were seven minutes apart. This kept going until 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. I called my midwife JoanMargaret to tell her what was happening. She encouraged me to nap. I scrambled through the baby name book for a name that popped into my head upon waking. I found …
One Day in July
Your father went into Banff on Friday July 25th, 2008 in the evening. He rode his motorcycle out there in case he needed to get back quickly to me. I had a feeling the contractions would start that evening, so I asked your Nana to go to the movies with me as a distraction. Once I got home I lost …
Walking in the Moonlight
It was the weekend of December 12, 2009, the coldest weekend of the year, and we were moving into our new home – I was 39 weeks pregnant. We were planning a home birth for number three so I was relieved to be settling into our new “nest” prior to her arrival. Just as in the past, my due date …
Wonders of a Woman’s Body
I was always fascinated by the woman’s body; its beauty and ability to create life. I wondered how I would handle childbirth. I knew I wanted a big family. My mind was set on having kids early to make sure I was at my healthiest. For reasons out of my control my plans fell through and probably for the better. …
The Strength in Birth
The pink figure flying towards us down the corridor was motioning wildly. Somewhere deep within I knew that the action must be directed towards us but she seemed, at that moment, utterly irrelevant. My husband and I were walking slowly into the hospital as I laboured. At each contraction, now very close together, he would kneel as I paused and …
A Sliver of Courage
I had never given too much thought to birth. Until my husband and I decided to start a family and I became pregnant. Then birth was all that I could think about. To state it lightly, I was terrified. In my own slightly perfectionist way, I worried that I wouldn’t be “good” at birth. The imagined worst case scenario would …