Milwaukee Birth Story

Leading up to labor we were trying all the natural tricks to get things moving for Vanessa. It was a Tuesday afternoon around 1pm in October and Vanessa went in for acupuncture in hopes that it would encourage labor. Vanessa and Caleb called me around 9:30pm to tell me that her water had broken (acupuncture is my favorite natural method for encouraging labor!). At first, she wasn’t having any contractions so Vanessa went to bed to try to get rest while she could. Soon contractions began to pick up and they came on strong and close together. It was intense and she was unable to get any sleep. All night long Vanessa worked though each wave. Her contractions were much more intense when she was lying down but then they would slow and let up when she was upright. This made it really hard to get good rest. Around 5:30am Vanessa asked me to come to their home to help give ideas for relief and assist them in deciding when would be a good time to go to the hospital. We labored at their home for another couple of hours but as things got much more intense we decided to head in. When we got to the hospital things once again slowed down. This is normal upon transferring, however, with this intense irregular contraction pattern I also was starting to suspect that baby was possibly having some positioning issues. When Vanessa got checked she was 3cm and moving along but still had much of her labor journey ahead of her. On multiple occasions throughout the morning we thought we were getting close to birth and the nurse set up the delivery table and all was ready to go. Then Vanessa was checked and still had a ways to go. Around 3:30pm, after working very hard for a very long time trying multiple different positions to help move baby down but only having progressed to 4cm, Vanessa decided to get a mild epidural to take the edge off and get some rest. She slept for about 5 hours followed by a really sweet time with her mama and hubby reading her letters of love and encouragement from some of her besties. It was such a sweet time to see these blessings pour over Vanessa. Around 9pm things began to shift and baby made some big movements. At 1am on Thursday morning Vanessa began to push and just 30 minutes later Caleb was able to catch his SON Truman and hand him to his mama’s chest.

While supporting the Halls throughout their birth journey, the words that came to my mind over and over were peace and trust. Throughout her entire labor journey Vanessa had complete trust in her body and in her birth team. In moments where it would have been easy to be overwhelmed with discouragement, Vanessa owned her story, trusted the process, and knew that she was safe and cared for. This is the power of a birth team that you can trust; not a promise that all will go as planned or run smoothly, but that you can have peace throughout your birth journey and know that you are held and loved. Caleb did such a sweet job of being present with Vanessa and trusting her body, and speaking that encouragement into her. Vanessa’s mama was a ball of love in the room, beaming with pride watching her fierce beautiful baby birth her grandson. Truman was born from love into more love. Her doctor, Dr. Koch, provided communicative and empathetic care that empowered Vanessa to be an active player in her birth decisions.

Shortly after he was born Vanessa and Caleb serenaded their sweet boy with “You Will Always be my Baby”. The words to this song were incredibly fitting and beautiful:

We were as one babe
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine
Now you wanna be free
So I'm letting you fly
'Cause I know in my heart babe
Our love will never die, no

You'll always be a part of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Boy don't you know you can't escape me?
Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby

Vanessa and Caleb, when you asked me to be your doula I literally got teary with joy and excitement knowing that your birthing room would be sacred ground. The way you trust one another is incredibly special. There is a freedom in your love that produces peace as you navigate uncharted waters. Parenthood is a story of loving another human more than your heart can contain and yet slowly letting them go to be free to be more and more their truest and most amazing self. But the love for our babies, only grows deeper as they spread their wings and fly. You have birthed Truman into a lifetime adventure of trusting love and pursuing peace. It was an honor to walk alongside you as you began this new chapter of your journey together. Love you guys!

Milwaukee Home VBAC Story

Raisa’s first child was delivered via C-section. After that experience Raisa had the opportunity to see and support other births as a birth photographer. Birth became a passion of hers and as she processed her own birth, she longed for it to be different the second time around with more open lines of communication and more control of her labor. After consulting with an awesome OB and her midwife she decided to try for a home VBAC. Things went incredibly fast and so smooth!

