Juniper

This birth story could be quite short as active labor lasted 15-20 minutes.

But what I keep returning to is how empowered I felt during the birth of my daughter.

My first labor and birth was overwhelming. I didn’t know what to expect, I had a lot of fear, and then was thrown into a four hour labor and delivery whirlwind. While everything went smoothly medically speaking, I was overwhelmed and the experience was chaotic.

This experience was way different. I knew what to expect of birth. I witnessed 35 births between the birth of my first and this baby. I watched women surrender to labor and give birth beautifully, almost exclusively in the comfort of their homes. I got to learn underneath two empowering and empathic women who give their everything to walk alongside women and then had them walk alongside me.

All of this put me in a very different position when my water broke around 2:20. I had been napping, and called my husband to come in the room. I texted Jennifer next, and then immediately felt contractions become very intense. The birth team arrived about ten minutes later, and I could feel baby descending. I reached down and felt baby’s head and minutes later she was born. I was able to breath through those last contractions and feel her navigating her way out.

Our sweet Juniper Lakely was born at 2:35 and we were ecstatic to have a little girl.

I felt safe in my own home, confident in my birth team, and supported in birth choices. Reflecting back on the day, I have so many positive feelings and am thankful to everyone who was a part.

We had lots of plans for photos and videos but with a birth that fast, there was no time