Our “Very Raw and Real” birth story…
“TRYING” is what we did for about a month. My husband and I had planned on having a baby after I was inspired by a home birth I had the opportunity to capture! (HOME BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHY). Prior to “trying,” I did a two week 16:8 fasting plan, started Northstate Crossfit and eliminated anything processed from my diet. I wanted to give our baby the best home, my belly, possible during its 10 month stay.
YEAH!!! WE’RE pregnant!!!!
We were super excited and it was time to start the process of being the best person all around. I thought I was a health nut prior, but there’s definitely something about carrying a life that made me want to be the purest. I eliminated food dyes even from my shampoos and conditioners.(Click to see what I used).
MORNING SICKNESS was something that I feared. I don’t know about you, but I HATE feeling nauseous. I woke up one morning when I was 6 weeks pregnant and noticed some slight nausea and I said. “no thank you! Me and my baby are about to have a conversation!” Talk to a fetus, why YES! This is a living human in your body and you had best believe that we had a conversation. HERE’S HOW: I had been actively practicing THE GATEWAY EXPERIENCE (Read Doc Here) and practicing the meditations. I recommend starting with the first one as it teaches you how. (Start Here). I did the meditation and laid there with my eyes closed and silent. In my mind I asked the baby what it needed. I distinctly remember saying, “Whatever you need, I’ll do it. I just refuse to be nauseous. Just please communicate…” and at that moment I tasted eggs. EGGS!!!! Okay, at this point I had been fully vegan for 5 years. Tasting eggs was wild!!! I said, “Okay, fine…eggs it is”. I went down to my local farmers market, got a dozen fresh eggs and BOOM!!!! I felt amazing!!!! From that moment on I did my own experiment. I would eat food that the baby was developing for that week. I had zero morning sickness, zero energy loss and zero complications. Please read more in-depth about this method here (INTUITIVE PREGNANCY EATING). What’s wild is I am still intuitively connected to the baby now and she is currently 16 months old. You can do this too!!!
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY!!I worked out my entire pregnancy doing Crossfit (Free video) and BUTI YOGA with Che! at House of Chi (Free Videos). I walked daily and kept my water intake to a gallon a day. I know this might sound like a lot of work, but in theory, being sick, unhealthy or even having an unhealthy baby is more work in my opinion. I choose everyday to live with intention.
BIRTH PLAN!!My husband and I decided very early on that we wanted to do an unassisted home birth. We wanted this to be an intimate experience free from other options and unnecessary interventions. I watched several documentaries that I highly recommend, such as The Business of Being Born, Vaxxed, and The Human Experiment . I also read several articles and like most, know family and friends who have had horrible or traumatic hospital experiences. I refused to have an unpleasant experience in this wonderful experience. I have included more resources for you below. Please do your own research and find what works for you.
With that being said, we didn’t go to an OB. We did get sonograms every month from an amazing sonogram establishment that isn’t associated with a medical facility. It is called Womb in Bloom and I adore them! We were able to see the baby’s development each step of the way. They don’t tell you anything specific about the baby that is medical related, but they do share where body parts are, placenta, uterus and gender.
I also decided not to have any pregnancy apps because I was disheartened by them saying “You’re in your first trimester, you SHOULD be feeling tired, sick, ETC.”. Gross. We are what we think and manifest and I didn’t want that energy.
THE MIDWIFE HUNT started around 7 months pregnant. My family was very concerned for me and wanted me to have someone there with experience to help if needed. After consideration, my husband and I decided that it might be nice to have a third set of eyes on things. I interviewed every midwife in my area for 50 miles. I wasn’t happy with anyone due to several reasons. Looking down at my list of names I had one more to call. Her name was Kathryn S. Ramirez, LM, CPM. (HER WEBSITE). Immediately, she fell completely in line with my wishes; she is professional and very experienced. I love the idea of midwifery over traditional western medicine for a few reasons. Kathryn, the midwife, comes to the comfort of your own home for prenatal sessions.
I loved that the sessions were catered to you. If you didn’t want to do anything (for me it was getting on that scale) she had zero pressure and zero offense when I said, “no thank you”. She fully listened to my needs and wishes for our birth journey and supported it 100%! She truly builds a lasting rapport with her clients and I now consider her family. I know that she treats my husband, baby and even my extended family as family and would do anything to help and support. She makes you feel as if you are her only client and truly takes her time with you to answer questions and help in any way. She is exceptionally knowledgeable with the ins and outs of pregnancy and birth.Her assistant is also the nicest lady on the planet and has the same level of care as Kathryn.
DOULA care was something we decided to have as well. (The difference between a doula and midwife) The doula we chose was Monette (website). She was an absolute ROCKSTAR as well. She did prenatal massage, guided astral projection, released fear based thinking, grounding, a cranial sacral massage on baby once she was born and was an absolute rockstar during the labor.
GAME TIME!!!! LABOR STARS…
March 1, 2022
I started early labor on Tuesday, March 1st at around 6:30pm at Ross of all places, 
March 2, 2022
The following day on Wednesday, March 2nd I called our birth team (midwife, doula, my best friend and mom). My contractions increased this day and I was able to fully dilate to a 6 successfully and without any major pain. I had been practicing self hypnosis (LINK HERE) for over 5 years now, which allowed me to be able to breath and channel my power. This was easy peasy. As the day progressed, so did my contractions. They were 3 min or less apart and lasting for dang near 90 seconds each. The ice method prepared me for this (Watch Video Here). With that being said, we did NOT sleep that night. My midwife, Emily (her assistant, who’s an absolute angel BTW), my best friend, husband and mom were up with me the whole night. I felt more comfortable in my shower with the hot water running on me while I sat on a yoga ball (the one I used). For about 4 hours, my mom who is a shaman, (her link) played the drum through my contractions, with my best friend and doula playing the singing bowls. Each team member was able to rotate taking naps. My husband didn’t take a nap, as he was with me the whole time. I also felt more comfortable on my hands and knees (the whole 4 days). My knees were bruised pretty bad, but no biggie. I used arnica rub to help with the healing process.
