Levi’s Birth Film

Heather Dessinger

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This is Levi’s birth story as captured by the lovely Amelia Hambrook, who also happens to be the mama behind our little potami’s newborn photos.

Levi's Birth Film

Note: Stick around till the 8 minute mark for a little peek into our first few days as a family of five. ♥

Epilogue

For those of you who read Levi’s birth story, you may be wondering a few things:

1. Were these images captured during the difficult “early labor” I described? Yes and no. Some of the footage was shot during a short break when my labor lightened up, while some of it was shot through some of the most difficult parts. Which parts are which? It’s hard to tell. My husband says I should learn to play poker with a face like mine. The contractions during much of my early early labor were incredibly uncomfortable – too uncomfortable to talk through – but  I process pain internally so it’s not super obvious. Seriously, I was in transition with people sitting right next to me and no one realized it!

In other words, scene of me eating in the kitchen = Light labor

Scene of Katiepotamus and Daddypotamus comforting me during my four hour nap-a-thon = NOT light labor.

2. Was Levi taken away from me to be measured, weighed, etc. right after he was born? Definitely not! My birth team gave us plenty of time to snuggle skin-to-skin, but I asked Amelia to edit most of that part out to keep this video PG. They don’t call it skin-to-skin for nothing, you know!

3. Why is my face so splotchy in the video? Okay, you were probably not wondering that, but the answer is that I put on makeup at 4am without thinking about how it would look once I got in the birth tub.

4. Why is there a large section of the labor/birth missing? Because it didn’t look like I was progressing very quickly, it was suggested that Amelia head home, check in with her family, and rest up for what could be a long night. But as you know if you read his birth story, things didn’t go quite as expected.

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About HEATHER

Heather is a holistic health educator, herbalist, DIYer, Lyme and mold warrior. Since founding Mommypotamus.com in 2009, Heather has been taking complicated health research and making it easy to understand. She shares tested natural recipes and herbal remedies with millions of naturally minded mamas around the world. 

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347 thoughts on “Levi’s Birth Film”

  1. That is the most precious video ever. Your daughter wanting to jump in the pool as soon as he was born was so sweet. Big sisters are the best! Makes me super excited to greet #4 in June!

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  2. This makes me so excited for my birth in May! I love birth (well, except for maybe 30 minutes of it). Congrats, again Potomi and good work to you Momma.

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  3. So is Levi a 2013 baby or a 2014 baby? 🙂 Beautiful video and very well done. Congrats to all!!! Beautiful family!!!

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  4. Oh my goodness, Heather, that was SO beautiful! It literally brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for sharing it with us! I’ve seen birth photography before, but never a birth video (well not one done so artistically, at least). I loved it. What a beautiful depiction of what labor really is/can be like and how our bodies are so fearfully and wonderfully made! How great is our God!?! Congrats on your littlest love and your beautiful family. You are blessed! PS I love that Micah had a huge scrape on his forehead…SO little boy! 😉

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  5. So made me cry. Absolutely beautiful. God bless you and your family. So many beautiful moments saved on film.. you are truly blessed.

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  6. Beautiful video and pictures! Thank you for sharing. Watching your video was very inspiring and comforting to my husband and I who are trying to conceive our first. Wishing you and your family all the best!!!!

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  7. Very, very sweet! Thank you so much for sharing!! Definitely wouldn’t have (and didn’t even when I knew!) notice the blotchy face! It was so beautiful!

    So the photos and video were by the same person? Are the stills taken out of the video or was it 2 cameras? I love them all 🙂

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  8. Just beautiful. Makes me so very jealous. That was the birth I wanted for my son. Instead we had a nightmare of an experience that has since caused me to really cringe at the sight of any doctor or hospital.

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  9. Thank you and your family so much for sharing this special moment with all of us! With all of the horror stories that make their ways around, it is such a joy to see positive birth experiences shared in such a beautiful way.
    Congratulations Potamus family!

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  10. oh, this brings back memories of our home births! So thankful we were able to birth at home, This is the real thing, beautifully and artistically done. Thank you for sharing!

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  11. Thank you so much for sharing this video with us. Definitely the best video I have seen in a long time. I cried the whole way thru it.. Tears of joy for you getting to do this in your own environment in your own time with those dearest to you right there with you! Congratulations on a beautiful baby boy as well as a beautiful family!!!

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  12. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful & intimate portrait of a very special time for you & your family. I’m 30 wks pregnant & watched it with my 3 yr old who will be at the birth center with us come time. This just confirms our decision to have here there. She started squealing in delight at the same time your girl did. She was so excited for you! 🙂

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  13. Thank you for sharing such an intimate family experience with the world! You are an inspiration for so many mommies and daddies. I laughed. I cried. And now…I want more babies 😉

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  14. absolutely amazing and beautiful!
    no comparison to a hospital birth! (and i have worked with both)
    thank you for sharing!!!!!!!

