How my journey started

When I was a little girl I always told people I wanted 12 children!! Wow 12??? I began my motherhood journey at the tender age of 16. I unexpectedly gave birth to a beautiful baby boy(I did not know I was pregnant). I will admit this was not as glamourous as I thought it would be when I was a child, but it definitely was just as rewarding, if not more, than I dreamed it would be. I raised my son on my own(with the help of my amazing parents) for 2 years. I then met the man of my dreams, sounds corny, I know, but it is true. We married shortly after meeting(he was a friend of my brothers), he adopted my son and called him his own. Soon after we were married we found out we were expecting our second child(1st together). This pregnancy was a challenge to say the least. I went into labor 3 times, 30 weeks, 33 weeks and finally delivered our 2nd baby boy at 36 weeks(after 3 days of labor). He was perfectly healthy at  6lbs 14oz and got to come home right away. I have to say this time was so much better having a partner to share the joy and share the sorrow of parenthood(parenting is not all sunshine and rainbows!! shocking I know) Ten months after giving birth to our second son we found out we were expecting another bundle of joy! Now being pregnant this time came with one little hiccup right at the beginning where the doctors thought it was an ectopic pregnancy. After a few tests we were put at ease and our baby was doing perfect!! I went all the way to 39 weeks with this one! I delivered our 3rd son with the one and only amazing midwife Noreen Walker!! I was only in labor for a few hours and managed to have the water birth I wanted! We took our 8lb 14oz beautiful baby boy home within a few hours. Now I do have to say baby # 3 for me was a bit of a challenge at home, he loved to nurse ALL THE TIME! His brothers were definitely competing for my attention, but we managed to get through and survive. Once again......Nine months later we found out we were expecting baby # 4!!! We honestly could not have been happier. I did plan on having this baby with a midwife as well but my plan drastically changed when I went into labor at 33 weeks and gave birth to our 4th son(I was beginning to think I was going to be just like my grandma and have all boys no matter how may times we tried). Our little, 6lb 13oz, man had to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks just so he could learn to breath on his own and begin to gain weight. I missed my other kids so much at this time and did slip into a bit of a depression, but the unwavering support of my beautiful little family helped me out. When we were finally able to go home life was amazing!! Busy but amazing none the less. After having our boy so early made my husband and I decide maybe we should be done. This kind of destroyed a little part of me because I knew in my heart I was not done, but at the same time the fear of another preemie was very real and raw. A year later I was chatting with the amazing Noreen Walker(midwife) and she calmed my fears and also may have told me a way that I could have a little girl!!! Well now this is a game changer. My husband and I talked it over and he said "Heid if you are not done, lets do it!! Lets try for another baby.". This is exactly what we did. This time it did not happen right away like the others did(we were using Noreen's method on how to have a girl). 6 months of trying and we were finally expecting again! All was perfect with this pregnancy until around 35 weeks when my blood pressure began to go up. Noreen(yes we chose her as our midwife again)was not one to mess around so I was sent in to the hospital for an ultrasound and then was instructed to continuously monitor my blood pressure and have weekly ultrasounds to make sure baby was growing properly. At 37 weeks I woke up at around 3am to a little gush of water(I thought I peed the bed, my waters had never broke naturally before) no contractions yet. We called my sister in law over to watch the kids and we SLOWLY started to make our way to Stony Plain where our midwife was waiting. about 5 minutes into the drive the contractions began with a vengeance!! I instructed my husband to step on it!!! We live about 1 hour away from the Stony Plain hospital, we thought, we got this, we will make it!! Ummmm.......Boy were we wrong!! About 30 min into the drive(he was going mighty fast, I won't say how fast lol) I reached down and felt between my legs and OH NO!!! There was a head! I asked politely (yeah right) for my husband to pull over because the baby was coming NOW! We pulled over on Range Road 33 off Highway 16 and I called 911 and no sooner than the operator got on the phone our very 1st 8lb 9oz baby girl entered the world. Who needs doctors and midwives right??!! We got into the ambulance, once it arrived, and off to see the midwife. We were able to go home within hours. The boys were smitten with their little sister. Our family was complete!

I have always been amazed by the power of women! And how absolutely amazing we truly are. I do believe that every woman and their partner should have the birth and postpartum journey they want and deserve. This is my mission! Even when things don't go as planned(many times for me they didn't) we should have someone there to help us to understand that no matter what it will be ok. Plans may change slightly or drastically, but that does not mean all is lost. What truly matters is that you have birthed a healthy baby. Sure you will grieve what could have or should have been and that is ok! It's normal. You have that beautiful child in your arms to love and cherish forever.