What is Active Labor?

How do you know if you are in Active Labor? When most of us think of active labor, we think of the following rule. The 5-1-1 Rule should NOT be your Holy Birth Grail for gauging active labor. It is vague. You are concerned with when to head to the hospital or the birth center....

What Is Early Labor?

Am I in labor? What are these cramps? They are far apart but sometimes get closer. Then stop. Then start. I’m feeling pain in my back. Am I dilated? When do I go to the hospital or the birth center? When do I call my midwife? No two labor and births are the same. Not...

Oceans Homebirth

Trigger warning...some may see this image and envision a traumatic experience. However, it was quite the opposite. So grateful my photographer didn’t stop shooting during the intense moments. I want to share a little of my fourth babies home birth experience. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When baby Ocean was born, her body was completely limp. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Ocean didn’t...

Maximus HomeBirth Video & Story

Childbirth is a privilege, not a fear. If you are anything like me, you love a good birth story.  Not the ones where people try to scare you. Not the ones from people who say there’s no way you can birth your child without medication because the pain is too intense. But the stories I...

Happy Mothers Day!

Moms. We give our all ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Our love. Our sleep. Our bodies. Our schedules. We are selfless. We are exhausted. But we are blessed. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We laugh. We cry. Scream. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Wonder if we are doing enough. Are we a good mom? Wonder what others think of us. Wonder why our bodies didn’t bounce back...

Self Care is Self Love

Self care starts at home. It doesn’t have to be getting your nails done OR spending a bunch of money you don’t have on shit you don’t need. I mean if that’s your thing that lights you up, then go ahead. But the way we take care of ourselves from the inside out, is where...

Top Tips for Birth Partners

Listen up Birth Partners....What can you do to assist mama during pregnancy, labor and postpartum? I should probably have my husband write this one since he has been amazing at all of our children’s births and gets a little more “doula” at each one! We just had our 4th baby, 2nd one at home a...

Three Essential Postpartum Baskets You Need.

Hey mamas. Don’t just prepare for your baby, prepare for yourself. Postpartum. The Fourth Trimester. 37 weeks in a few days. Emotional highs and lows this week. Nesting like crazy. Thinking how am I already this far along with our last baby. Looking back at my last three pregnancies, I’m realizing how many things I...

Part 3 of 3: Prepare Your Mind for Birth and Beyond

Dear Society...mainly people of influence...stop scaring women about childbirth before they even have a chance to experience the magic for themselves. We all have the right to experience our births in whatever manner we choose...medicated/unmedicated. At home, in a birthing center, hospital or in a beautiful creek in the middle of nowhere. But can we...

Part 2 of 3: Exercising during pregnancy. Pregnancy is not a handicap.

Our bodies are made for pregnancies. If you are healthy and having an uncomplicated pregnancy, exercise is the best thing you can do. With consistent exercise of what your body was accustomed to before becoming pregnant, you will continue to gain more strength and energy needed as you and your baby grow to help with...

Part 1 of 3: Nutrition tips I Wish I Knew With my First Baby. Covering the Basics.

This is part 1 of 3 of my mini blog series, titled, “How To Become Healthy and Fit To Have An Empowered Birth”. The nutritional choices we make during this vital time not only provide our baby with the essential nourishment needed to develop and grow but also provides us with the energy needed to...