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  15. A truly eloquent presentation of such a beautiful moment. I don’t have any children but it moved me to tears. Congratulations! Thank you for sharing and God bless you and your family!

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  16. Beautiful pictures, video, baby, children, family. I had 4 all natural. My baby is 20 years. Your testimony of a healthy lifestyle is the alert and awake infant at birth. God Bless you all! Thank you for sharing.

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  17. I just broke down in tears watching this and I watched your previous one. Thanks for inspiring me to cook and make things at home and thanks for reminding me what a gift my children are. I have 4 kids I have given birth to all naturally. Thank you for sharing!

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  18. So beautiful. I love how each any every birth story I hear takes me back to those first sweet moments with my little girl. Thank you for sharing!

    (And Karla Adolphe is one of our favorites!)

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    • Karla Adolphe is now one of my favourites too! (Had to search her out after hearing her on this video!) Her music was such a beautiful background to this beautiful story! Still teary…

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  19. OMG! That was so beautiful, I cried while I was at work. Nothing so sweet as when your little girl got so excited she had to get in the pool with you! So beautiful.

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  20. That was beautiful…your labor seemed similar to mine, I walked around, used my bouncing ball and tried to stay busy to keep my mind off the pain. It was extremely painful, but I dont know if anyone could tell that from the way I handle it. I’m a quiet laborer to say the least. I loved the video and the pictures, they looked great and you are beautiful!

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  21. Wow, that was so emotionally amazing…I kept crying! You have a beautiful family Mommypotamus, and thank you so much for sharing this with us all. You let us see some of your most intimate and loving moments, and now I really want to conceive this year and have an at home water birth as well.

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  22. So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. Especially when your little girl was rubbing your back. Thanks so much for sharing

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  23. What a beautiful video! Seeing Katie comfort you during labor and later helping out with Baby Levi made me tear up majorly. What a sweet girl she is!

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  24. Beautiful, thanks for sharing! I don’t think I could do a home birth with everyone around, I’d be too worried what my other child would be getting into, etc.

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  25. This is so incredibly sweet. Little Katie’s excitement brought tears to my eyes – she reminds me of my Anastasia. Big sisters are such a gift. =) Thank you for sharing this with us!

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  26. Absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing. I have 4 children and all born in a hospital, knowing what I know now I would choose a home/water birth in a heart beat!

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  27. Thank you for sharing such a personal and incredibly beautiful moment in your family. I could not get through it without tearing up <3

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  28. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your daughters reaction after Levi was born made me burst into tears it was so beautiful. Makes me so excited for us to become a family of 4 in March!

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  29. Thank you for posting the YouTube version. Wow I’m speechless. How amazing! This is so special that you have this to watch years and years in the future. I love how your daughter just jumped right in the pool to get close to her baby brother, how very sweet.

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  30. What a wonderful family….I watched this with my daughter and couldn’t stop the happy tears! Does anyone know who sings that song in the birthing video?

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  31. Thank you so much for sharing! This was beautiful!!!!!! I just cried and cried. What a beautiful family God has Blessed you with❤️

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  32. I had a homebirth with my youngest. One of the best things about the experience for me is that my other child will never be afraid of the birthing experience, and these children won’t either. It’s a beautiful gift.

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  33. Thank you♡ Thank you♡ This is the most stunningly beautiful and precious ♡LOVE-ing story I have seen in a looooooong time. Oh the synchronicity and serendipity…..
    I have just 5 minutes ago written a post about welcoming ourselves and others as “an adored baby”…..how it is our job to welcome ourselves daily with that ♡LOVE-ing regard as well as those around us….and this shows up next on my page!!! :D…..
    Besides the miracle of the birth I am touched and grateful for the story of all your family welcoming your little potami…..how you have prepared for and do that is as important as the birth…..what a wonderful familypotamus you are…..♡

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  34. Thank you to a new generation of young mothers like yourself who are courageously living life bodly, honestly and sometimes making yourselves vulnerable so we can all get glimpses of what is meant by life lived with dignity, honor and cherished by God. My heart was once again enlarged.

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  35. Thank you for sharing such intimate moments. Your daughter seems as protective as any mother! This video made me sigh with happiness. I wish you every joy with your family in 2014.

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  36. Thank you for sharing this! It is simply beautiful! We watched together as a family as we are preparing for our fourth child, but first home birth.

