Twins!!!

Well, I have to document this amazing birth and this seemed like the best place to do it. On Christmas Day 2008 I attended my first Twin-Homebirth. It was a joyous birth, a boy and a girl, both perfect as can be. The girl arrived almost an hour after the boy. I am so grateful to the family for allowing me to be a part of this special birth. I am so proud of them for their dedication to homebirth and their unshakable belief that birth is normal and natural! I have chosen to keep this family's identity unkown to protect their privacy. Thanks to all who supported this birth! Here I am with the little ones at about 6 weeks. What an incredible Christmas gift. This was the closest I have felt in a long time to the true meaning of Christmas. New life, new experience, great faith in the miracle of life and great faith in the strength and ability of woman.

Remember Sabrina?

Maybe you remember this beautiful mama? I had just returned to CO from Bali last Spring and took a picture of Sabrina and her daughter Natalie at a prenatal visit. She was one of the women I was able to return home to. I attended the births of all 3 of her children! What an honor. And here is little Liam making his entrance into the world. What a joyous birth. I love this picture because it really captures how alert and capable birthing women are. She birthed on hands and knees and as I caught the baby I passed him through her legs and into her arms, she grabbed him, sat up and just gave this big, beautiful smile. She was overjoyed. Happy Birthday Liam!!!

What a Belly!

Isn't this the most gorgeous belly you have ever seen? This photo was taken just hours before "pink slide" came sliding into the world, sunny side up! I had the honor of attending the birth of Lucia as Mama Lara's doula. Big sister Lilly took immediate possession of her new baby:) Way to go Lara!

A Midwife and her Family

I would like to introduce Hope Coulter and her husband Tate, their daughter Ava and their new little guy Ransom. He isn't so new anymore, I believe he is turning 1 year this month. Hope is a homebirth midwife...all of her babies born at home!







Here is another CO family birth story from mama Amy. I had the honor of having Amy and Bruce in my childbirth ed class and was hoping to be able to attend their birth, however I was in Bali around her due date and couldn't be there. Here is her story...
Hello familia lobo, and Rebecca (I'm doubling up this
email),


Indeed Brucie and I are thrilled! Little Sylvia is so
content and beautiful. We do a lot of staring at our
little package that we waited 9 months for. The birth
was really quite special. Bill's assistant Marlene was
out of town for a week and I really hoped to wait til
she returned (4 days before our due date), but had a
feeling it would happen before. So I gave dear JoJo
the heads up and asked her to be here if I went into
labor before Sunday. I went into early labor on
Thursday night while cooking dinner, just crampy but
started noticing some intervals. They woke me about
every 10 minutes that night, but just enough to make
me squirm a bit. Bill was in GJ Friday doing
prenatals, but stayed in close contact, and planned an
early afternoon return to Ridgway, his supplies
packed. He gave the heads up to Hope, a midwife that
lives just a block from us. Bruce and Julie were here
with me, and started timing the seismic activity
around 1:30pm noticing things had changed a bit. I was
in more of the focus mode and needing to breath
through the contractions, I imagined this could
continue through the day and night. Around 4:30 I sat
down for a few contractions in a chair and felt a
distinct engagement of the head. I beckoned them to
call Hope and she was over in 15 minutes. She checked
the baby's heart rate and then checked me. I was 8-9
cm dilated and close to transition. Fyew! What nice
news. Bill was due to arrive in 15 mins. so I got in
the tub. What sweet relief that was. Bill showed up
shortly after, entering with a halo of white light
around him. As I'm sure you can relate to that
feeling. JoJo came down from Tride in a snow storm and
got here around 5:30. I was in the tub from about 4:30
until her birth at 7:25pm. An hour of pushing, 3 times
harder than I thought I was capable of, and out she
came, big ol' cone head, shoulders were tougher than I
imagined, but I was ready to have her out! Gave
another mighty push, 8 lbs, 5 oz! and up she looked at
us. Of course we didnt know boy or girl for about 5
mins. b/c the cord was short and I was done. I needed
to collect myself, and then behold, a little girl!!!!
It was the most beautiful event of our lives! We have
some beautiful photos Julie took, and as soon as we
figure out how to post a file to the web, you'll be
certain to receive it. So nice to share with friends
like you, can't wait for you to meet her.
Lots of love, Amy, Bruce and Sylvia

