Wisconsin home birth: Ruby

August 2, 2011 by Gillian Haas · 6 Comments

Monday July 25th 1:30pm: I was cutting up some chicken to make my friend Steph’s famous chicken enchiladas for dinner that night. When I stood up to put the chicken on the stove, I immediately felt a gush of liquids leave my body. At first, I thought I might have peed my pants, but then after going upstairs to change, I noticed that it didn’t have any smell & it was completely clear, which is what amniotic fluid is like.

I first called John to let him know that I thought my water broke & then I called our midwife LeAnn to let her know. She asked me a few questions & then told me to call her back around 3:30 to let her know if more liquid leaked out or if anything changed. I called John back & by that time, he had researched all kinds of websites for me to look at to see if it really was amniotic fluid. I laid down for a bit to rest & then I drove to John’s work to pick him up & called LeAnn as well. She said that she wanted to see me in her office as soon as we could get there, to test if it was amniotic fluid, so we left right away. We got to Winona around 4:30 & had a short chat with LeAnn & then did two different tests, which both confirmed that it was in fact amniotic fluid. My water had broken! We didn’t know any kind of timeline as to when things would start happening, but at that point, I hadn’t had any contractions & was still feeling like my usual self. LeAnn suggested we take the night easy, eat dinner, do our normal routine & try to get lots of rest.

Wisconsin home birth: January

January Enters The World

September 30, 2014 by Gillian Haas · 10 Comments

I had a feeling that this baby might be an early one since Ruby was born at 38 weeks, so I did all that I could to prepare for an early birth. I did all the usual nesting-type activities…made bazillions of freezer meals, washed & organized baby clothes & diapers, cleaned everything in (& out) of sight,. I prepared so much that I literally had nothing left to do after 36 weeks. It was my intention that I would have a few weeks to do nothing but relax & enjoy time with our family of three before we became four, but I wasn’t prepared for the waiting to drive me crazy!

Southeast Minnesota Home Birth: Indira

Let me start out by saying the body does amazing things. I truly believe that had I not had issues Thursday late night early Friday morning with our noisy neighbors being up I would’ve gone into labor on Friday instead of Saturday. I told my husband Friday morning to be prepared because I felt labor would start between that day and Saturday. I called my midwife LeAnn Friday night and told her I had been having stronger contractions and wanted to give her a heads up, I believe my body knew just how exhausted it was because right around bedtime Friday night all contractions stopped and I got one of the best night’s sleep I had in a long time. It did help tremendously that my husband went out and warned the neighbors that we would not be having any issues with them being up late and being loud that night.

Rochester, MN, Two Great Homebirths - Benjamin and Hazel

When my husband Nathan and I found out we were expecting our first child in 2012 we immediately decided on a home birth.   With my husband being a chiropractor,  we truly believe that the body is designed to work for you and functions at  its best when there is less interference.  Planning a homebirth meant that we had a better chance of a drug free "natural" birth, a healthy mom and healthy baby!

Being pregnant for the first time I was excited but had normal concerns like any expecting woman.   Early on in my pregnancy I had some bleeding and I was worried.  I made my initial prenatal appointment at Mayo and met with the midwives a few times.  We had also been searching for our homebirth midwife.  We liked LeAnn right away and decided that we wanted her to be our midwife.  For the first 20 weeks I saw both LeAnn and the Mayo midwifes.  There was a distinct difference in the care I was receiving.  I decided it was unnecessary to be under Mayo's care and did the remainder of my prenatal care with LeAnn.  

Rochester, MN Home birth Story: Micah

Micah, our third child to bring into this world.  We started off with the typical hospital plan, but when things with that plan did not go as we would have liked we looked for another option. Home Birth. I had some experience with home birth. My oldest sister was currently finishing training as a midwife and birthed both her sons at home. My other sister had her third child at home as well. When I called my dad to tell him that I wasn't sure the original hospital plan would be working out, he immediately said we would be having our baby at home then. I am very lucky to have such support. My husband wasn't sure about the plan at first either, but once we explored all our options, it seemed to be the best one.

Southeast Minnesota Home birth story

Unusual looks and concerned comments was what I got when telling my friends and family that Matt, my husband, and I had decided to have our new coming baby in our home. "You are crazy!" I do think was the most popular response, but our minds were already set. 

I didn't blindly jump into this decision, and I have to say my husband needed some convincing. So after books, blogs, and birth stories like this one he trusted me enough to jump on board. I know now better than ever that even though I wish more people would consider having their baby in their home it is NOT for everyone. 

My journey started with finding a Midwife. Not the easiest task for someone who lives in southern Minnesota. Trust me, the pickin's are slim. Luckily I found the most amazing woman to accompany me on my "journey" as my Midwife. She lived an hour and a half away, which was not the most convenient for travel over the Minnesota winter months, but she took me on without a doubt. We developed a relationship over the course of my pregnancy incomparable to any other. Our visits consisted of discussing not just "pregnancy symptoms" and blood pressure checks, but true compassionate conversations about what was going on in my life. About myself, my family, feelings, physical, emotional, the gauntlet... She truly cared, and it wasn't uncommon that our visits would last and hour and a half. And I never had to wait for her, she was always ready for me when I arrived with her door open and a hug. We truly became friends.