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  37. Congrats Heather, Levi is gorgeous. I haven’t been in blog land for a number of years now and didn’t even know you were pregnant but wanted to congratulate you on your beautiful family. It’s nice to see everyone so happy and healthy. Your old blog friend, Melodie 🙂

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    • Hi Melodie, so good to “see” you around here again! I still pop by your page every once in awhile just to connect, but everyone’s always got such great answers to the questions you post I’m useless 🙂

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  38. Thanks so much for sharing. I’m curious about the red welt-looking marks on Levi a few days after his birth and the redness on his arms and stomach. Was it a skin reaction or just his body adjusting to his surroundings?

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  39. Thank you so much for sharing. It is so very beautiful. This is the way I wish every child could be brought into the world.

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  40. Beautiful! I would love to do the water birth, Did it seem like it made a big difference? My 2 labors were pretty easy hospital births, one with pitocin due to water breaking and no contractions with one shot of nubane and for the second birth natural with all typical hospital stuff following. When midwives do home births does the baby have any of the blood or other typical hospital tests/procedures done? Who sings the songs in the video they are so pretty?

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    • YES, the water made a huge difference for me! Yes, babies still have genetic testing if state law requires it. Other tests are done as well if the client wants them. I’m not sure about the song, though. So sorry!

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  41. Thank you for sharing your family’s most precious moments with us! I love the photos so much, esp. the 3 children snuggling together…It was so wonderful to watch your young family, I don’t know where the time has gone with my own little ones. Time should linger just a bit when they are little…!

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  42. Your family is incredibly gorgeous. Your children are beautiful. Levi looks so healthy and alert. This video warms and melts my heart on a cold day. I’ll never be able to have a birth like this but I’m sure your video and story will inspire lots of people. Happy New Year to you all!

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  43. I am not sure how any mom could get through this video with out shedding a tear! Birth is the most amazing miracle and it was so nice to watch your families love throughout! Thank you for sharing and congratulations!! Your children are beautiful!

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    • Agreeed!! Ill just be a voice among hundreds to say: dear mama, this was such a beautiful birth!
      Congrats to the photographer-videographer! Real artwork!
      Thank u for sharing

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  44. This is absolutely precious. I’m 9 weeks pregnant, due in August, and this video makes me so excited for labor! I know it will be hard (this is my first, so of course I don’t know how hard…) but I will have a precious child to hold and feed and love after it’s over. Seeing your sweet boy stretching and sucking on his hand gave me chills. Children are such gifts!
    Thank you so much for sharing!

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  45. Thank you for sharing your birth with us! I wish more soon to be mamas (esp first time mamas) saw more positive natural childbirth (and home birth) experiences! I hope it is ok for me to share this on my page – I have four patients who are moments to days away from delivering their first child!

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  46. That was so beautiful!!! I cried tears of joy and happiness!!! Thank you for sharing such an amazing and precious time with us!

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  47. WOW! So beautiful and inspiring! Congrats! It’s videos like these that I enjoy watching with my 3.5 yr. DD to prepare her for her new sibling who will be joining us Earthside in June via home water birth. Thank you for sharing with us such a personal and emotional journey!

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  48. Awesome vid!! I showed Harper and Ellie and they go: “Dad, we want a baby like that!!” and they both go: “Can we go see them!?!” Sooooo, I think a trip to Tennessee is in our future! Miss you guys and are so proud and happy for you as you add to your amazing family and continue down the path the Father is leading you. Love you.

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  49. If anyone would wonder or even notice that you had a blotchy face they should have their head examined! This is what childbirth should be like! Doctors have turned pregnancy into a disease because of malpractice insurance laws. And I bet your daughter will have some interesting stories to share when she goes to show & tell!

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  50. So beautiful! Thank you for sharing. I am pregnant with my fourth and was emotionally prepared to be done with childbirth when I found out I was pregnant. It has taken me some time to again embrace how beautiful natural birth is and this video really sealed how ready I am for it again. Thank you for sharing such a private moment with us to inspire!

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  51. One of the most beautiful videos I’ve seen! I’ve been blessed to witness the births of several of my grandchildren, of which 2 were home births, and this video of your birth made me tear up and smile. I could feel the love, peace and joy surrounding you and your family. Congratulations!

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  52. Beautiful and inspirational! I got only a few pictures at my son’s birth, but video – what a precious way to remember those very first moments!
    So so very beautiful!
    If my phone had enough coverage to play the video all the way through without stopping to load every 10 seconds I’d have been crying!

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  53. So beautiful! Your daughter will certainly grow up knowing that birth is a beautiful and natural event! I love that she wanted in 🙂 I love birth! I have not had homebirths but have had all natural births in a hospital. Been blessed to have great drs and nurses who have supported me in that! Thank you for sharing your life with us!

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  54. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing your life with us. You have quite a little helper there too. Maybe someday she’ll grow up to be a midwife.