More Babies

I have to include some of the babies that were born to my Childbirth Education students as well. Here is darling Lila daughter or Jen and Eric. I have realized that part of my calling is to be a teacher. I love educating women about birth and the options that they have. My hope is that all women will be active participants in their birth and that a woman never leaves the hospital feeling that things just "happened" to them or that they got caught up in the cascade effect...that spiral of interventions that so often sweeps women away! Little Lila cam a little early...but all was well. I think mama Jen is pregnant with #2!
Here is sweet Anthem. She was a homebirth baby in Telluride. I believe her birth story, written by her mama, was one of the first posts I ever made. Look back to old posts to catch up.

Anthem! Daughter of Melanie and Nick Kotze

More babies

Much needed Post

Hello everyone! Right now I am just in a place of total gratitude. Grateful for the beautiful place where I live, all the beautiful mamas that I have the pleasure of working with, my incredible partner Matt and all the love that surrounds me! I guess that is why I feel so capable of taking care of others...because I am constantly refueled by everyone around me. I want to share with you all some of the wonderful things that have happened in my life and in others lives since last I posted.
We had a beautiful homebirth in Cortez last year. Here is the birth story as told by Kelsey, an aspiring doula and best friend of my client. Ironicaly, Kelsey just contacted me b/c she is now pregnant. Ah, the cycle of life. Get ready for great birth story...

