In August 2020, during COVID, I had planned a home water birth. My first pregnancy, after being in labor for over 24 hours, I ended up being transferred to the hospital. Thankfully, I still had a beautiful birth, but I just had this nagging feeling about not being able to have that home water birth.

Fast forward to March 2023, unfortunately, we suffered a miscarriage. That really rocked our world. It was something I had never experienced, and people don’t talk about as much. I learned after having that miscarriage how prevalent it is. We quietly walked through that loss, and tried to get pregnant again that year to no avail.

We prayed and eventually agreed to just stop trying and live our lives, trusting that when the time was right, it would happen. When we found out I was pregnant again in October, it was joyous, but also bittersweet because we knew my husband, who is in the Navy, was being deployed to Djibouti, Africa, in December. We realized he wouldn’t be there for most of the pregnancy or the birth. Since we had agreed this would probably be our last pregnancy, that was a lot to take in. Nevertheless, we chose to look at it as a blessing.

My husband deployed very early in my pregnancy, and I leaned a lot on my midwife, Layla. She made everything feel possible. She really got to know me and our family, even talking with my husband on FaceTime to answer all his questions and ease his fears.

As the pregnancy progressed, our baby was healthy and active, and when the time came, I decided to give birth in our house as one last memory before we sold it. About two weeks before my due date, I started having early labor signs. The night before my due date, June 28th, the contractions became more consistent. Layla came over to do rebozo exercises with me and told me to rest. That night, I fell asleep with my husband on FaceTime, praying with me and reminding me, “You can do this. You’re equipped.”

The next morning, my contractions got closer together. Layla came to check on me, then left briefly to visit other moms. Before I could even call her again, my doorbell rang. She said, “I just felt like I needed to be here.”

I remember laboring on the toilet, looking out the window at the sunset, crying, and saying to my baby, “Whenever you’re ready, Mommy’s ready.” Shortly after, they started filling the pool. I told Layla, “I think I want to get in the water.” She said, “Okay, let’s go.” I got in around 9 PM, surrounded by love. My brother and close friends had written affirmations and scriptures and hung them up around the room. When I started to feel doubt, they reminded me, “You’ve got this.”

And within minutes, I pulled a beautiful, 6-pound, 8-ounce baby from inside. And I just remember it was 10:09 PM when when he was born. And the room just collectively sighing — this moment where we all released and bawled out crying. After losing a baby, I didn't think I would get an opportunity to do this again. And despite my husband not physically being able to be there, to be able to bear a son, his namesake. I was just in awe. 

He came into the world so peacefully, with his eyes wide open. My brother looked at me and said, “This baby has six fingers!” Sure enough, he had an extra pinky on each hand, just like I did when I was born. It runs in my family. My husband laughed on the phone and said, “Lord, you gave my baby those extra fingers!”

That night was so quiet and peaceful. He latched immediately. I’ll never forget the love in that room or the magic of that night. It was everything I had hoped for and more, and I will treasure it for the rest of my life.  - Janeé ‍

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When my son, James Mitchell II, was born, I was deployed in Djibouti, Africa. I was on the phone through the entire process. I had just gotten off work from an overnight shift when I received the call that Janeé was in labor. I was able to go to my room, and actually sit there, and be on the phone and talk her through the labor process. It was pretty tough on me because I couldn't physically be there. I was excited, but also too I was kind of hurt. Once I got home and actually saw the baby, I was able to process my feelings. But it's pretty tough when you can't be with your family when they know they need you.  - James