On Sunday February 2nd at 11:32 I got a text from Raisa saying “We are in Labor!” Soon after I talked with Brian on the phone and he said things were quickly progressing and everyone was heading to the house. I jumped in my car and headed over to their home and was feeling a bit hurried knowing I had a 35min drive ahead of me. I was the first person from the birth support team to get there. When I walked in, Raisa and Brian were working together through each contraction beautifully as Raisa powered through each wave. Things seemed quite progressed so before grabbing my camera I helped Raisa get some cold cloths on her head and neck and we walked through a couple of contractions because they were intense. After a few contractions, the midwife Tricia, Raisa’s doula Amy, and Raisa’s friend Rachel also arrived at the home. Raisa kept mentioning how surprised she was at how fast everything was going. After being checked by Tricia we decided we would try and get the tub filled and get some relief before baby came. We began boiling water to get a nice warm tub going for baby and mom. Raisa and Brian decided to have their sweet 25-month-old daughter present for the birth as well. She was such a sweet presence holding space for her mommy and taking in the magic of it all. After doing a couple hours of contractions in the water, Raisa began to push. When baby got close the midwives saw some things in baby’s heart beats that made them want baby to come out sooner rather than later so they transferred mom to the bed to deliver her baby. A few minutes later at 4:08am baby Sam was born and placed on mom’s chest, alert as can be! Raisa and Sam had lots of time to snuggle and connect. Sam met his sister just minutes after being born and the Mnichowicz’s took in the first moments of being a family of four, together.

Raisa and Brian, you did such a beautiful job of bringing your sweet boy into the world. You trusted one another, leaned on one another and surrendered to the process. The faith and love that oozes out of you is beautiful. Your kids are blessed to have you raising them, loving them, and being for them. Blessings to you, Mnichowicz family, as you continue this journey of being for one another and surrendering to love. God has such beautiful plans to use your love to redeem the world!

Milwaukee Birth Story

The plan was to have an out of hospital birth in February of 2020. But just a few weeks before her due date, Alli developed Polyhydramnios (extra fluid around baby) and was encouraged by her midwives to be induced on February 14th. Alli had such a beautiful attitude around the change, knowing that we must hold our birth plans with open hands. She felt encouraged that she had a team around her that made her feel empowered to still have the birth she was hoping for.

When the day came, Alli prepared herself for a long induction. This was her second baby and her first was a very long induction process. But with only one Cytotec to ripen the cervix, her body took off into full blown labor without much encouragement! After laboring for a few hours Alli had her doula Kristin, her friend Amanda, and myself join her because labor was starting to get more intense. I came around 1pm and Kristin and Amanda followed soon thereafter.

Alli did HypnoBirthing leading up to birth and throughout her labor. She flowed through each pressure wave (what they call contractions in HypnoBirthing) with so much peace. As the intensity grew we went into the tub to try and find some greater comfort. Throughout each wave Alli began to speak the word “peace” over her body and then the word “open.” After being in the tub for an hour or so Alli wasn’t finding much relief. The waves were coming rapidly and not allowing for much of a break to rest. We went into the room to be checked in hopes that we were getting close to meeting their sweet baby girl, but we were still at 4cm with about 15% of the cervix left. At this point Alli began to think an epidural may be needed because they were becoming so intense and she still had some time before baby came. Alli went forward with an epidural asking for a super light dose just to take the edge off. Once she got it, Alli was able to rest and preserve some energy for pushing. Alli began pushing a little bit before 10:30 and then all of the sudden with one big push, baby was here at 10:52pm - just in time to be a Valentine’s Day baby!

After sweet Hayden was born Alli talked about how happy she was with her birth and how she felt like she was just where she needed to be. Alli had an amazing birth team! Her husband, Drew, was with her every step of the way speaking peace over Alli and Hayden and reminding her how beautiful and strong she was. Amanda, Kristin, amazing nurses, and super supportive midwives listened to Alli as she listened to her body and let her and Hayden lead the way.

The hardest part about birthing in the hospital for Alli and Drew was that they weren’t going to be allowed to have their daughter come in to meet her sister due to cold and flu season. However, while in labor Alli got a huge gift: the news that they would allow Avery to come meet Hayden in the hospital! It made for the sweetest little fresh 48 session. Avery is such a great big sister already! My favorite part was when Avery tried to feed Hayden cookies :)

Alli and Drew - it was such an amazing honor to be invited into your birth room to capture these moments of peace, love, and life for your family. Thank you for entrusting me with such a beautiful task. Peace and blessings to your family of four as you parent your strong amazing girls to become strong amazing women!