Chasing Coles

Twenty two days. It has been 22 days since my life has been flipped upside down by the arrival of the newest member of our family. He is a precious bundle of joy who's entrance to this world changed so much of my preconceived notions about what birth in a hospital looks like. But our journey started long before 22 days ago. You can read about my difficult pregnancy and transition out of midwifery care into medical care  here.  I felt from the very beginning of the pregnancy and all throughout that this baby was going to bring peace to me & our home, even when it was so challenging! The end of Archie's pregnancy was my hardest yet- the first of the three where I felt so DONE so early on. There were days where I cried to Justin and my best friend that I couldn't keep going. It was, hands down, the most difficult pregnancy I've had yet. And on top of it, I had no clue what to expect when it came to his birth.  I started having prodromal labor (a type of labor th

I t's been two and a half years since I last gave birth which was in our home, in my bedroom and unassisted, then four and a half years since I gave birth to our first baby in our little duplex with the help of a midwife. They were both wonderful and tough births in different ways and home birth became my passion. They were thought out, prayed about, researched, planned and we were prepared for both of those births. I was the odd woman out for having home births in such a conventional, small town in rural Texas but I felt so normal in those choices anyway. Having babies at home became part of who am and proudly made their way onto all of my social media bio's and into conversations with my mom friends. But I've always said that each pregnancy and birth requires prayer and an open mind, and if something different needed to happen, I wanted to be open to it. That's where baby number 3 comes in. I got my positive pregnancy test at the end of November in 2016 and rig