Before my husband and I were even married, we both decided on a home birth. I hate hospitals, and when I am in pain, I want to be in some place I know.

Sophee was due March 28, but I just knew she would come early since others were saying she would probably be late and I love to prove people wrong! Well, as of April 5 Sophee still had not come yet, and I had an appointment for a sonogram Monday. Kyle and I woke up around 8, ran errands and went to church that evening. That's when I started feeling weird and I thought I was just tired. Then the contractions hit and were two minutes apart.

We called the midwife as we were headed home. She told me to get some sleep and rest because it probably wouldn't happen till tomorrow.

We got home and 10 minutes later, my water broke. We called her again and she headed our way. The hardest thing for me was that it was 11 at night and my contractions were a minute apart the entire time!

Around 4 I got in the birth pool and continued laboring in there. Finally, at 5 a.m. I was 10 centimeters dilated and started pushing. The bad thing was I didn't really feel anything anymore so I just pushed kind of randomly. I pushed for about 20 minutes and the baby crowned. Then it took another 20 minutes for me to get past the burning and get her out (Sophee has a bigger head, thanks to my family genes). Finally at 5:35 a.m., on April 6, 2008, Sophee Marie entered the world.

There was a scare because she stayed gray a little longer than usual and was limp. She also didn't cry. I was so out of it though it didn't faze me, and my midwife said I was the only calm one in the room. It was serious, but I know God was giving me peace and telling me she was just as tired as I was and just wanted to sleep. I saw her breathing and could read her eyes, and they were saying "Can we finally sleep now?"

I now live in Houston, am pregnant again, have a new midwife and am excited about having Olivia Elyse at home. I am even thinking about becoming a doula to help women understand that we can do this. Our bodies were made to birth and yeah, it hurts, but the rush you have in the end is amazing!