Who has time to blog when one is growing a baby and then loving that sweet, perfect baby when she arrives?! Lots of catching up to do, but I will start with the best and then (hopefully) fill in some gaps later on.
Sweet, perfect Liesl Aurelia was born on December 13, two days past her due date, on the Feast of Saint Lucy. We were kind of hoping she would arrive on 12/12/12, but we ended up being way too sick to welcome her properly. She weighed in at 8 pounds even, and was a long 23 3/4 inches. She was beautiful from the start, round face, smooth complexion, blond eyebrows, and hair color that we are still debating. We are sure it will be some shade of reddish-brown, time will tell.
The exciting part is that we had her at home with a midwife! I made the decision pretty late in the pregnancy, but it was something I had wanted for the last few. After Court had to deliver Thomas himself in the hospital, it was easy to convince him that we could do it at home.
The birth went really well. It was just a slow, sporadic process. I really think I was having "performance" anxiety! I called Parveen, my midwife, pretty early because my contractions were intense though not regular. After she got here, and I was at 6cm, things would come in waves. I did better when she and the doula weren't with me. But in my mind I felt like it should be going faster since they were waiting and that probably slowed things down. I shouldn't have worried about them, though, as Court was in his element cooking all sorts of things for them while I labored upstairs!
After four hours still at 6, Parveen said we could either try to get things going or I could just take a nap and wait it out. It was about 4:30 then and I didn't want it dragging out into the night. So she gave me some "laborade" which was just some cocobiotic, magnesium and calcium, and some herbs. The doula gave me a jasmine belly rub and then I spent some time leaning on the birthing ball doing pelvic rocks.
The contractions really picked up and soon I wanted to push. The girls came in to watch. But it wasn't working which I knew was wrong since pushing has always been the easy part for me. Parveen suggested I was forcing it and really wasn't ready. Of course she was right and I wasn't even fully dilated. The girls went out and they had me lie on my side on the bed. The doula rubbed my back and Court rubbed my legs and Parveen and the doula just kept saying calming, gentle things, and I shut my eyes for what seemed like forever. Then they talked me through several really hard contractions and suddenly I was pushing her out. There was no time to get the girls. They had trouble slowing me down. Liesl was born at 6:20pm. She was pretty wrapped up in the cord but Parveen was great. It was all very calm and gentle, though intense. I couldn't have asked for a better experience!
It was so great being home, and having the kids be able to meet their baby sister right away. I got to stay in bed for days while Court and the kids took care of me. The midwife came back to check on me when Liesl was two days old and then again at a week and two weeks. I can't express how wonderful it was to not have to take the baby to some germy doctor's office for her check-up!
She is really such a blessing! Six weeks already and I still can't believe it. I am truly in awe of this great gift.