MyMaine Birth, Sophie’s two Maine birth stories, a hospital birth followed by a home birth

Welcome to MyMaine Birth, a space where we share the real life stories of families and their unique birth experiences in the beautiful state of Maine. From our state’s biggest hospitals, to birth center births, and home births, every birth story deserves to be heard and celebrated. From the first feelings of pregnancy to the first cry of your newborn, we explore the journey of childbirth in all of it’s beauty, intensity, and emotion. Whether you are a soon to be mom, a seasoned mother, or simply interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you.

As part of my commitment to capturing these incredible moments, I am proud to offer my birth photography services to families throughout Maine.  As an experienced doula and  photographer I am dedicated to capturing the beauty and emotion of this special moment in your life.  And I create a personalized and intimate photo album that you will treasure forever.  For all of the information head over to https://www.mymainephoto.com and fill out the contact form to schedule a call with me! 

Now, sit back relax, and join me as we dive into the world of childbirth in Maine, and discover the joy, strength, and love that is at the heart of every birth story.  

Today’s birth story guest is Sophie. She shares her two birth experiences with us. Her first birth was in a hospital with care from Back Cove Midwives in Portland, Maine. Then during her second pregnancy she started out seeing nurse midwives at Maine General but throughout the early weeks of her pregnancy she began to learn about home birth - so she switched her care to the Certified Professional Midwives at Soft Corner Midwifery and went on to have an amazing home birth.

Listen here or scroll down for the full transcript

Angela: Hi Sophie! Welcome to MyMaine Birth

Sophie: Hi!

Angela: So to start will you share a little bit about you and your family?

Sophie: Yeah, so I am married, my husband and I have been together for about 8 years, I teach middle school. We have two girls, one is two and the other is about 6 1/2. My husband works at the shipyard in Bath, and we currently live in central Maine with our two dogs and our cat on a nice quiet dirt road.

Angela: That sounds so nice! Now will you share about when you found out you were pregnant and your thoughts in choosing your care?

Sophie: Yeah, so when I found out I was pregnant with my first child - my husband and I were not married, we were not engaged. We had only been together for about 11 months and we were living together. He was working on the road, so he was not home during the week. I had a friend come over to stay, and for some reason I just had a hunch that I either was going to be pregnant soon or that I already was.

The weekend before, my grandfather had passed away, so I just kind of had this weird feeling that there was going to be a baby in the near future. So he passed away on Saturday and I woke up on Tuesday morning at 6am and I was like - I just feel like I need to take a pregnancy test. So my friend hadn’t even woken up yet, and I went downstairs - I had a test, and I don’t think I had even finished peeing, and it had already started to read positive. So I was freaking out. So I called my husband and he was in the work truck with one of his co-workers, and so he found out over the phone - and so I think he was a little stunned as well, because we weren’t married and we hadn’t been together quite for a year. But once it set in, we were both like - ok, this is exciting.

So that was in February of 2016. Then as far as care, I don’t like to research things - that is not my fortay. So I knew that I wanted to use midwives, but I knew that I wanted to deliver in a hospital. I kind of wanted an in-between at that point. So I kind of just searched up midwives in sourthern Maine - we were living in Sebago at the time. And I think BackCove midwives came up as the first ones on my search, I kind of looked at their website and I was like - ok, this is good. And I called them and just went with them.

I was the first one in my friends circle to become pregnant, so I didn’t really have a lot of others friends experiences at that time so I kind of just went in blind and took a chance. I ended up loving BackCove and they were incredible and I would definitely recommend them for people who live in southern Maine for people who want that kind of in-between midwife hospital birth.