i am woman, hear me roar

I've gotten a lot of requests for the "birth story."  I am absolutely in awe of the miracle of birth and could sit down and chat about birth to anyone at almost any time.  But I have to say, I am way more into the actual baby birth brought me than the birth itself...so here is the quick version.

I love midwifes.  If you have not discovered them by now, go and find them on your next baby.  (Yes, many deliver in hospitals and will still give you whatever type of birth you wish.)  I was lucky enough to have 2 wonderful and experienced midwives assist me, including my beautiful mom. 

I woke up around 4:00am for a potty run only to realize that my body was having regular contractions. I tried to take a bath to slow them down so I could go back to sleep for a couple of hours but w/o any luck. We woke my mom around 5 am and by 6 am we were checking into the hospital with me dilated to a 7.  And then the day slowed down...I had a very calm morning with lots of rest in between contractions. (Doug likes to tell me that during my 'naps' everyone would look at each other and their watches, wondering when something was going to happen.)  I thought it was wonderful- I got massage after massage, lots of baths, lots of crunchy ice and cran-apple juice, while getting lots of rest.  Finally, with a little help and positioning, my midwife duo was able to turn the baby's head into the correct position and my labor picked up really quickly.  It only took Doug about 1 contraction while I was pushing to realize that his job was not to be a medical student and "observe" what was happening, but to be with me, in my face, breathing every breath with me.  We laughed as we watched the video and could see Doug's breath blowing my hair.  He took his job seriously and was a wonderful coach!  At 2:28 we became a family of four. 

My mom has spent the past week cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, sewing, waking up with Callin, forcing me to nap, dazzling Callin from morning to night with park adventures, outings around the town, jumping on the trampiline, making cookies and play dough with him, and the list goes on and on and on.  Thanks for everything!  We miss you already!