The Triumphant Homebirth of Phoeniks Ezra

I had the privilege of attending a really beautiful homebirth for one of my former clients. I had worked with Andrea and Hector two years ago at the birth of their twins. While she had been hoping for a natural, vaginal birth for them, she developed pre-eclampsia and went into pre-term labor at 30 weeks, so it was decided that a cesarean was the safest way for them to be born. They were such tiny babies, and had to stay in the NICU for 53 days. Andrea's older daughter was also born prematurely when she had pre-eclampsia the first time.  These births were traumatic for her, and she desperately wanted to be able to avoid that if at all possible this time and have the homebirth she had dreamed of.  She took especially good care of her health and diet this time around and when she reached 35 weeks, still healthy, she was released from her high-risk status and got accepted with Central Texas Birth Center for a homebirth.  It was such a blessing as she reached full term, perfectly healthy.  Andrea's labor began on Friday evening with light contractions that continued through the night and much of the next morning.  By noon, they had picked up some, but they still seemed irregular and bearable, so her midwife decided to come check on her.  To everyone's surprise she was already 8 centimeters! I came shortly after, and Andrea was doing well, breathing through her contractions and making everything look easy.  It wasn't too long, and her water broke.  She got into her birth pool and had about three intense contractions and then the baby just slid out before anyone was quite ready.  Hector, who had been caring for one of their twins who had been sick, just made it into the pool and was able to catch the baby.  Andrea kept remarking after the birth that "that really wasn't too bad."  It was a beautiful, gentle birth, with a completely healthy baby who was born right into their arms in the comfort of their own home. It was such a joy to witness and document this birth for this sweet family and see them have the birth that they had waited so long to have.

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Andrea and Hector waited to find out the gender, and when he was born, they waited till everyone had gathered to look and to announce that "Its a boy!" He was immediately welcomed by the whole family, two big sisters, two big brothers, and grandmother.  His big sister had such a perfect response!

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Yes, Phoeniks Ezra, you were indeed worth the wait!  Congratulations to Andrea and Hector and the whole family!  It was an honor to serve you in both of your births, and to rejoice now with you in the beautiful birth of this beautiful baby!

Welcome Baby Isaac!

Congratulations Allegra and Shaune on the birth of Issac Henry, their second son! He weighed in at 7lb 14oz and 21 1/4 inches long. This was such a beautiful, triumphant VBAC as Allegra pressed through her doubts and fears with so much strength and courage and birthed her baby just as the doctor was saying that he needed to be born soon. It was so amazing to see this mama do everything she needed to for her baby! Not a dry eye in the room! It was such a pleasure to work with this sweet couple!

The Homebirth of Elianna Grace

Congratulations to Marissa and Samuel on the birth of their daughter, Elianna Grace! This beautiful homebirth was a triumphant end to a long story. After a loss, Marissa and Samuel planned a homebirth for their first, who was breech and had to be delivered by cesarean, so determined, they decided to try again for the birth they dreamed of. But after Marissa's water broke, and several days of prodromal labor, that dream seemed to be slipping away. With lots of prayer, careful monitoring, and trust in the birth process from her midwife, Elianna finally decided to make her appearance. And she was born at home, in the water, and caught by her dad. Here is a slideshow that captures the beauty, hard work, loving support, and joyful birth of Elianna Grace.

Welcome Baby Micah!

Congratulations to Iradis and Kyle on the birth of their son, Micah!  Micah is their third child, and second son.  He weighed in at 7lb 9 oz, a healthy beautiful little boy!

The joy of birth-Austin Doula

This is the look of pure joy as mama reaches down to touch her baby for the first time.  This was Iradis's second VBAC, which she rocked without pain medication, as was her desire.  Kyle is a pretty proud papa too!

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Thanks Iradis and Kyle for the privilege to serve you and witness the birth of Micah!

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I just love those first blissful snuggles!

Jamie and Iradis-Austin Doula

Happy New Year!

Despite being a rather tumultuous year on the national scale, 2016 has been a great year here at Empowered Birthing, in fact the busiest year yet.  I had the privilege of serving 19 families in 2016.  There were 5 birth center births, 12 hospital births, 9 unmedicated births,  2 VBACs, and I had the privilege of witnessing two cesarean births (thank you St. David’s Medical Center for supporting doulas in the operating room!).  But more important than numbers are all the beautiful families that I had the privilege to serve.  At each birth, I watched fierce, strong mamas who worked so hard to bring their babies earthside, and loving partners who believed in them and supported them each step of the way.  Every birth presents its own challenges, and each time I see these women look deep within themselves and find their strength to meet their own unique challenges.  It is such a joy to behold!

