11-8-04 I was 13 days overdue. Contractions started almost immediately after my appointment with Beth, my midwife. She had swept my membranes again and applied arnica and evening primrose oil to my cervix. I was dilated to 3 cm, completely effaced, and my cervix was very responsive to touch and she could stretch me to 4 cm. I continued having contractions about every 4-5 minutes throughout the day. But I still wasn’t convinced that I was actually in labor.I had…
I have to start Emma’s story the week before she was born. A virus had been running through our six children the week before Emma’s birth, however none of the kids were sick at the same time. I was awake every night for a week and I was exhausted, but thankful that I had not had the bug. How wrong I was, on April 16 th I came down with it. I had to stay close to home and to…
When Francesco and I decided we were ready to start a family, we both always felt that having a baby is the most natural thing in the world. So when we got pregnant, we were so excited and we began to seek out a midwife to help us have a natural homebirth. We were elated when we found Beth Overton in Corpus Christi and even more so when we met her and felt her incredibly warm and comforting energy. We…
Note from Beth: Pamela’s primary care was provided for her by Mercy Eizenga, our student midwife. Some clients choose to use a student midwife for their care for a discounted rate. This saves the client some money and also gives our students the experience of being primary care providers. Students are always fully supervised by a licensed midwife at Gentle Beginnings. My name is Alyssa Rae Bryant. My Mommy and Daddy found out that they were pregnant with me on…
Around 3:00 a.m. on November 10th I began to feel light contractions. I waited to call Mercy and Beth until my contractions were a little closer together. I paced up and down the hallway until about 6:00 a.m. It was about 6:30 a.m. when I decided to called Mercy and Beth. My husband was awake on and off and I decided to rest too. Mercy and Beth arrived a couple of hours later, but my contractions had dwindled. Beth checked…
At this moment, my husband and I got to see her Original Face. This is what she looked like, fresh out of the womb. Lina is growing and becoming more responsive every day. She already looks so different but we will have this moment captured in time forever. For some reason I expected my second labor to go just like my first labor and delivery. I was wrong. Now I see that every labor comes to life with different character.…
Alondra Abigail Ramirez was born at 2pm, Friday June 26. She weighed 8lbs 2 oz and measured 18.5 inches. She was born at home with absolutely no medical intervention. It was the worst pain I have felt in my life but worth every second. My contractions started on the 25th at about 9am. It’s funny. People kept telling me that I would know when labor had started. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between…
My first child was born at home 9 years ago when I was one month shy of 17. I was in labor for three days, and had my daughter at 2:52 am on February 8th weighing in at 8lbs 10oz. I am happy that I had her at home and knew that I wanted that kind of birth for my next child also. Matthew was due on February 21, 2006. Since my first child was a week late I figured…
The days leading to the birth of Fiddle became more exciting with each one drawing closer. Overall pregnancy was a wonderful and very joyful time. There was a brief period of uneasiness at the beginning. Including a couple of months of pregnancy nausea, then Jeremiah and I were confronted with quite a bit of discouragement from family members who were “concerned” over our decision to have a home birth. After many lectures and horror stories of pregnancy and birth I…