Where to start? I'm currently writing this 10 days postpartum with my little one in my arms.
In short, our experience with Erin was nothing short of amazing from start to finish (although we are not finished yet ).
For the lengthier review, after interviewing her before booking her, we felt like we just clicked with Erin and her personality/vibe. We knew she would be the right fit for what we were looking for in our first homebirth experience let alone prenatal/birth experience in general.
We began care with her at 13 weeks (because we took our dear time early pregnancy lol). Every appointment was filled with attentiveness, education, resources, care, laughs, hearing our baby's heartbeat, and an open field of questions and answers.
Although my husband was on board with homebirth, he was still more uneasy about it in the beginning. After each appointment, he gained more and more confidence to the point where he was the one fielding questions by family members and friends during all of the holiday festivities. It was great!
After months of appointments and preparation, it was time to meet our baby. Erin was available from the beginning signs of labor to answer my questions and be ready when the time was right to come over and help me through to the end. It was a long weekend for this first time mom, but once things picked up it was go time.
Erin arrived the morning of our baby's birthday ready to assist but with just the energy that I would need. I would say I'm more mellow and less high energy personality-wise, and she met me at that level. What I love about Erin and I'm sure midwifery care in general is that everything is on an informed consent basis. She always asked me rather than forced me to do anything. It truly makes you feel empowered about your birth and not tossed around like you're just a patient.
The next few hours consisted of checking on me and baby, the assistant midwife Joselle arriving, them filling up the pool, my water breaking over the toilet, laboring/trying to push in the tub, appreciating the suggestions Erin gave that helped me move forward in the pushing stage, and then after much time and depleted but determined effort on my part, meeting my beautiful daughter.
In the moment there were so many times I felt like I couldn't keep going, but she and Joselle really helped me push through into the end and helped assist as needed through the last stages. We didn't know the gender until birth, and she made sure that we had full control over that process. It was such an amazing moment.
As a first time mom, I listened to and read many birth and homebirth stories to prepare, but you really just don't know what to expect. I'm so grateful for the experience and being able to accomplish it. It was so incredible and beautiful, and I wouldn't trade it for anything because now I know what I am capable of.
I ended up delivering on land, and most of those photos are not suitable for the internet, but I'll share some others.
Postpartum care started immediately. They take care of you for as much time as necessary and make sure you are all settled in the moments after having your child. It truly was a great transition to motherhood.
She's already visited us a couple times to check on me and our daughter. Nothing compares to this sort of treatment and care. You surely won't get this personalized care from your provider in a hospital.
We are so happy we chose Erin as our midwife for this miraculous experience, and we surely will be using her next time we embark on this journey again.
Thank you, Erin! read more