I have also continued to grow in my knowledge and in the services I am able to offer my clients.  In January I embarked on my journey to recertify as a doula.  Instead of recertifying with my original organization, I have decided to join with DTI (Doula Trainings International).  This amazing organization provides a wonderfully supportive community (we doulas need a lot of support from each other in order to keep ourselves replenished) and they provide of model of total inclusivity of all birthing families (whatever size, shape, or color they come in) that prepares us to meet the needs of all our clients and their unique situations.  Moreover, they encourage us to be agents of change in the contemporary birth scene.  All birthing parents deserve a respectful, compassionate, and evidence-based care!  So it has been a pleasure to be part of this organization and be so fully in line with their philosophy.  I attended a DTI training last January and became a DTI certified birth and postpartum doula in October.   With the addition of my postpartum credentials, I have been able to offer more post-partum care to my clients.  I have also begun my training as a Certified Breastfeeding Counselor in order to more fully support my clients in their breastfeeding journey.   And as a sneak peek into this new year, I am hoping to increase the diversity of my offerings to include breastfeeding support, childbirth education, and photography.  I am excited to share these new offerings with you in the coming months.  I have also been elected to serve as the Secretary of CTDA (Central Texas Doula Association) and so look forward to serving the larger doula community in that capacity.

As always, I thank you so much for all your love and support.  I had the privilege of serving three families who had been referred to me by lovely past clients.  Please keep telling your pregnant friends and acquaintances.  (And,  I’m hoping to add a new referral bonus, so stay tuned!)  I have also received some wonderful testimonials that I am pleased to share.  Here are a few of these inspiring words that help me to keep providing better, more individualized support:

“During the birth, more than one time she helped me understand what was going on, to ask questions, and make sure that what they were doing was to my benefit, not to their convenience."
“Despite not having my ideal birth, I left the hospital with my healthy baby feeling empowered in a way, because I was able to advocate for myself despite feeling moments of vulnerability. I was able to handle the initial grief of an unwanted c-section because Jamie was by my side with empathy, allowing me to go home ready for the excitement of being a new mommy.”
“I was much more comfortable with ways to make my wife be calm and more comfortable through labor.  Having a doula gave me more options than I knew existed to help my wife.”  
“I think the prenatal visits are possibly the most important and most valuable part of the services Jamie offers. The amount of hours she dedicated to me and my partner before the birth was unbelievable. We were so lucky to have her support leading up to the birth.”

I always appreciate getting your feedback, including suggestions for improvement, so that I can better serve my future clients.   And I love getting updates from you to see how you’re doing and how your little ones are growing.  Please friend me on Facebook if you like; it’s a great way to stay in touch, and be sure to follow my page at https://www.facebook.com/Empoweredbirthingaustin/.

It is such a honor to do the work that I do: to be invited into your birth space, to witness the miracle of new life, and to encourage and support you in your journey as new parents.  Thank you for your support of me so that I can continue to serve more families.

Have a blessed New Year!

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It is such a honor to do the work that I do: to be invited into your birth space, to witness the miracle of new life, and to encourage and support you in your journey as new parents.  Thank you for your support of me so that I can continue to serve more families.

Have a blessed New Year!

 

The Year in Review

Happy New Year! As I step out into this new year, I am thankful for all that 2014 brought to me It has been an exciting year as I have just completed my first year as a birth doula and launched my business, Empowered Birthing Professional Doula Service.  As always, it is an honor to be allowed to be part of each family's birth team and present in the sacred moments of new life.  I have enjoyed getting to know each family that I have worked with, and I have learned immensely from each birth that I have attended. To each and every family, I thank you.

The highlights of last year have been many. It has been my pleasure to serve thirteen families as they welcomed their newest additions into their hearts and arms.  I have served in three birth centers and five hospitals in the Austin area, and have been able to witness a variety kinds of births, natural, medically managed, cesarean, and VBAC.  In July, I submitted my credentials and applied for my certification with DONA, and in October I received word that I am a certified birth doula.  During the summer I also received training through Stillbirthday in order to become a birth and bereavement doula.  This was an intense training that has prepared me to serve in births during all trimesters and all outcomes.  I have just submitted my final projects and should receive my certification shortly.  I have also begun working on my credentials as a certified EC coach with Go Diaper Free.  I hope to begin offering classes and private consultations for families wishing to practice Elimination Communication (aka infant potty training) with their babies.  If you or anyone you know is interested in this service, please send them my way.  I have also started a cloth diaper and baby carrier rental library that will be available for clients to try out different items before they make their own purchases. It has been a year full of learning and I am excited about the new services that I will be able to offer families.

I look forward to serving many new families in the coming year.  I hope to build on these successes and branch out even more in the coming year.  Come check out what's happening here at Empowered Birthing! And bring on 2015!