About me
I am a mom to 4 beautiful girls and a wife to an amazing woman. Our youngest daughter is our first together and was conceived through RIVF. Which if you don’t know, means that they took my wifes’ egg combined with donor sperm to make the embryos and then put one inside of my uterus, and I carried our daughter throughout the pregnancy, and now almost 2 years of breastfeeding. It has been a beautiful journey and I am so thankful to have such an amazing partner to share it with.
My obsession with all things childbirth and newborn babies started in 2014 in Honolulu, HI when I was pregnant with my second child. My first daughter was an unnecessary and uninformed C-section in 2010. So with my second, I assumed it would be another c-section, this time planned and that's just what the procedure was. My provider mentioned to me that he believed I was a great candidate to have a vaginal delivery this time (Shout out to Dr. Lin who is now retired). Initially, I was like “oh no, it's all good, go ahead and let me know what day I am having my baby”. As the pregnancy went on, he continued to gently remind me that a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), was still a great option for me if I wanted to consider it. I decided to take a childbirth education course at least see if it was something I would want to pursue.
Insert here, my first interaction with a doula ever. The teacher of the childbirth course was an incredibly passionate doula who taught me the way our bodies work and showed me that I had so many more options than what I knew were available to me as a c-section mom. When those women started talking about how they wanted to try to have their babies without an epidural, I thought they were nuts. (Pretty ironic now, haha!) I decided if they were strong enough to do that, maybe I was too. Maybe my body could do this for me.
Photo Credit: June Bug Photography
I had my first VBAC with that provider and doula by my side. It was amazing, empowering, and beautiful. I hired a birth photographer as well so I was able to see just how strong I had been and how I had just gone through the hardest thing women have to do and had accomplished a birth that made me feel like a strong, bad, b****!
My second VBAC (3rd daughter) was here locally in Surprise at Del Webb only 13 short months after my first vaginal delivery. I had a wonderful experience with my provider and was able to advocate for myself a bit more and have even more of a wonderful experience with my 2nd in hospital VBAC. I felt respected and that my medical team let me trust myself and get rid of all the medical interventions. It was incredible to feel even more in control of my birth this time.
Photo Credit: Cheyenne Pape
My 3rd and most recent VBAC was by far the best and most comfortable birthing experience. I hired a midwife, I hired a doula and a photographer right away. I knew what I wanted and needed this time and my wife was supportive of all of my vision for our homebirth. We felt supported, encouraged, educated, and uplifted throughout this experience. There was no pressure of induction, VBAC what-ifs, IV’s interventions etc. It was everything I wanted. I am thankful for all the birth professionals who helped support and educate me(us) and the birth community here in Arizona that offered endless resources, experience and education for us.
It is my goal now to support families by being a part of this birth-worker community that impacts so many. Birth is important and one of the hardest things you will ever do. It can be unpredictable and chaotic, and sometimes the backup plan becomes the necessary route. As your doula, my goal is to support you and your family through this journey and help you stay educated so you can make the decisions that feel the best. I look forward to helping create an empowering and supportive atmosphere for you.