Welcome to The Birth Ally

Hi!  I'm Rachel.  I am a Seattle Transplant, coming all the way from San Diego, California.

I have been here since 2007.  I followed my first husband here and have stayed.  I do dream of one day moving to some place tropical, but for the moment, I am pretty darn happy here.

I have 6 kids, two of which are bonus babes!  My oldest is 11, and my youngest is 9 months.  We are a full house. I have had 2 home births, one accidental and one planned, and two hospital, one planned and one a transferred home birth. 

 I am married to my absolute best friend, Travis.  We tied the knot in May of 2017.  This man is the bees knees.  He helps me accomplish all my insane dreams.  Like, owning a farm.  To be fair, one day I just showed up with 25 chicks.  And he jumped right in.   I figured adding ducks would not be a big deal.  He decided we would need a bigger home and acreage with all my shenanigans.  Of course, naturally after spending the day selling our ducks at a fair, I came home with 3 goats.  And my latest adventure has been pigs.  We also have 3 kittens and 2 cats, a handful of fish and partridge in a pear tree.  Whew. 

My days are spent on homeschool, cooking, cooking, cooking, and cleaning.  I love to garden.  Each year it seems to get bigger.  I crochet, and my husband calls me idle hands.  I apparently like to keep busy.  But at night when the kids go to bed, its moms turn to relax, and I tend to watch The Office (453rd time), Period Dramas (guilty pleasure), and I'm a Potter nerd.

I have an extraordinary passion and pull for pregnancy and birth. Something that stirred in me long ago.  I believe around eleven.  I even completed my senior project on pregnancy and birth.  After having my first and having a poor experience, being left to pick up the pieces of how my labor and delivery went, I began researching my options.  I was not educated enough to acquire a doula.  Boy do I wish I had.  My 2nd was a planned birth center birth that did not happen.  I just did not make it.  I was 80 mins from first contraction to baby.  So, he was born in my driveway in an ambulance!  With my third, I got to experience the most beautiful home water birth.   And, I had a doula.  Everything went as planned, and he arrived 3 hours from first contraction.   And then my fourth.  He was a planned homebirth, but I went overdue and his heart rate was not looking good.  Induction it was.  Which of course, being me, my body refused to cooperate.  So, they took me off Pitocin and within minutes, I went into labor!  Go figure.  He was born in 90 minutes.  There is a lot more to that story.  But the point is, I know what not going to plan is like. 

 I also have a spot deep within my soul for those that have lost.  My journey has not been an easy one.  I should be holding 9 more sweet babes today.  Many have asked why I have continued to try.  But, when you hold that sweet soul you just brought earth side, a love unlike anything you have ever felt showers over you like a blanket from heaven.  It feels like the warm spring sun on your back.  Your tears are no longer from sadness, because this little life your holding is the sunshine after the rain.  He is here to show you that you are worthy and that your past losses have guided you to this point in your life.  It will never erase the pain from the ones you should still be holding, but they are the promise of a better tomorrow. 

My hope is to provide comfort, support and strength to those in need.  I also am a firm believer in the fact that pregnancy and birth support should not bankrupt you.  Everyone deserves support.