Here’s To New Restarts!

Ah hey! I’m back! It’s been YEARS! But God has called me back to a few things in life that I thought were in the past. 

This blog has been deserted for several years, but recently I have been craving a creative outlet with writing again… I stumbled upon my old blog (this one!) and the craving to revive it hit! 

So much life has happened since my last blog post here. I moved over to my doula website and published a few blog posts there… but then had since laid down my doula work. I attended births from 2016-2017 and then one lone birth in 2019 as a traveling doula to Tennessee. 

So let’s rewind here. 

If you’re new here… I started this blog on December 9, 2013! Wow, it seems forever ago! It was a blog of just random musings of my life as a wife and momma of two. I shared daily life, breastfeeding advice, birth stories, my journey with ‘no poo,’ pregnancy updates with my third baby, … and then tragically I began sharing my life as a widow and solo mom of 3. 

On October 15, 2015 I lost my husband. He had been in the Wyoming Mountains when altitude sickness caused his weak heart to fail. My entire being came shattering down into a million little pieces. Month after month I shared my thoughts through my words in blog posts. 

In 2016, I pursued a dream to become a doula! I became certified and began attending births so I laid down this blog to begin anew with a blog attached to my doula website. Over time I will incorporate those posts here as they still hold very relevant in the birth world and my own personal journey. 

So, now that the recap is gone through, here’s life updates. 

February 2016: met a guy named Norman and began a friendship with him. 

June 2016: decided we’d “give it a try” and start dating. 

2016-2017: raising 3 kids, dating a great guy, attending births as a birth doula. 

August 2017: attended my sister’s birth as her doula for my first nephew! 

October 2017: took my nephew in as our foster son. Now raising 4 kids, navigating life as a widow and dating Norman. 

April 2018: due to navigating “the system” with having a foster child, I laid down my doula work and quit attending births. Truthfully, I felt God was calling me to lay it down forever... So I closed up shop. Only supporting women who reached out to me with questions or seeking wisdom. I felt my own "baby days" were behind me and that my purpose to become a doula was simply for that one birth of my nephew to be an advocate for him. 

March 2019: got ENGAGED!! Also became a health coach to help other with their health goals! By September 2020, I was down 110 pounds and the most energetic and healthiest I've ever been!

August 2019: finalized adoption of our little boy!

September 2020: got MARRIED!! 

December 2020: moved to our “next step” dream home! 

May 2021: conceived our fifth kiddo while on a business retreat in Mexico!

January 2022: birthed our sweet Badrick Stone at home, in the water! 

Today: now we’re here. You’re caught up! 

As I lay here nursing this sweet little babe who’s about to turn five months old, it’s bittersweet to reflect on the path that life has taken. 

During my pregnancy with Badrick (who was another Team Green baby), my passion for birth work was reignited in a way I wasn't prepared for. I stumbled upon an incredible group of faith-filled women that a Michigan local mama had started which led me to Brooke Collier's Embrace Birth Journey and Sister Birth. I signed up for her Trust God, Trust Birth workshop and was HOOKED! I was given an opportunity to join Embrace Birth and I dove in head first. Learning all that I could to take extreme ownership of my pregnancy and birth. We had the most divine home birth experience with Badrick! A completely undisturbed, physiological, hands-off birth. 

I thought that was it! But then Brooke felt called to begin a Birth Keeper group and I felt called to join! I joined the ranks of women from all over the world. Birth photographers, doulas, traditional midwives. Some of them are actively attending births and some of us are in the throws of waiting on the Lord to call us to service. I am among those waiting in the hallway for a door to open. But, I was given a cup full when I was asked to be a back-up doula and attended a home visit. I could not believe how at-home I felt! 

I'm at that point where reviving this blog and recreating a website doesn't quite make sense... But I am doing as God is calling me to do. Perhaps that ah-ha moment will come at a later date and I'll be elated that I obeyed. 

With having five young kids at home, childcare is very limited to attend births at a moments notice. If God calls me to attend, I know he'll make a way for it to all happen. But, as I sit in the presence of these wise women in our Birth Keeper Circle I am reminded that midwifery is so much more than just attending women in their birthing times. Midwifery is women supporting women. Midwifery is being a wise woman within your community that others seek advice and wisdom from. Midwifery is what I've already been doing, even in my years of not attending births. 

For now I will patiently wait within the hallway for the doors God will open up. I'm working on a website but it will likely be quite some time before it is published. Piece by piece the puzzle will begin to take shape and it will begin to make more sense. 

Over the coming weeks and months I plan to "merge" this blog with posts from my original Follow Your Arrow Doula Services blog. I'm one that likes to have everything in one place. Eventually my new website will have a link to this blog, a link to learn more about how I can help men and women of all ages with their health goals and any birth services I am able to offer currently. 

I leave you for now, with a picture of my incredible family that could only be handcrafted by God Himself!

--Brandy