Tender Beginnings Birth Stories

Ezra Jonathan Bartos was born on Saturday morning, during one of the most memorable experiences that we as a family have ever had. He is a healthy boy and a joyful addition to our overwhelmingly blessed family.
Ezra was born at home. He didn’t come before we could get to the hospital, like you see in so many movies. No, we chose to take a more natural approach to birthing and have a home water birth.
When we found out that Laura was pregnant with our fourth child, she started reading a f… Read More »

Kayla’s Tender Beginning…
It was Saturday, August 27th 2011, and the day was like any other.  My husband David was working on the computer, and I was in the nursery putting the finishing details on the wooden letters that spelled “Kayla.”  David and I planned to run a few errands and enjoy a nice dinner that evening. 
Several weeks prior, I had gone into pre-term labor twice.  That resulted in two separate hospital visits to have the contractions stopped.  Mary Anne was with us b… Read More »

Check out the new staff pictures.   The Photographer Titus Bartos is the greatest!
Here is Mary Anne’s new picture.  Look at the website to see

Birth story of Eliana Grace
March 7th 2010
If you had asked me a few years ago whether natural childbirth, let alone a home birth, was even possible you would have gotten a resounding “NO!” and “More power to those who do it natural” I had two children previously at a hospital with an OB/GYN and while my first experience was as great as it could be; I intended to have a natural birth, but I was induced and ended up with an epidural. The birth of my second c… Read More »

Thursday night 6/3 I went to the cheesecake factory with my coworkers and ate very well. I felt very pregnant and nothing new. I went to sleep that night thinking of all we have ‘to do’ to get ready for baby. 37 weeks on Monday, just 3 days away! Slept great till 2:20, felt the baby shift positions in a very unusual way, almost a ‘flip’ and I almost drifted back to sleep, but I started to feel water pouring out of me. At first I thought I was peeing accidentally… Read More »

By Miriam Bishop
Babies love to make their big debut in the middle of the night. Perhaps they are attracted to the stillness. Maybe it’s because the world is in a womb-like state: dark, quiet, and cozy. Oliver, was no exception. I had my first contraction during these quiet hours on a Sunday morning. I had had smaller contractions throughout my pregnancy, but this one was different! I jumped out of bed and waddled down the hallway to the bathroom. At the time, it seemed like… Read More »

It was my  8th wedding anniversary and my husband Adam and I were very getting very anxious about my pregnancy. I had an appointment that day with Mary Anne in Franklin at her office for what would be my last prenatal appointment. I was 10 days past my due date and if I did not go into labor by Saturday (which would make me 42 weeks pregnant) then I would be sent to the hospital to be induced. I was very ready to get this ball rolling so Mary Anne said that she could try stripping the membran… Read More »

8 pounds 1 ounces

I cannot say enough about Tender Beginnings. From day one, we felt very comfortable with Mary Anne. She is practical, knowledgeable, warm, and caring. I loved being able to go to my appointments in her home with my 2 little girls and let them be a part of the process. I never felt hurried or rushed. Mary Anne always answered all my questions and provided me with lots of information, but always let US make the decisions on what we felt was best. I never felt any pressure from her whatso… Read More »

8 pounds 5 ounces

My second child and second son, Christian Palmer, was born on Saturday, February 5th, 2011 in a beautiful at-home water-birth.
I was surrounded by my husband, Peter, my sister, and a few close friends as well as the very skilled staff at Tender Beginnings, midwife, Maryann and birth companion, Kelly.
Having had a 24 hour natural, but very difficult labor at a hospital with my first son, Noah, I wasn’t sure what it would be like the second time around doing the labor at home… Read More »

Born August 8, 2010

I couldn’t really get to sleep Saturday night and didn’t until 3am on Sunday, August 8, 2010. I woke back up at 5:30 am having to go to the bathroom. I sat down on the toilet and realized I was having some low back discomfort. So low, it was in my sacrum. My heart rate jumped instantly since I knew one of the first signs of your birthing time is back discomfort. I thought about it for a while, and went back to bed. My back ached and so did my low abdomen. I thought that surely it w… Read More »

Born August 5, 2010

I had an acupuncture session every single day during the week leading up to the baby’s due date. I was really, really hoping that with the combined efforts of the chiropractor and the acupuncturist, I would deliver before the due date rather than after because it is REALLY hot in Tennessee during the month of August. On August 5th, the actual due date, I had a 2-hour long acupuncture session, and I had lots of contractions during the two hours. I just figured those were the s… Read More »

Born June 27, 2010

When I hit week 41 of pregnancy I started to get very anxious and impatient for baby to arrive. I was also huge and uncomfortable most of the time by then. And I knew that if I went one more week past the due date I would not be able to have my home birth like I had planned due to a Tennessee law for midwives that says they are not allowed to perform home births after week 42. So I was determined to have this baby before that happened.
During week 41 I started natural induction techniques that… Read More »

