A sudden jangling startled me from the wonderful world of soot and orphans and redemption Charles Dickens had woven and lured me into. Mildly annoyed, I backed away from the sink and stripped the sudsy yellow gloves from my hands in order to shush Charles and fish the phone from the front pocket of my stained[…]
Hello, treasured friends! I’ve three exciting things to share with you this morning! First, after long deliberation, I’ve settled upon a branding image! Many thanks to those of you who shared your thoughts regarding my proposed brand, tagline, and logo! I received each of your opinions with gratitude, both for the insights you shared, and for the[…]
For those following the goings-on of the past year, I bring you a brief re-cap and an update! Fourteen months ago, I completed the first draft of a manuscript I hoped would, before too long, become a published book. Initially, I imagined the actual writing of the manuscript to compose the bulk of the work[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
So, here’s the story of Rose and Ned’s first homebirth. Rose and Ned are the mother and dad of Absalom, the baby I wrote about last week. Eleven years ago, Rose gave birth to her first son, Davin, through the wee hours of early March. I met Rose five months before in her sister-in-law’s back[…]