Picture above shows the birth team!
The Birth of Dimitri Jay Webber
as witnessed by Kelsey Bileen
Just to give a little background, Jennifer and I have been friends since we met in nursery when we were 2 years old. All I remember is fighting over which stool we were going to sit on with another good friend Rachel. There was a maroon one which was coveted most, and a green one that was okay, but not as good as the maroon one. Rachel usually got the good one, and the green one was first come, first serve.
The next 18 years passed quickly. We had good times and hard times together, fought a lot, but made up without too much ado. I still remember when I ran into a car and broke my leg. My most vivid memory of the event was looking up in the sky and seeing my good friend's upside down head say, "You have got to be more careful!" Another favorite, though hard, memory took place at a mutual activity. We were playing human foosball, where all the players held onto PVC pipe and ran back and forth trying
to kick the ball. There was a fly ball heading towards Jennifer, although it was rather high. Her right leg swung around so high that my jaw dropped like a rock. It was a wicked
kick! She got the ball, but unfortunately ended up throwing her back out in the process.
Over the years we ended up going to church together, spending nights giggling in front of some chick flick, browsing the mall, dating and eventually we both got married, all with good memories. So when I heard that this friend of mine was going to have a baby, I got so excited. Birth is something I'm interested in anyways, so I knew I wanted to be there for her. I had been studying to be a doula for a few months before hand, although I had not yet had the chance to attend a birth. She was kind enough to allow me to attend her special day, and so, on January 11,2008, I came down from Provo to wait and wait and wait for labor to begin. It seemed like forever, but really baby Webber came right on time. On the 24th, 2 days after the projected due date, Jennifer mentioned some pains in the evening. They ended up fading out before bed time, and so we would wait another day. The same thing happened on the night of the 25th, and I was afraid the baby would make a habit out of it. I went to bed determined to get rest just in case. I told my mom my bet was on 7:00 pm the next day.
4:45 am ....January 26, 2008....
Beep beep. You have an incoming text.
My head popped off my pillow so fast I surprised myself!
"It's showtime. '" .-
With the go ahead, I got dressed and headed up to Cortez.: .. but not before I slipped on ice and hurt my back. Oh great! I thought,'Now I'm going to be achy while trying to help out! When I got there at 6:20 am, things were going well, and Jennifer was managing with leaning on the kitchen counters and breathing steadily. The midwife got there a little after 8:00 and we found that Jen was at a 4. So far, so good.
3 hours later the contractions were bringing about more groaning and even stronger urges to push than before. The second check was somewhat discouraging as she was still at a 4. Bummer. It was time to get to work. "I don't know how much longer I can do this." I imagine Jennifer had to be disheartened to feel like no progress had been made. The next hour was spent using squatting to open the pelvic outlet and encouraging the water to break. It was hard work, very hard work. After quite a few contractions, she got nauseous and threw up. "Good, good!" Rebecca, the midwife, explained that vomiting helps dilate the cervix re~ly well. She was righi. Jennifer was now over an 8.
The decision was made to break the water, as they have a family history of strong amniotic sacks. Oh boy was there a ton of water! I jerked my foot out of the way so as not to get wet ... .it splashed much more than 1 expected! Jen had been keeping hydrated really well which helped her keep up her stamina throughout the birthing process. It was beautifully clear. There was no sign of meconium at all, only a little vernix. "Oh I feel better!" exclaimed Jennifer. "Can I push now?"
Rebecca encouraged her to try pushing for a little while. With the water broken, the head comes down and puts more pressure on the cervix which usually opens it more. Not every cervix is the same though. Pushing was unproductive, and we needed to know what was going on in there. Apparently, instead of opening the cervix when the head came down, it pulled more cervix down with it. We were back at a 6! It was so very discouraging. Jennifer looked like she was going to bawl. I felt so bad. She hopped into the bathtub to help ease up the pain a little. While she was in there, she groaned a groan that although not much different than any other, really struck me. That's Jennifer's voice. I knew it logically all along, but it fmally tapped through to my emotions. I seemed to remember her like we were when we were little girls and I wanted to cry just thinking of what she was going through.
The next few hours were the hardest (from my point of view). Jennifer had an anterior lip that was preventing her from being able to push. She hadn't slept well for a few nights, had less and less energy, and was understandably tired. In addition, her appetite was non-existent, so all her energy was having to come from liquids. Resisting the urge to push was so difficult! Jennifer and John took a few minutes to say what I'm sure was a very fervent prayer. Despite how she felt, she kept remarkable composure throughout the entire labor. Between contractions she was calm and relaxed. During contractions she moaned in a low steady rhythm. It was amazing to see her coping skills!
After what seemed like a lifetime, the midwife was able to skillfully remove the lip. Thank Heavens! It was now okay to push. "I don't feel like pushing anymore," our very tired soon-to-be mom said. She was assured it was okay to take a few minutes to breathe, rest, and gain energy for the upcoming work.
Pushing was long but exciting. The first part we did while squatting. It takes two to hold up the woman, and it's a little bit of labor for us too! My back hurt so bad from slipping on the ice, and holding her up. My feet hurt too being on the hardwood floors of the living room. I kept thinking how much worse she felt than me; and did what 1 could. I was relieved every time she said she needed to stand as that mean that I could get a break too! Nikki, the other doula, mentioned that being a doula requires good squatting muscles.
Jennifer has a hooked pubic bone which made pushing longer than I expected it might be. It seemed like forever that the head would show through a little, and then slip back again. "Is anything out yet?!?" Jen was so tired. It was hard to believe all that pushing had only produced a little spot of head. Gradually the spot got bigger and bigger. I kept thinking to myself, okay, that must be where the forehead starts. It would get to that point Skin to skin contact was all he needed to get the general idea. After some family time together with the couple and their new son, we finished up with the paperwork business of height, weight, and so forth.
9 Ibs 4 oz, 21" long, and only a slight tear that didn't need stitching. So that's why Jen gained 40 pounds!
Jennifer, you are amazing my friend! In the words of Rebecca, you are a birth warrior! I love you and am so happy to have shared this experience with you. Thank you, and congrats on your beautiful new family!
With Love, Kels