I came to live in Las Vegas in 2005. When I found out I was pregnant, I wanted to change this cycle in my family so I planned a natural delivery and educated myself about the birthing process. I took a hospital childbirth education class but the information was incomplete and I was still very nervous and more confused about the actual birthing process. While I was on the hospital tour I was told where I would go and what I was suppose to do and I was even more uneasy. All I wanted was to have my “natural birth” and hoped that if other women could do it, so could I.
In March of 2006 I found a wonderful network in the Las Vegas community...
community called Birth Year Network (BYN) and I was connected to a private childbirth education class where I learned a wealth of information. I highly recommend, if you have not already, plugging into BYN and getting educated so you can make informed decisions. I continued to make my birth plan, found a wonderful doctor that was on board with my plan, and was all ready to go! I had my mother fly into town to be with me and as she (and my little sister age 7 at the time) were on their way, I started my labor. I picked her up from the airport with the help of a friend. She noticed my belly contracting and wanted to rush me to the hospital, but I wanted to be home in water. I had her take me home, ate dinner, and jumped in the tub. I listened to my relaxation CD and floated. I was there for a few hours before I relented and had my mother take me to the hospital. I was sent home by the staff, because they did not believe I was in labor. They told me it would be a few days and that I was probably just going through pre labor. We were back in two hours. This time my water had broken so they admitted me and I was off to the shower. I didn’t have the comfort of my tub while I was in the hospital and it made my labor a lot harder (now water birth is available in most hospitals, but not many doctors or hospital midwives include it in their practice). I had my mother there with my sister. My sister watched in awe as I brought Summer into the world naturally in a natural position. My mother cried. She told me later that being there healed her and Summers birth gave her a new hope for the women in our family.
What made my labor bearable...
I whispered to him to bring it on and I was ready for what was to come. I opened myself to the idea that it was hard work and it would get harder before it ended with my beautiful boy in my arms. I moved in my tub and sang songs to Forest and my husband supported me with water, massage, and physical support that were what I needed the most. When things got more intense I no longer could leave my sanctuary, that was what my tub had become, and felt overwhelmed with what took over my body. My doula was wonderful and poured warm water on my back and feed me whatever I wanted. At one point at it’s hardest I thought I wouldn’t make it and my midwife held her hands on my chest and calmed me down. She listened to Forest on and off and I knew he was well.
After having this truly profound experience I knew that I needed...
to help others do the same. I wanted to help more families heal and more babies to be born peacefully. I wanted to help more families have the tools and the information they need to accomplish this. I started to study under Jill Colin, CPM, to become a midwife and in the process found myself wanting to become more involved in natural birth. So I decided to become a labor tub technician while I trained to become a midwife through the National Association of Registered Midwives.