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  55. Wow!! That’s a great video! So beautiful! I definitely felt my uterus flexing while you were in contraction mode! Lol powerful. Thank u for sharing. Makes me wanna wake my babies up and smooch them more than I already do, which is alot! Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo!!

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  56. Wow this is an incredibly beautiful video. Thank you so much for sharing. Your daughters reaction when the baby was born was so precious I couldn’t hold the tears back.

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  57. So precious! Loved the video. This is one I will definitely share with my girls. Thank you for sharing. Blessings to you and your family.

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  58. Heather,
    Did you listen to music in the background while laboring? What did you choose to have playing? We are planning to have our first baby in our living room in less than 3 wks and I’m trying to think about what I want to be listening to. The one song I do plan on is “Oceans” by Hillsong United!!!
    Thanks, Erin

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  59. ty for sharing your precious birth of your son Levi

    I Am a birth keeper here living in New Hartford NY

    The sheer beauty of welcoming a new soul w such careful loving attention brings up emotions of pecae joy gratitiude yearning longing

    loving blessing from my heart to yours

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  60. Aww, they change so soon! Mine was born the 11th of Nov.– they lose that “new-born” look so quickly. Makes me a little sad for you that your labors are so long and difficult (mine are fast and furious, no time to set up a pool!) Good job for hanging in there and seeing it through, mama! You have a BEAUTIFUL baby!! Thanks for sharing with us.

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  61. Beautiful. Made me cry. Brought me back to my own sons birth. Totally emotional. God Bless you and your beautiful family. Thank you for sharing your joy!

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  62. I never was able to have children, but thought this was so beautiful that I shared it with a young friend who is expecting very soon. She was very moved by it. Thank you for sharing.

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  63. Congratulations! What a beautiful blessing from God. Thank you for sharing his birth with us. Praying for you all for a New Year with continued health, love, joy and peace in Him. Blessings, Kelly

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  64. Absolutely beautiful…made me cry tears of joy for you and your family. You are teaching your children to not be afraid of the so very natural aspects of being a human being. Congratulations on doing such a wonderful thing so very well…we need more people like you in this world.

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  65. Heather,
    That was the most beautiful amazing thing I have seen! I cried, I loved it, especially when Katie jumped in the pool with you. Congratulations! You look exactly the same as junior high and high school… Well except for the boobs. : ). I a, so happy for you and your family!

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  66. this is my absolutely favorite video and post,,,,it was such a precious and beautiful experience to watch,,,I so wish my children’s birth had been so very calm and natural. I admire all you do and how you are such a amazing woman and blogger and mother. Thank you for sharing your most personal and intimate moments with us!

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  67. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing your birth and family with us. Your children are so blessed with such a wonderful momma and poppa and such wonderful family and friends. You are doing a beautiful job with them. If I had been more knowledgeable when my first child was born (over 17 years ago) I would have definitely gone with the water birth and midwife/doula. Congrats.

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  68. I found this incredibly moving. Surely no little brother was more lovingly anticipated by his siblings than Levi. What a treasure this video will be to him and your whole family through the years.

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  69. (long message) I just wanted to say that was so amazing and beautiful. Thats how I wanted my birth to go. I currently am in the military and have no options other than no epidual. My first birth was nothing like I had planned, I could not even have a birth plan. I currently am 15 weeks and plan t odo my best with at least all natural. But I have been getting so nervous because my husband and I are so busy and attched to work that we really have been unable to connect with this little one growing inside me. But watching your video has re affirmed what I wish I could have and has given me that “push” I needed to remeber to connect, do yoga, and the most I can do hypnobirthing. When my husband gets home I will have him watch the video as well and I know that will start us on the path to having the pregnancy we have dreamed about, or at least close as we can get. Thank you for sharing all that you do, it helps 🙂
    ~Coryann~

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  70. This was so beautiful and meaningful to me. I am entering my seventh month with my first pregnancy and trying to mentally prepare for a home water birth. While I am elated to have the choice and am feeling more confident every day that I can deliver my child without interventions, birth stories that this mean so so much to me.
    Thank you!

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  71. I love this video! Levi is so precious!! I love that Katie and Micah are included and were able to be part of the special day. So sweet!

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  72. I feel the Lord when I look at your beautiful family. Thank you for sharing your life with us. The video made me want to cry. Just incredible.

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  73. Dear Heather,
    I was hoping for a similar scene. I had a due date of Christmas day this year but miscarried at 14+ weeks. It brought joy to my heart for the first time in a long while (involving the pregnancy/birth of others) watching this video. Thank you for sharing and congratulations on your little one reaching 2!!

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  74. This is BEAUTIFUL and made me cry happy tears! What a gift to have it all captured! So wonderful your babe had such a peaceful entry earthside. Thank you for sharing <3

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