I gotta share a bit about my midwife, y’all. When we moved from Tarrant county to Collin county and were planning a home birth, we were less than excited by the idea of having to choose a new midwife. Cheryl West Gaspard helped make Evie’s birth one of the most, if not THE most, incredible experiences of my life. But because of where we both live and the amount of traffic between our houses at any given time of day, we both knew it would be necessary for us to choose someone closer. I sent Cheryl a list of a few local midwives I had narrowed down and her response was “Cori Lively, hands down.” Best advice ever.

After 10 days of prodromal labor that, like clockwork, started around dinner time and stopped around bedtime, I was less than hopeful when I woke up at 1am Monday morning to stronger contractions that persisted every seven minutes until 4:30am… and then stopped. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I texted Cori a little after 8am to let her know what had been going on, and that the contractions returned around 6:30am, but weren’t consistent at all.

Here’s the crazy part: I didn’t text her again until 3:30pm. We hadn’t spoken for 7 hours, but she had decided it would probably be a good idea to hang out in a town down the road just in case I was ready for her during rush hour when it would take twice as long as usual for her to get to me. And she was right.

At 3:30, I got in the tub because contractions were becoming more intense. At 4:20, I told her I was having the urge to push but was certain it was too soon, and that I wanted her to come. At 4:35, my water broke. At 4:48, she walked in the door. And at 5:17, after three pushes, Adelaide was born.

If I had gone with a less experienced midwife, or someone who had chosen not to sacrifice their time to hang out in a town down the road just in case, we wouldn’t have had a midwife at the birth! I am endlessly grateful to Cori, and Cheryl for recommending her.

Best. midwives. ever.