I threaded my car slowly along the familiar roads – Truckenmiller, Rambadt, Bucknell, Wasepi, Lepley – winding past one farm after another, many laden with a decade’s worth of memories, some even with two. Showers of bright leaves drifted through the shafts of sunlight that penetrated the craggy limbs hemming in the sky like giant golden snowflakes, swirling in eddies stirred[…]
Once upon a time, on a snowy winter’s evening, I met Josie Lane Hiday. Little Josie was hidden away, safe and snug and deep within the love of her mother and her father, Lillian and Alex. On that magical January night, Josie’s presence was scarcely discernible – her tiny heart pattered only faintly in our[…]
Meet Laurie Zoyiopoulos, CPM, serving mid to Northern Michigan! Laurie’s one of my favorite people on earth! I’ve known her nearly twenty years. I met her in the 1990s, though I imagine I came close to her the first time I attended a Michigan Midwives Association Meeting (MMA) in 1988! Laurie’s attended the births of[…]
The primary tool I reach for in my Mary Poppins magical midwifery bag is the supremely simple one – the almost too simple one – of smart lifestyle choices. Good health is necessary for birthing safely at home. Good health is necessary to our pursuit of a meaningful life, too! This post is about the[…]
Today I’ll tell the story of birth after cesarean from another perspective. I was hired by a young Amish family in the summertime of 2006 to serve as midwife for their third baby, their second vaginal birth after cesarean. Like Ingrid, Rachel had attempted to birth her first baby at home with another local midwife,[…]
A nine pound, twelve ounce baby boy with a fifteen inch noggin was born vaginally at home through the afternoon of a warm summer’s day after the baby’s brother, a boy who tipped the scales at nine pounds even, was born by cesarean in the hospital some three years earlier. This was my first primary[…]
Once upon a time, an enchanting little sprite with golden curls and bright blue eyes appeared upon the scene, the second of what would wind up a passel of six golden-haired, blue-eyed sprites. Her name isn’t Tinker Bell, but, minus the mean streak, she always makes me think of Tinker Bell when I think of[…]
I thought I’d flesh out the story that was published on Katie Reid’s blog last week called Fear and Doorknobs. Maybe you read it! I introduced it here on my blog with the title Peace and Grace and a little teaser piece. The theme of the blog post series is listening to the Voice of[…]
Good morning, Friends! I’m excited to tell you that my friend, Katie Reid, has honored me with an invitation to share about a time I felt God speak to me for an episode of her Listen Close, Listen Well: Lean in, My Daughters series of blog posts. I’ve been blessed many times through my life to[…]
Good morning, Friends! I thought it would be fun to, every now and then, give my clients a chance to tell their own stories! I’ve decided to do just that today, and to begin with one of my oldest clients, Kristen Ratkos. Kris, as you’ll soon learn, is also my very oldest friend. We met[…]