+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 [...]
+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.+ My first two births were wonderful homebirths in Ohio, and I had a super basic emergency bag packed for them in case we had needed to transfer during or after them. Due to a relocation to a state with non-evidence based birthing laws, we are going to be using a free-standing birth center for [...]
+J.M.J.+ There is a lot of information out there on how to prepare for birth (and I have a whole post about how I prep here!), but I feel like a huge aspect of getting ready to welcome a baby is getting ready for the incredibly beautiful and simultaneously challenging postpartum period. Here are the [...]
+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.+ Doulas are not yet mainstream - with only 7% of mother using them there are a lot of misconceptions and confusion surrounding them. Why would you hire a complete stranger to be with you during birth? Why not just rely on your husband? Plus, I’m not a first-time mom anymore - why would I [...]
+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.+ This week my mother-in-law sent me a tragic news story about a baby suffocating inside a baby carrier. When she messaged me the link she commented that this must not be the same type of stretchy wrap I use, but it was the same thing, just a different brand. I am not scared my [...]
+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 [...]
The Natural Catholic Mom 