Autumn Among the Amish, Michigan Part Seven

But those ten weeks of autumn weren’t spent with my children and grandchildren alone. The time began toward the tail-end of a very dry and dusty summertime. Fairly the moment we crossed the line into Amish country on my first trip down, memories kicked up like the clouds of dust Hannah’s car sent billowing skyward behind[…]

And It’s Happened!

Nearly three years after immersing myself into a lifetime of old journals, and almost two years after tapping out the last line of the last chapter of the first draft of my first book… eighteen months into my plunge into blogging and Facebooking and Tweeting and wrestling over my book proposal, and twelve months past my search[…]

Time, Pressure & Deadlines

Oh my goodness, the wildness continues! This last week was even wilder than the week I spent in Michigan, and was one filled with incredible pressure, deadlines, and an insatiable demand for time! First of all, I intended to use this week’s post to explain that “Midwife Life, Part Ten” is officially on hold. Wes, my amazing[…]

One Wild Week!

Oh my goodness, yes! Last week was wild! I flew to Michigan, celebrated Christmas with my family, attended a birth, fell ill, recovered, attended another birth, observed the tenth anniversary of my first husband’s death, fell ill again, flew home to Colorado, celebrated three years of marriage to my second husband, and learned that after sixteen months of[…]

Midwife Life, Part Nine: An Intimate Encounter

And so, as we saw through my last post in our series, complications do occasionally arise at homebirths. Thankfully, midwives are usually able to handle them with success! Join me now as I see the little family through their first night together. The singular trill of a robin startled me from my revere. I lifted the shade[…]

Midwife Life, Part Eight: Four Cups of Blood

Through my last post in this series we walked together through Emma’s long and difficult labor, and rejoiced with her over the birth of her sweet baby boy. Today I invite you to join me as we faced the trouble that followed him and wiled away the hours of the child’s first night on earth[…]

Welcome, Friends!

I shared this post on Facebook today to inform, to thank, and to invite. If you’ve come here from Facebook then you know already that I’m yet in the thick of attempting to attract the interest of a publisher for my memoir – the book I wrote describing my time as a homebirth midwifery apprentice[…]

Midwife Life, Part Seven: Oh, Baby!

Through my last post in this series I drew you into the nighttime life of a midwife as Emma’s labor began. Join me today and witness the miracle of two becoming three. “Emma? May I come in?” I’d arrived at the cozy, aging farmhouse – a quaint combination of trim and ramshackle, oozing with love and joy,[…]

Midwife Life, Part Six: And So It Begins

Through my last post in this series describing my time among the Amish, I revealed one of the ways I struggled with my calling. Join me this week as Emma’s labor begins. And so Emma’s pregnancy matured as winter gave way to springtime. Icy roadways turned muddy, hints of green began to peek past patches[…]

Midwife Life, Part Five: Wait – Do Midwives Faint?

Through my last post in this series about my birthwork among the Amish, Midwife Life, Part Four: Secrets, I showed you what a prenatal visit looks like.  Today I’ll show you what it was like to be a real-live human with my own special set of frailties and flaws and foibles that had to be overcome in order to[…]