Former Clarion Little League, Clarion Area High School Baseball Great Jon Kemmer And Wife Kourtney Have An Amazing Story To Tell On The Birth Of Their New Son

All photos submitted – (Above) Jon, seeing spring training action with the Houston Astros.

(Editor’s note: following one of those remarkable, made for TV, sort of stories about Jon and Kourtney Kemmer and their lovely, growing family. Most will be in their own words, with the recent birth of their son Forest Todd Kemmer, being the focus.

Insight in to how Jon and Kourtney met, (after remarkably not meeting), and a little on Jon’s post playing career are included at the bottom of the article.

Jon, who spent most of his time growing up, as a standout baseball player in the Clarion Little League and with the Clarion area Wildcats, played professionally making it all the way to Triple A and was called up for spring training for the Houston Astros more in more than one Grapefruit League season. As so often happens, I’ve lost touch with much, but not all, of what Jon has been doing in recent years and with quite a bit of correspondence with the Kemmer’s, a good bit of the blank spaces have been filled in.

The impetus for this article came about when this very unusual birth announcement with photos showed up on my Facebook line from Kourtney on October 17th “The many faces of “Holy cow I just birthed my baby on my own in my bathroom!

“Forest Todd Kemmer
Named for his two amazing grandfathers

“Woke up to my water breaking just after 2:30 this morning, got cleaned up and made some coffee knowing I didn’t need to call my midwife until contractions got going. Had a contraction at 3am so called the midwife to give her a heads up (3:02am), went into the bathroom and had another contraction as Jon walked in and I thought I felt added pressure. Reached down and his head was out! Told Jon to grab a towel and as soon as it was on the floor I instinctually squatted down and my body pushed him out into my hands at 3:07am! Midwives made it 30 minutes later and gave us both a clean bill of health! Now we’re all tucked in and enjoying all the newborn cuddles. So thankful Jon thought to just start snapping pics and videos.”

Kourtney and Jon have been utilized a midwife “service” since planning for their first child, Jacklin Joyce (JJ).

Kourtney shared, “From the moment Jon and I began talking about expanding our family I knew I wanted to take a less traditional route to childbirth. I’ve always leaned more holistic when it comes to my health, so why should birth be any different? When I became pregnant in 2022 I did my research on local midwives and ultimately decided on Jaymee Boughton and the wonderful women at InBloom Midwifery out of Pearland, Texas.”

Why go to a midwife service? “From our initial consult I knew that my wishes surrounding myself, my baby, labor, delivery, and postpartum would be respected and supported, two things that can be very difficult to come by in today’s medical complex.”

(CSZ Note: Though the following is not typical of everyone’s experience, Kourtney shared about some of her friends’ experiences.) “So many of my friends have shared birth trauma stories with me that all stemmed from how their birth team, from doctors to nurses, treated them in the hospital. Their wishes were ignored or mocked, unneeded interventions were coerced in the name of ‘saving the baby’ and they ultimately left the hospital fearing having more children and repeating their experiences.”

“With my midwives I was never just a number or faceless patient. There was never a long wait in a waiting room for appointments because they schedule their clients with plenty of time for one on one discussion, always making sure you leave feeling empowered and informed… Jaymee from InBloom strives to empower women in their God given ability to naturally birth their baby. While there are certainly medical reasons a woman could need a medical intervention, they are not the norm; and many things like a breech baby or a nuchal cord (cord around the neck) are seen as a variation of normal in midwifery care. They train for these situations and are very capable of helping mom bring baby earthside outside of a hospital.

“My first child was born into her daddy’s hands at my midwife’s birth center, a beautifully renovated home located on Galveston Island, with a nuchal cord and my midwife simply told him to calmly unwrap it and lay baby on my chest. There was no panic, no nurses rushing around, just a beautiful, undisturbed physiological birth.”