8 pounds 5 ounces

In utero Brickelle liked to sleep more during the day and was more active at night. She was also hard to wake up to get variance in her heart rate. Mary Anne referred to her as “lethargic” and because we were not getting much variance in her heart rate we decided to have a bio-physical exam the day before the 40 week mark. Brickelle took her time giving us the response we wanted but she eventually did and she passed the test and looked to be in great health, my fluid levels w… Read More »

Wow…she’s really here. It is truly a surreal feeling. The entire night felt surreal, actually.
I was at the kitchen counter Thursday night, attempting to fix my Garmin that was broken in my car accident a few weeks ago when Ginnie got home from tutoring at around 9:00pm. We said our hellos, and as usual, Ginnie’s next stop was the bathroom. She doesn’t get, as she put it, “many miles to the potty stop” over the last several months. Because… Read More »

11-14-09

Contractions started every 7-10 min at about 3:45 Saturday morning, and gradually picked up in intensity during the morning. Since I was GBS+ and suspected my water had broken (I was incorrect, we did some test that is more conclusive than the litmus paper), Mary Anne got there around 9:00 and I was at 4cm, could be stretched to 5 when I asked for an exam. Lindsey arrived not too long after and set up the pool I had rented from her.
I labored walking around, on the birth ball, and hangi… Read More »

Un planned Unassisted May 21 2009

It was Thursday evening, May 21st, I was 39 weeks 2 days pregnant. We were having a nice family night together, just the three of us. After dinner we took a walk around our neighborhood. We walked past Casey and Kelvin’s house and they were outside. Casey joked with me to keep walking until labor started. Little did we both know that it would just hours later! After our walk we drove up to the frozen yogurt shop at the mall for a nice treat. We sat outside at the water fountain eat… Read More »

9 pounds 2 ounces

Who Claims the Day?
On November 1, 2001 I was induced to deliver my oldest son. I was 19, gained 70 pounds and was proud I had taken the opportunity to eat whatever I wanted when I wanted because I was eating for two. I received my epidural as soon as I felt the first contraction. I could not feel anything I was doing making pushing long and very exhausting. The doctor suctioned him out and he had to be put straight on oxygen and stayed in what I called the dome for 48 hours. I did not push him… Read More »

4-08-09

I personally had a great experience with Mary Anne and her assistants, Lindsay and Heather, for my daughter Indi’s birth. She’s my third child and this was my first home birth experience. My first two were born in a hospital with no problems, but after the second time around it hit me that I wanted to do this at home!- in the calm, in the familiar with our families able to come and celebrate her arrival, and let me tell you, it was wonderful. Here’s how it played ou… Read More »

Born October 13, 2008

I’ve wanted a homebirth since I was ten and watched my sister’s birth. Still, I felt like I was swimming against the tide when we got pregnant and began visits with the midwives rather than an O.B. Fortunately, I had one other dear friend who was also planning a waterbirth at home. What a blessing to walk our different path together!
Other pregnant friends were surprised that the midwives cared about what I ate, drank, or how I exercised. But with the education Mary A… Read More »

August 15, 2008

Alyssa Grace was born at home on August 15, 2008 at 6:45am. Her birth was attended by Mary Anne and Lindsey. Before I tell you about her amazing birth, first let me tell you how we decided to have a home-birth in the first place….
Like most women in the U.S., when I became pregnant we sought prenatal care through my ob/gyn. In the beginning this patient/Dr. arrangement worked well. I have been seeing this Dr. for about 8 years and thought she was the way to go. However as we began… Read More »

October 29th, 2007

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Ronald Gerald DePew III born June 21, 2007 at 7:40pm

It was Thursday, June 21st and I was 36 weeks 2 days along in my pregnancy. We had been planning a homebirth with our midwife Mary Anne; I just had to make it to 37 weeks to birth at home. Since this was my first pregnancy, I thought for sure I would go to 40 weeks, possibly beyond.
I had a rough day the day before; one of our birds died in the morning and I was too emotional to go in to work. So I called my boss and let her know I was taking a sick day. I buried Pretty Boy out in the yard next to Echo an… Read More »

Born August 29, 2005

At about 1:45am on August 29, 2005 (my “due date”) I was awakened by my water breaking! My first thought was, “Oh my word I have wet the bed!” My second thought was, “I have never peed this hard in my life!” I woke Joe up and he quickly helped me to the bathroom and got me settled on the toilet. I could tell my water wasn’t clear and that scared me. Also, I wasn’t having contractions yet so I was worried that I would end up in the hospit… Read More »

Born September, 2000

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” -as Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities begins, so begins my story.
My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for two and a half years. I had already had one miscarriage. But this time, the pregnancy test was our friend, and the two tests both showed positive. I was pregnant! I was so thankful – life had never been better. I had been married for 10 years –sure we had our ups and downs but more ups… Read More »