March 3, 2022
As the morning progressed on March 3rd, my midwife checked me and said I was dilated to a 10, but the baby was caught on a cervical lip. I took some great homeopathic remedies that my midwife suggested and did a meditation to focus on that part of my body to let it soften. My doula also was able to do a Myofascia massage around my pelvic floor. Needless to say, it worked! At this point it was around 11am. My water has yet to break and that needed to happen now if we wanted the baby out. My midwife broke my water using a spiked glove (this didn’t hurt at all) and we were hopeful the baby would fly out at that point! I then got into the birth pool with my husband. We were able to have really good pushes and contractions and I made so much progress!!! With me actively pushing, I was able to successfully get her down to where you could feel her head!!! I actively held back pushing to go slow and also fully pushed from 11am until the following day …
Yep.
That’s me 
March 4, 2022
I had been up now with no sleep for 4 days now… and baby was not wanting to make her way out. My midwife was monitoring us thoroughly and baby and I both had a great heart beat/rate. We were healthy the whole time, but we just needed a little more help. Trust me when I say, I pushed and pushed, but by this point my pushes were weak and my contractions had slowed down. I didn’t have the help from the contractions any longer. Knowing I absolutely DID NOT want a hospital birth my amazing midwife got on my level (because I was on the floor pushing) and spoke to me. She stated that we had done everything from home and nothing was happening further past where I had made it. At this point we had tried tinctures, holistic approaches, massage, sound healing, yoga trapeze, heating pad, water, birth pool, IV that had electrolytes, birth ball, etc. The bottom line wass that I was so sleep deprived and my physical body had been in labor and pain for 4 days. Yes, I made progress, but it was time to talk about the hospital and don’t worry.I’m still VERY proud of myself and made this decision 100% on my own through knowing and trusting the next step is what was best for baby and I.
HOME LABOR/BIRTH TECHNIQUES & LABOR FOOD I ATE (Click Here)
THE HOSPITAL
With the talk of everything my husband and I didn’t want and hearing that it was the only option now to keep me and baby safe;I was ready to go. After the long discussion of our requests, of not wanting a C-Section, a prolonged umbilical cord cutting, no episiotomy, no shots, no tests, no goop in the eyes and absolutely no washing the baby with soap after birth. My midwife, mom, doula, best friend and husband were there to support my decision. My instinct and soul told me to go and that everything will be perfect. I was at peace. At this point after the electrolyte IV and a contraction tincture my midwife gave me, my contractions were back on and I kept bearing down to push. My immediate thought was how the heck am I going to ride in a car like this?!?! Well, I was able to stop the contractions for the car ride by deep focus and talking to my body using Reiki and breath work. I told my body to stop until I got there. It was so hard to walk. With the combination of my water breaking and the baby’s and her head being right THERE, my husband and mom are amazing and helped me down the stairs and into the car. Needless to say, I didn’t have a contraction or the need to push the whole car ride. Still at this point, I was calm, fearless and excited to have some extra help.
When we got to the hospital, I had to ride in a wheelchair. My pain and urge to bear down and push was full force once again. I was immediately put into a room and I asked for an epidural (which my lord was EVERYTHING at that point) I needed to sleep. I needed to regain strength for this little baby so I could bring her earth side. After I got the epidural, I FELT AMAZING!!! I was able to sleep for 3 hours!!! Amazingly, I had a holistic Doctor (rare) who happened to also be a chiropractor, so she adjusted my hips and said, “Are you ready to push?” and I said YES!!!! Been ready, lol 
After 45 min of pushing with every contraction baby FLEW out! I had three very GNARLY tears that resulted in over 80 stitches internally and externally on my lady bits. 
I was able to return home after 3 days due to the baby having Jaundice. When we got home Kathryn was able to do her postnatal exam, placenta tour and placenta paint stamp! I highly recommend it!!! I learned so much about my body just from the placenta!
OVERALL
I am so thankful I was able to successfully labor to10 centimeters, get the baby down the canal, and have the best home birth team, ever! So much love and support. I’m thankful I got to experience both home labor and a hospital birth. In each instance, I had a team there to cheer me on, tell me I’m doing great, encouraging me when I felt discouraged, helping me through INTENSE contractions, holding my hand, washing dishes and cleaning, making food, rubbing my back, massage and just overall being the best support (currently crying), ugh 
LESSONS I LEARNED
• Take life minute by minute and don’t have expectations
• Fear is irrelevant and only holds you back from your true potential
• You are stronger than you think you are and you always have more in you
• Ego gets in the way every time. Be selfless, kind and don’t have a plan that can’t be changed last minute
• Trust your instincts and your gut. Don’t ever second guess anything
• Ask for help
• Speak your needs and concerns
• Love is the only answer to anything and everyone
• Be grateful and surround yourself with love by first loving yourself
WHAT I DID FOR 45 DAY AFTER BIRTH (Click Here to Read)
