Motherbirth

Dez and her same-sex partner chose their own path to getting pregnant — after carefully selecting a sperm donor through a personal connection, they successfully performed at-home insemination with sterile tools purchased on Amazon. The couple has been able to use the same donor for both of their children and maintain a relationship with him that feels just right. Dez had two distinctively different births — during her first birth, it was decided to induce labor at 39 weeks. Her blood pressure plummeted after her first epidural and the staff gave her a second. When her contractions started, the staff prepped her for it to take awhile, but her labor from there was unbelievably fast! Throughout her next pregnancy, she combated gestational diabetes and a complication during birth which led to a NICU stay for her son and the possibility of losing her own life. Dez’s story may be unique but its themes are so common — reminding us that every journey into motherhood takes us to the edge of ourselves and also awake