Welcome Brendan James born 12/4/21

There are a lot of variations of “normal” for birth. For a long time hospital births were the only

acceptable place to birth, but now home births and birth centers are normal for a lot of people.

Even within a hospital the variety of “normal” is wide. You can choose no medications, some

pain meds or all the pain meds for your birth. There are spontaneous labors and inductions.

Strong and light epidurals. Cesareans where you are awake and cesareans when you are not, etc.

All these things are normal parts of birth.

Now some of you may be reading this thinking, Wait no medications? That is not normal for me.

Or being in a hospital is not normal for me.

That is where we need to pay attention. Knowing where, with who and how you want to birth is

vitally important to how you may feel during and after your birth. Listen to that voice inside of

you. What are you comfortable with? With who and where do you feel safe?

These important decisions were carefully made by Natalie. She researched her options. When

she wasn’t able to find a place near her home, she extended her search. She traveled all the

way from Alaska to assemble her team! So when her birth didn’t go according to her plan she

was able to find the next right thing with a team around her she could trust. For instance she did

not want an epidural but when that was the next best thing, she was able to make that decision.

Listen to that voice. You know your normal.

Please join me in welcoming Brendan James Bendza. He made his way into the world on

December 4, 2021. He has an amazing big brother eager to show him the world and fill him with

love. I wish this family all the best as they travel home and being their life as a family of four.

Written by Tara

Labor Doula for Natalie and Matt and baby Brendan