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I am finally getting settled at home after almost five weeks at the Farm in Tennessee. We were there for the birth of our second child and it was there that Asher Gunnar DeHart was born. We had an amazing and memorable experience there. There were so many moments while planning our birth there that we really questioned why we were traveling so far and complicating our lives in order to have a homebirth but of course it was all so worth it. I was put on partial bed rest by our midwives in Buffalo at 30 weeks due to early contractions and dilating. We also were advised to arrive at the Farm a month before my due date in case I went early. In the end we had 3 1/2 weeks at the Farm of blissful vacation that focused around swimming at their amazing beach. Asher, like my two year old Emmit, had his hand up on his head preventing him from dropping. Thus I was having lots of contractions but not dilating beyond 2 1/2 centimeters. On July 12th, Carol- our Farm midwife, swept my membrane twice and the contractions then got much stronger. I awoke on July 13th at 2:30 in the morning to labor like contractions and my water breaking. My husband started filling up the birthing tub in the little birthing cabin we had rented for the month. We called Carol at 2:45 a.m. and Asher was born two hours later after only ten minutes of pushing. Emmit was born after 3 1/2 hours of labor and 20 min. of pushing so I am lucky to have short but quite intense labors. This time though I actually had a break between the contractions whereas with Emmit it felt like a 3 1/2 hour solid contraction. Carol and Jeanne (the back up midwife) were amazing and it was wonderful to be able to have pauses between contractions to listen to their suggestions. I did horse lips (see Ina May's books) during my contractions and that made all the difference in the world. Asher was 8 lbs. and 20" and is now close to 10 lbs. and a couple inches longer at 3 1/2 weeks. Our experience at the Farm is of course a much longer story but I can't reccomend the place enough for either a birth or just a family vacation. Having a homebirth in Buffalo has become such a legally complicated and tricky thing that we just didn't want to take the risk not to mention all of the really experienced and certified midwives there are no longer practicing because of the challenges that face them. It is wonderful to know that there is a place anyone can go if they really want to have a homebirth and Tennessee turned out to be a beautiful and welcoming place we knew nothing about before. Jesica
