+J.M.J.+ Birth is a school, and I learned so much about myself, my family, and birth when we welcomed Isaac on to the outside on October 19th, 2022. My Guess Date On evening of the 18th I was exactly 40 weeks. I was feeling a bit emotional, a little crampy, and even anxious. I was [...]
There is something almost taboo about emergency birth plans or packing a simple transfer bag among many homebirthers. Oftentimes people cite a fear that if they "plan" for an emergency it is more likely to happen. I don't mentally find preparing for an emergency any different than wearing a seat belt when I am in [...]
+J.M.J.+ Now that I have experienced both home birth and birth center birth since Felicity's arrival, (you can read her birth story here,) I wanted to write up a comparison of both experiences in case it might help other mamas who are debating between the two models of care. My experiences are just that, only [...]
+J.M.J.+Felicity Agnes' birth was by far my hardest birth, and was in several ways very different from my other labors. (You can read Philomena's birth story here, and Zelie's here if you want to know what theirs were like before starting on Felicity's). Felicity's birth was my first non-home birth. We've moved to a state [...]
+J.M.J.+ I have had two completely natural childbirths, and am preparing for my third soon. (You can read my home birth stories here.) I'm going to share everything I do to prepare for birth, and at the end a list of why birthing naturally is a priority for me in the first place. Prepare Mentally [...]
+J.M.J.+ There isn't a concrete definition of a natural mother. This is something I talked about in this post here when I was worrying about being good enough for the title of this blog. To some people I'm super natural and to others I miss the mark. But if we look at the actual definition [...]
+J.M.J.+ I've read more books on birth than any other topic other than Catholicism, probably having gone through at least twenty volumes on it so far, not including countless of birth stories I've read online. Truly, there is something about the miracle of pregnancy and birth that never gets old for me. Disclosure: We are [...]
+J.M.J.+ Today's birth story comes from Mary. I know her personally and her husband's words of wisdom really helped and encourage Ethan to be open to home birth for us. They have such a beautiful family, and she is sharing with us the birth of her fifth baby. Enjoy! ____________________ Our oldest son had been [...]
Did you enjoy Geneva's birth story last week? (Click here if you missed it!) This week I am featuring her sister Nicole's story. ___________________ Just one month after my sister had told me she was pregnant I was very excited to discover that I was expecting as well. This would be my eighth baby and [...]
+J.M.J.+ I have something exciting here in our Natural Birth Story Series... two stories from sisters who gave birth a month apart in their respective homes using the same midwife! Geneva gave birth to her fourth baby, then her sister Nicole followed with her eighth a month later. These births came during a difficult time [...]
The Natural Catholic Mom 