“I was very fortunate with my first birth in that I only labored for about 4.5 hours, which is very short for a first time mother. I attribute a lot of this to the fact I wasn’t in an uncomfortable hospital setting, with bright lights, beeping machines, and people in and out of my room. I was in a bath of warm water with low lighting, surrounded by my two midwives and husband who allowed me to move and labor however felt best for my body while giving me gentle encouragement.

“I’ll always remember my husband, Jon, frequently reminding me ‘relax your mouth and face babe, remember if your mouth is clenching so is everything down below.’

“Again, I have my amazing birth team to thank for also empowering my husband to be the best birthing partner he could be! Once baby was out they allowed us to remain resting together in the tub while we waited the optimal time for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing and supplying blood to the baby; around 30% of a baby’s blood is still in the placenta at birth, waiting until the cord turns white and that blood circulated into baby is so important!

“Once the cord was white, Jon cut it and took the baby to cuddle while the midwives helped me clean up and get dressed. After we were all in bed they weighed baby and did all of the after birth checks and recording of information for our records. When we were given a clean bill of health we were allowed to go home, only 2.5 hours after giving birth, no mandatory 24+ hour hold like in a hospital. Getting to shower in your own shower, and get into your own bed right after birth goes a long way in a peaceful recovery! My recovery also seemed much easier compared to what I had heard from friends and family. My midwives and husband actually had to frequently tell me to stop doing so much and rest. I came out of my first birth honestly excited and looking forward to doing it all over again!

“When I got pregnant again in early 2024 with my son, I was so happy to see and work with my wonderful midwifery team again, only this time I wanted to give birth at home. Between having such a knowledgeable midwife that taught me to trust my body, and the desire to stay in the comfort of my own home, I couldn’t wait to experience birth again. Little did I know my son would take the short labor of my daughter as a challenge to beat! After about a week of on and off false labor I woke up a little after 2:30 am on the morning of October 17th, my actual due date, to my water breaking. I wasn’t having any contractions so I knew there was no rush in calling Jaymee to come over. The typical rule of thumb for calling for a second time+ mom is when contractions are 5 or fewer minutes apart, lasting for at least a minute for at least an hour. Jon and I got up and made some coffee and checked over all our birth supplies and ensured the birth pool was fully inflated and ready to go in the living room. Just before 3:00 am I had my first contraction and a little voice in my head said ‘go ahead and call Jaymee’ so I gave her a ring to let her know about my waters and the contraction. At 3:02 am while still on the phone I had my second contraction, Jaymee listened and said she had a feeling she needed to go ahead and head over.

“We hung up and I made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a warm shower while we waited for the midwives to arrive. Thankfully Jon followed me in case I needed help because at 3:05am I had another contraction where my body pushed on its own and I felt a sudden burst of pressure. I reached down and my son’s head was out! Jon immediately called Jaymee back to let her know and put the phone on speaker in case we needed guidance.

“But my body and baby knew what to do! I asked Jon to place a towel on the floor and instinctually got into a squat position, my body took over with the fetal ejection reflex (FER) and pushed my son out and into my hands at 3:07am. Jon and I could only look at each other in amazement, I had just free-birthed our son in our bathroom! Jaymee listened to his breathing over the phone and told me to just get comfortable and wait for the placenta to come and she would be there soon. Jon got me a pillow to lean back against on the wall and I soaked in the beautiful first moments of skin to skin with our son, shortly after he had his first feed and fell asleep. By 3:30 my midwives arrived and helped me deliver the placenta. Baby was handed off to dad to cuddle while my other midwife Kellie helped me shower and get dressed.

“Again, it’s an amazing feeling to shower in your own shower right after birth! Afterwards we all got into bed and watched as Jaymee did all of baby’s checks and measurements. Big sister came in around 5am to meet her new brother and we all cuddled in bed as a new family of 4.

