The birth of Alo'e and the growth of our ohana.

Ohana means family in the Hawaiian language. When I think of my laboring and the birth of our son Alo'e, the word ohana is one of the first words that come to mind. Not only because Alo'e has made us his family but because our midwife, Karen, her assistant Jenn, and our doula Kathryn, also became our ohana.

When we finally made it back to the States, I was already almost halfway through my pregnancy and we still had to find a midwife. We were both set on doing everything the natural way and this now included pregnancy, birth and child-rearing. When we came across Karen, something felt really right. I had my heart set on her even before meeting her.

By the time I attended the first consultation with our home birth midwife, I already knew her story. I read her website, followed her Facebook page, and spoke to friends about her birthing philosophy. During our meeting, she mentioned a few times “If I hired her…”, but I already knew.

When my husband and I found out we were pregnant after a short 9 months of being married, there were so many mixed emotions! We were of course thrilled to start the next chapter of our lives (sooner than expected of course, but excited nonetheless)! 

I heard their words of encouragement, I could feel my husband’s firm hands and deep love, and could sense my sister’s and sister in law’s loving presence. A couple of hard pushes and our beautiful baby boy was here! With us!

Dear Cora,
The day you were born was a beautiful, warm spring day.  Everything turned out to be perfect.

Through my pregnancy, the lesson I learned during labor and the day after she was born – The Lord is using Lyra to teach me to be present and live in the moment He gave me. Not to dwell on the past or plan for the future but to live today.

I was hesitant to call her too soon because I didn’t want her to have to wait around for hours but as Dan watch me labor he kept suggesting that I call her sooner than later. By 6:30 I agreed with him and sent Karen a text. 

I’ve shed countless tear recalling all this, not ever wanting to forget a single detail. I still have melted beeswax on the back of the toilet in the bathroom where I labored and a drop of breast milk on the floor in the Birth Room from when my milk came in, and I refuse to clean off either.

Childbirth takes you to places you never even knew existed.  Physically you feel things happening in places you never even knew existed. But you educate yourself on how to deal with those sensations.

The most remarkable thing to me about my second son’s birth, was how perfectly well things work when you’re able to simply let a process unfold. The first thing his father tells people was how awesome it was, and that the birth record states, “Managed by: Valerie.”

The birth of this beautiful baby girl was everything I hoped it would be. We are both healthy and happy, and she was born safely and gently at home.

I liked the idea of a homebirth, it made sense to me since birth is normal and natural.  I also didn’t feel comfortable being away from my son since I never had been gone overnight before.  It was time to trust my instincts.  

It was such a cool experience to have birthed my baby without intrusions, yet still with so much care and support.  I felt so proud of myself for having had my baby the way I wanted to.  I am so grateful to Karen & Laura for everything!

Her birth was like my re-birth - the physical wounds from my c-section healed long ago, but the emotional scars barely fade. Julia's birth reminded me of the strength I have as a woman and in the power of birth. 

Having my baby at home was one of the best decisions I ever made. Comparing stories, I honestly believe my birth was easier than what a lot of women go through in the hospital. 

This is the story of how Molly Lillian Keller peacefully and gently came into the world.

Karen enabled us have the birth we wanted. She was a wealth of information before, during, and after the birth.

Then I felt a good strong contraction and I felt like I jumped on the wave of it heading down a long narrow canyon.  I visualized something in the southwest, red bedrock, steep sided walls, tiny river down below, and I flew through the canyon.

There is no other feeling in the world as such, giving it your all for the sake of your new baby.  This warm slippery creature, with eyes beaming, is born ready for life as we know it.

She answers my questions so thoroughly!  The appointments would often last 2hrs because I enjoyed talking so much.

I thought about this day long before I even found out I was pregnant. After having the privilege of attending several births over the past two years, it was finally time for me to attend my own.

It was nice to sit around in the bedroom and everyone talk about what a  wonderful job I did. My labor was smooth and I was in control. I have never felt so good about myself! I think it was a life changing experience in how I viewed myself.