A VERY Good Friday: our birth story

I am sitting here typing with my beautiful new baby asleep on my lap! A little girl named Elora Anne Voss; she was born April 22, Good Friday (we are NOT acknowledging so-called "Earth Day" ;-), and what a GOOD Friday it was!

 My due date was April 28, and we were kind of expecting/hoping the baby would be born any day, especially because my sister and brother-in-law were in town until the first of May. I really wanted them to be able to be here, and it was so neat that it worked out that way. In fact, everything about this birth turned out the best way it possibly could have, and I know that is all thanks to God! Here is our birth story:

After having our last baby at home, and really loving that, we decided to go with a homebirth again, although we went with a different midwife. Actually, it's a team of 2 midwives, Barbara Pepper and Jen Robinson - their business is called Rio Grande Midwifery. I'd been going to see them for all my prenatal checkups, and we like them a lot. I also had heard a lot of great things about waterbirth, and I really wanted to try it this time, so we got a kids inflatable swimming pool to use and had it all ready to go.

On Good Friday, we usually try to do something as a family each year. Unfortunately, Robert had to work, so the kids and I went with my parents and siblings out to the Petroglyphs for a picnic lunch and a walk. I was feeling better than I'd felt in several weeks, and I walked along the path for about a mile before getting tired. On the way back I started having mild, irregular contractions, but they stopped when I sat down, so I figured it was probably Braxton-Hicks contractions and nothing would come of it. Nevertheless, I was feeling kind of tired out, so mom and the kids and I came home and I took a nap. My family came over for dinner, but I didn't feel much like eating, and by 7:30 I was having contractions again - nothing too strong, about five minutes apart or so. My parents decided to take the kids home with them in case anything did happen that night, but we figured I was in for a long slow night of labor.

But by 9:30 pm, the contractions were strong enough that I couldn't go to sleep, and I got in the shower. By 10 they were really strong, and I asked Robert to start timing them. They were 2 minutes apart and lasting for 1 minute each, and they got pretty intense. By 10:30 I was saying "I can't do this anymore!" and asking Robert to call the midwives. (We realized later I was in transition, but somehow neither of us figured that out at the time - we were both a little busy!) He called them and my parents, and they both started to head over here, but still expected it would be at least another hour.

By 11:00, though, I told Robert "I feel like I have to push!" and he couldn't believe it. He rushed into the kitchen and started filling up the tub, which fortunately he had already inflated and set up. As soon as it was ready (he had to throw all our ice cubes in to temper the hot water!) I climbed in, and oh my, it was instant relief! The warm water took all the pressure off my back and hips, and my whole body was able to relax. After two pushes, Robert could see the head. He called the midwife, who was still en-route, and told her "the baby's crowning!" and then he had to hang up because with the third push the baby came flying out! A girl!! Robert scooped her up out of the water and discovered she had been born "in the cowl" which means she still had the membrane sack intact over her face! Apparently this is quite rare - 1 baby in 1000 or so. But he just pulled the sack off, and she was fine - a little blue at first, but she got pink very quickly. He put her in my arms, wrapped a towel around her, and she started nursing after just a few minutes.

About 5 minutes after she was born, my parents and Daniella arrived. They were pretty surprised to find that they'd missed the whole thing, but they got to be there for the most important part - seeing and holding the new baby! About 20 minutes later, the midwives showed up, and helped to deliver the placenta (I think it was bigger than the baby! But it was completely intact, which was a big relief since I had trouble with pieces being left behind and lots of bleeding with the last baby.) And Daniella got to cut the cord. ;-)

The next couple of hours encompassed all  the weighing, measuring, checking, cleanup, etc. while I just lay back and nursed my new baby! She was my smallest baby - 7 lbs, 13 oz, and 20 1/2 inches long. (Not that I'm complaining, with the ease of the birth!) Everything looked great, and I felt much better than I had after previous babies. We had a fun little celebratory "toast" around the bed with grape juice and matzo crackers with my family and the midwives! And then I fell asleep in my own bed with my sweet little girl cuddled up next to me. She turned out to be a really good sleeper, too.

P.S. Elora means "God is my light." And yes, it is also the name of the baby from the movie Willow. ;-)