The stunning Julie Eliserio and her son Ezra (4 months). When Julie and her husband conceived their son they thought they would do things very traditionally. She sought out an OB and had her first confirmation of pregnancy appointment there. By her second visit she had started to think about other options and asked her OB about homebirth. Her OB told her that she would be putting her babies life at risk if she wanted to try to deliver at home and that they would have no part in her care if she chose to go that route. She left the appointment early and began looking for midwives. Two weeks later she found her midwife and began preparing for a homebirth. She had hoped to deliver in a tub in her dining room but things didn't quite go as expected.
Julie labored over 5 days, with things slowing down during the day time and ramping up at night. Her midwife checked in with her daily to make sure both she and baby were doing well, however, Julie avoided vaginal checks the first few days. After 100 hours of labor, she learned she was 7cms which was enough to get her through the night and the following day, after her water broke, Ezra arrived in just 20 minutes of pushing. They didn't make it to the tub, her doula didn't arrive in time and the midwives assistant came in the middle of the birth. Julie says that while her sons arrival isn't what she had thought it would, she loves what it was and wouldn't change a thing. Ezra latched immediately and stayed there for about an hour. When he unlatched, his dad walked around the house with him while Julie got cleaned up and within 2 hours their family of three was snuggled up in their bed.
Ezra nursed like a champ at first but began to struggle with latch due to Julie's flat nipples. She tried a nipple shield that they were able to wean off of after about two months and are now doing quite well. Julie found her self hyper-focused on pumping for a while and was constantly worried about whether she was making enough milk for him or wasn't building enough of a stash. She realized that it wasn't that breastfeeding wasn't working for her, just that pumping wasn't working for her and thankfully, as a stay at home mom, has been able to let go of pumping and just nurse her baby.
Julie is a young mother and says that it has been interesting being a 23 year old and wanting to look and act like a 23 year old while also being so proud to be a mother. She says, "This is a mothers body now and I love it, not every day, some are a struggle, but I do love it and I'm so proud".