“Jaymee and Kellie left shortly after and we enjoyed a beautiful first day of life comfortably in our home. Kellie returned on Friday to do an in-home check of me and baby, a much better experience than having to get dressed and get into a car fresh after birth and drive to a doctor’s office! I’m still in shock that I went from zero to baby in under 40 minutes, but I partially attribute the whole experience to Jon making the comment ‘after working with Jaymee and having our daughter I’d be comfortable birthing a baby by ourselves if we had to.’ While it wasn’t what we expected I wouldn’t change a thing! I also didn’t think I could top the postpartum recovery of my first birth but I have to say it has been even better and easier this time around. Women’s bodies are capable of incredible things when given the physiological opportunity to do so.

“While a natural home birth is not the desire of everyone, and that’s perfectly ok, women need to know just how capable they are. They need their birthing desires heard and supported from partners to care providers. I know not every state has the same access to midwifery and out of hospital birth care, but if I could have one wish, it would be that every woman could have the birth experience my midwives helped me to achieve.

“We kept with the theme of honoring important people in our lives when choosing the names of our children. Our daughter, Jacklin Joyce is named after my husband’s mother and my grandmother on my father’s side. Our son, Forest Todd is named after his two amazing grandfathers. We are so excited to watch them grow and bond, they will be playing catch with dad before we know it!”

Jon shared, “The whole birth experience, both with our daughter and now with our son, was amazing for me as a husband. My wife is the toughest person I have ever met. Her mindset from pregnancy to her birth plan was more than impressive. To be able to not only give birth at our house, but give birth in our bathroom just 40 minutes after her water broke is still unbelievable. To go from your wife saying her water broke at 2:30, to giving birth in such a short period of time is still shocking to me to say the least.

“I’ll never forget when she told me ‘his head is out’ and me thinking alright our son is coming quick, to the next thing I know she squats down and our son was all of a sudden here. My face probably showed a mix of excitement and disbelief that she just gave birth in our bathroom without our midwives here. I couldn’t be more proud of Kourtney in birth and motherhood, she was so calm and sure of her abilities throughout the entire process. I have learned so much from her and our midwife team during the pregnancies and births of our children. I have to say, being able to give birth in our house and not have to drive to a hospital was so nice. The whole process was amazing and so glad we decided to go this route.”

Keeping up with the Kemmers:

Jon and Kourtney live in Santa Fe, Texas about thirty minutes south of Houston. They live and work on a 15,000 acre waterfowl hunting ranch that Kourtney’s father manages. He started the hunting club there in the early 90’s and Kourtney started working out here in 2015. Jon and Kourtney have the enjoyment of melding two of their passions. When Jon retired from baseball in 2021 he started working there also. He still gives baseball lessons and coaches a local team.

And Jon still gets to help out at the Garage training facility in Shippenville when he visits back a few times a year.

Courtney shared about how she and Jon met, “We met when Jon came to Sugarland, Texas to play baseball during Covid for a team called Reyes Del Tigre. We went to the Dominican in December of 2020 for the second half of their winter league.”

Later. “Myself and a few girlfriends who all worked in baseball together decided to go to a game. Jon was playing for Águilas Cibaeñas, which is located in Santiago Dominican Republic . He played for the Aguilas in the Dominican from December 2020 through the middle of January 2021. Our seats were near Jon’s dugout and the end of the game he called me down to talk. We went on a date on his next off day and have been inseparable ever since. Most of Jon and my ‘dates’ were to the gym up until my pregnancy with our daughter.”

“We did in stadium promotions and entertainment. I have one old collage picture from it; it was back in 2009 and 2010. A very close family friend of my moms that I’ve always called my uncle was the broadcast engineer for the Astros for a long time, so I’ve always been close to the game and would travel with him to away games sometimes. His stepdaughter and I worked for the Astros entertainment together and have checked traveled to over half of the Major League Baseball stadiums to watch games. Once our kiddos are a little bigger we’ll finish checking them off.”

(Courtney played softball and volleyball through middle school, but she was big into rodeo an mostly did barrel racing through high school.

“The funny part is I was at most of the spring trainings Jon was at but our paths never crossed until he came to Texas during Covid lol.”

(Congratulations on your growing family, Kemmers!!!!)