My first pregnancy.

I really wanted to have a big family! I have one brother - he’s awesome - but I had friends with lots of brothers and sisters and I just loved all the action and fun! So I began my first pregnancy shortly after my 21st birthday…. little did I know that I had absolutely not idea what I was doing!

My midwife assured me that that she’d be there with me every step of the way… but of course she was called out of town for a family emergency 2 days before my due date! Help!

Unfortunately I hadn’t taken any birthing classes and the replacement midwife and I never had any time to come up with a plan! Soooo…. let’s just say my first birth didn’t exactly go as planned!

My eighth child.

Fast forward to my eighth birth - it was the most awesome birth experience ever! I took all the what-not-to-dos I’d learned from all my other births, and combined that with my awesome labor distraction ideas that had worked best in all my previous births and - voila! Best possible birth ever!

Where I am today

It’s been a long journey since my first was born in 2000, and it’s been an emotional roller coaster raising 8 kids, but well worth every moment of struggle as I love every single one of them! For more about my parenting journey, follow my parenting blog at bethechangeparenting.com.

Pic of myself with 7 of my 8 kids last year when we dressed up as Royalty from India: