For my first daughter's birth I would like to begin by saying it was my first home birth. After having 2 drug-free natural hospital births, moving to knoxville and being able to do a home birth was a dream come true. I first felt contractions during a family fun trivia night. My contractions started to pick up around 11:45pm two weeks early just like my others. My most previous birth lasted only 2 hours so needless to say as soon as my contractions started, I called Aly right away. She showed up shortly thereafter and was an immediate sense of comfort. I was nauseous just like my first two and she had a peppermint essential oil trick that really helped. She also had a tincture to help things move along because everything slowed down to a crawl. I was walking up and down the stairs as I felt comfortable enough but still my daughter was being shy. Aly had my husband stand behind me and instructed him to hold my belly bump while I did some squats. This seemed to get things moving a little bit faster as I felt my daughter moving down. Now it was about 5:00 in the morning and I was exhausted but Aly did not waver. Just knowing that she was here at my house with her expertise put me at ease. I knew I was able to labor in peace even though the birth was not going as I thought it would. She allowed me to focus on what I needed to do by trusting my body and also trusting her. We all pulled an all-nighter and sure enough I was able to give birth in the position that I wanted with Aly's hand right on my back comforting the pain. As soon as she did that I felt a release of pain and it's as if she knew what I was feeling without me having to say it. My daughter was born healthy and at home with Aly as the midwife, and a lifelong friendship was also born. I knew if I was blessed with another baby that Aly would be my first choice to be my midwife again.

My second daughters birth story began with uncertainty on my part. For my first two children I slept through the very early parts of labor but with her this did not happen. I started to feel cramping around 8:00 p.m. and I wasn't sure if they were contractions or if my stomach was upset from the spicy dinner I had that night. Once again, this was 2 weeks early. The contractions were very minimal and I would get one every half hour so I was able to rest and sleep for a little bit. Around 3:00 in the morning a contraction woke me up out of bed and I knew that the next part of my labor had begun and things were progressing. I wanted to make sure that I was far enough along before calling Aly in the middle of the night so I waited until the contractions got closer. I called when they were every 5 minutes and sure enough they began to pick up in intensity during the call. Aly showed up at my house, my husband made her a cup of coffee, and I was mid contraction on my knees hanging over a couch. She once again brought the peppermint oil to put in my pail where I could breathe it in and that was an immediate relief from the nausea. When Aly measured me I was already at 8 cm. I was so relieved to hear that and it helped me power through the final stages. When it was time to push Aly allowed me to get into my up right position on my knees. When I was in this position I felt my daughter moving down so quickly. Although the pain was intense I knew if I stayed in that position she would come faster. When my daughter's head came out I continued to push but she was not budging. I instinctively said help and immediately Aly knew what the issue was. My daughter had the umbilical cord around her chest like she was wearing a seatbelt. Aly calmly reached in moved the umbilical cord and told me to push. As soon as that happened my daughter came out more easily. It was her expertise, her peace, and an overwhelming sense of comfort that made me relax and know that I could do what I had to do because she was supporting me. There was a level of trust that was so deep I never wavered from the goal set before me. I'm so thankful to have had Aly share an experience that I will forever cherish!