Andrea Oleson

The amazing Andrea Oleson, Cora (4), and Juniper (2)

Andrea chose to participate in the movement as a means of celebrating herself and her journey. She has recently lost 80 lbs and feels stronger and healthier than she ever has been before. After four years of breastfeeding she is also planning on weaning Juniper next week as she and her husband take a solo trip and is very much looking forward to commemorating this moment in time with her daughters.

Pregnancy has gone well for Andrea and she chose to deliver Cora in hospital but things didn't go as she'd hoped. She says the entire experience felt very anxious and as the cascade of medical interventions happened to her she couldn't help but think that there was another way. While the moment she got to meet Cora was amazing, the hours that proceeded were difficult to process. 

When Cora was 6 weeks old, Andrea became a birth photographer and after attending home births in her community realized that was what she wanted for herself. She began dreaming of a beautiful birth at home and that's exactly what she went on to have with Juniper. Labor began at 3am and continued slowly through the day and into the next. Andrea slow danced under twinkle lights with her partner and after 48 hours, Juniper arrived in caul. The experience was incredibly transformative for Andrea and she's so grateful to have had it as she moves on to this next phase of life. 

Kelley Payne

The lovely Kelley Payne, Rowan (4.5) and Shepherd (1.5) 

Kelley had wonderful pregnancies with each of her boys and carried to just shy of 42 weeks each time. She says that she did a lot of work during her pregnancy on her own and with her midwives envisioning the births that she wanted to have and spent time setting intentions. She gave birth to Rowan in the water and was very surprised to see he was a boy as her ultrasound tech had told her she was having a girl. And though she thought she had a high leak with Shepherd he was born with a perfectly intact caul. 

Kelley is champion of "full-term, biological breastfeeding" and very much enjoys her nursing relationship with her boys. Rowan self-weaned during her pregnancy with Shepherd when her milk dried up but began nursing again once Shepherd was born. She feels it's important to nurse in public whenever her boys ask and hopes that we as a society can do more to normalize and respect a woman's ability to choose to nurse her children for as long as they both find mutually beneficial. 

Jessie Faryar

The fabulous Jessie Faryar with her son Clark (4) and daughter Mollie (1). Jessie is married to a lovely woman, Roxanne, so she conceived each of her children non-traditionally. She tried 6 rounds of Clomid before switching to Femara and she conceived on the first round with her 4th IUI attempt. She had a healthy pregnancy and knew right away that Clark was a boy. Her water broke on his due date but labor didn't start. She went into the hospital and 24 hours or so later they wanted to put an internal monitor on his head. Jessie allowed it because she didn't realize and wasn't told that it actually goes into the scalp and never would have allowed it had she known. 12 hours later he was born after about 36 hours of labor and Jessie says it was the best moment of her life. She felt like the world stopped and the two of them were the only ones in it. When he was about 8 months old they learned that he was delayed and while lots of people wanted to treat it with therapy they never wanted to help them find out why. They ran some tests and eventually decided to test for Muscular Dystrophy which was negative and most recently have been trying to verify whether or not he has cerebral palsy. He's been attending a developmental preschool and doing so well.

Jessie was able to conceive Mollie at home without the help of fertility drugs. Roxanne inseminated her and she got pregnant right away. She had a bit of more difficult pregnancy this time and was induced at 41 weeks 2 days. She used midwives this time and had an entirely different experience. Mollie was born in the caul and Roxanne was able to catch her after just 5 hours of labor. Jessie says that immediately after she was born she's had postpartum depression and this year has been incredibly hard. The moment she was placed on her chest she didn't know who she was or who her daughter was and is still haunted by that moment. She's been taking meds and trying to suck it up and do what she has to but feels like she's been a bad mom to Clark this passed year. She pushed him to wean near the end of her pregnancy with Mollie and then tandem nursed for 2 months but felt touched out and needed to stop. She doesn't know if it's the end of his weaning or transitioning from one to two but she's been in a dark place that she feels she's just starting to come out of. Mollie is still nursing wonderfully and Jessie is starting to feel a little better mentally.

Jessie wants to help show other moms that we're all the same in so many ways, she's a beautiful woman and mother and it was an absolute honor to take her picture.

Lisa Trimmer

Lisa came back to our studio today with Evelyn to show off baby Virginia (2 weeks old!) Lisa ended up going 11 days post dates and went into labor naturally. Labor stalled out but started back up again after some chiropractic adjusting and acupuncture. She labored at home for some time before her midwife and doula convinced her it was time to head on into the hospital for her VBAC attempt. She was already 5cm so she was admitted and hooked up to the monitors. She had maybe 10 more contractions before she felt the urge to push, she pushed on her back then flipped onto her hands and knees and Virginia was born about 15 minutes later. Virginia was born in the caul and Lisa's husband was able to take her out. She is very happy she got her VBAC and had such great support. She is successfully tandem nursing Evelyn and Virginia as well.

Ashly Tye-Robins

The amazing Ashly Tye-Robins with her youngest Emmett (2 weeks). Ashly is also mama to Caleb (12), Andie (9) and Angus (4). Ashly was able to see midwives for all of her pregnancies. Caleb was born at home without complication. Her second pregnancy ended with an unattended homebirth. She asked her midwife to leave during labor and things progressed much more quickly than she imagined. Her daughter came out without any pushing still in her caul. The person meant to catch her ended up letting her fall. Her cord wrapped around and as her sac broke she inhaled it. Ashly's mom was able to save her just as the paramedics arrived. Because of the trauma involved with Andie's birth Ashly chose to have Angus and Emmett in the hospital. Angus was born a bit prematurely at 36 weeks but didn't require a hospital stay and Ashly found Emmett's birth to be very healing. She's been able to successfully breastfeed all 4 of her babies. Ashly also parents as a person affected by OCD.  She doesn't suffer from compulsive behaviors but has obsessive thoughts that are difficult to control, many of which involve her children. She has been able to manage her disorder with behavior therapy and interrupting her thoughts with action.