Birth Story of Cohen

When I got pregnant with Cohen I knew I wanted a home birth again, but we had decided to move to Arizona. As we were getting ready to move, we visited family one last time and my husband’s aunt asked me what my birth plan was this time. I told her a home birth, but I was going to be really sad that Misty couldn’t be my midwife due to the move. She said, “Oh, then you’ll be back. See you guys before May.” In Phoenix, I was seeing a midwife and she was great. Her staff was great. But it wasn’t Misty.

We indeed did move back to the Reno area just a few short months later because I wanted the birth I wanted with my midwife who had already wiped my butt before. That kind of rapport doesn’t come easily and it doesn’t come with everyone. We literally moved back solely to have Misty at my birth. We didn’t even move back for family.

Cohen was born May 13th, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. at 40 weeks 3 days. 7 lbs 5 oz and 21.5 inches long.

It was the day after Mother’s Day that year. Misty, again, was phenomenal. I have long labors and Cohen’s was 36 hours from start to finish. And again, Misty was there for over 12 hours. Lennox got to see her baby brother be born. Misty was always so much more than just a midwife or just a doula. She took care of me medically, but also gave me information and book recommendations on the health of myself and my newborn, parenting ideas and advice that no one in the world has ever given me, things to look for, lactation advice, you name it.

I didn’t know that it was so uncommon for siblings to see the birth of the baby. I didn’t know that toddlers and older children weren’t allowed in a delivery room for a hospital birth. When I was asking if Lennox would be allowed to be there, Misty said it was up to me. She also gave me advice on how to prepare my 1 year old for labor and birth so she wouldn’t be scared or overwhelmed. And she wasn’t scared at all. Lennox held my hand through contractions at just 1 year old while she had YouTube in the other. It was so normal for her. When Cohen was finally born, Lennox said, “Baby. Babies come out vaginas.” because Misty taught me how to prepare her for it.