My name is Annikah; I am 35 years old, and this is the story of my pregnancy with Ireland Grace and Royal Art.

It was November 14, 12:45 p.m. I was on my way into the bathroom with my husband Jay and a pregnancy test in tow. I sat on the toilet while Jay sat on the tub in front of me. He had his hand on my thigh as I took the test. I read it. It said positive. I was enthralled. Jay and I held each other for a long while, overcoming the mix of emotions we were experiencing.

As soon as we grasped the idea we called and invited my parents, my sister, my brother, Jay's sister and their spouses all over for dinner that night. After we had a healthy dinner, and I had no wine, I brought out a brown paper bag with a new pregnancy test in it. I walked toward the bathroom and everyone followed. I opened the door, left it open so every one could share the experience with us. My Jay once again came into the bathroom with me as everyone stood in the doorway. I took it, and again it said positive. Everyone laughed, my parents cried and so did Jay and I once again.

Week by week, my stomach got bigger and bigger. At 1 month, my sister, Hanna, and her husband Mark had an announcement to make: They were also expecting. They had been for 1 month, which meant they were probably going to be expecting the same time as us. The four of us started planning an all-natural homebirth to take place at my and Jay's isolated cabin on the lake.

By 5 months my stomach wasn't the same size as my sister's; it was bigger, much bigger. I decided, for the first time, I would go have one ultrasound, just too see if everything was OK. I went and got some very surprising news. I was not having one baby; I was having twins.

Jay and I were so happy but also very nervous at the same time. We had second thoughts on having the homebirth with no professional present; we eventually decided we were going to follow through with our original plans to give birth at the cabin.

At 8 months, my belly was huge for my 5-foot, 1-inch figure. Before I became pregnant I weighed no more than 119 pounds. The strain of carrying two babies made my back hurt and my feet swell incredibly. It was the month of June and Jay and I spent most of our time together. We spent almost all of our time at the lake house when Jay wasn't working. We spent all of the 8th month gathering supplies for our labor and birth. We bought cribs and basinets and clothing and pajamas. We were ready for our babies to arrive.

On July 17 at 12:18 a.m. I felt a strong menstruation-like cramp. I decided I would fall back to sleep. I did. Nothing woke me until 8:48 a.m. when I felt another "cramp." This time I decided it was late enough for me to get up.

I woke Jay as I got out of bed; he followed me out into the sun room as I sat down on the window seat. We sat there, cuddling with each other for about an hour.

At 10 a.m. my mucous plug came out and I had my water gush down my legs. Then the pressure started to come. My bottom hurt a lot. I started having more than cramps; they were contractions, coming about 19 minutes apart.

Jay and I decided to call our families and let them know what was going on. We did, and they all said they would be there around 12 p.m. Jay and I enjoyed our alone time for the two hours we were alone. We walked down to the lake, took a shower together and finished setting things up for the birth.

By 12:30 p.m., everyone had arrived and my contractions were much stronger. I decided to take another shower with Jay. We got in, and stayed in for an hour. While we were in the shower, I had contractions and Jay would hold me up by my armpits when I squatted.

After the shower it was about 1:15 p.m. and my contractions were about 12 minutes apart. I decided I would lie on the bed and check myself to see how far I was dilated. I was only 5 centimeters. As I had contractions I decided to try a new position; I got on the bed and had my brother, Zackary, sit behind me and had Jay sit in front of me and massage my pubic area. As he rubbed me from right under my huge belly to near my legs I felt my muscles relax. I eventually fell asleep on Zackary.

I had a rude awakening to a huge, strong contraction that I moaned through. I moaned and moaned and moaned "ohhh." That contraction stopped and I looked at the clock. It said 2:57 p.m.

I decided I would give Zackary and Jay a break and go walk around the house. I had Jay's and my sister walk with me for support. We decided to go outside. Thankfully there were many places for me to stop and lean against because of contractions. The July sun was beating down on me and I was becoming extremely warm so I shed all of my clothing. I felt most comfortable that way.

After two hours I could no longer walk. I decided to go back into the cabin and check my dilation. I was 8 centimeters. I decided I wanted to go down near the lake and give birth down there. We walked for 30 minutes. Jay and I had to stop every five minutes because of contractions. I was moaning very loudly now.

We finally made it down to the lake. I leaned on Jay as everyone else set up the towels and blankets and pillows galore. In between a contraction I saw a tree with a sturdy branch that I wanted to somewhat hang on. I went over to it and grasped it with my hands, pulled up and squatted during contractions. It relieved so much back pain.

I lay down again for one last time to check myself. I was 10 centimeters dilated and ready to push. I once again got into a position using the tree to squat. I pushed whenever I felt the urge. And believe me, I felt the urge nonstop. I pushed and pushed and pushed. I pushed for two hours with what seemed like no progress. I was becoming severely uncomfortable with that position.

Jay suggested I try sitting on a rock that was half way into the lake. That sounded like a great idea to me. As Jay and I slowly walked down into the water everyone else moved the supplies down closer to the water. My brother, my sister's husband and Jay helped me onto the rock so I was comfortable. After I was situated my brother and sister's husband helped my sister onto the rock so she could help me.

I pushed for an hour. Finally, after what felt like forever, Ireland Grace's head started to crown. I pushed again; her head was out. Again; her shoulders were out. Again; she was out at the waist. One more; Ireland Grace was born at 7:45 p.m. on July 18. Jay and I were amazed at how beautiful she was. We cried and cried.

Then it was time for our other miracle to be born. I regained my strength, took a deep breath and I pushed and pushed and pushed. I took another deep breath and gave a long hard push; Royal's head wasn't out, his feet were. He was breech. I pushed hard, as hard as I could. His bottom was out. Again, but harder; everything but his head was out. One last push: I yelled and grunted and moaned and hummed. Royal Art was born at 8:05 p.m. on July 18. He was gorgeous.

Jay cut the cord, and Hanna and my husband took the babies, and Mark and my brother helped me get down off the rock. I squatted in the water. With my brother and Mark holding me up I pushed the placentas into the special bowl we were keeping for them. The birth was complete.