new life

last week i was honored to be in the delivery room with melissa and paul when their baby boy was born.  i got a phone call at 2:30am (exactly the time paul had told me the night before he'd be calling me) telling me Sis was in labor and had been having contractions for a couple of hours.  i quickly got dressed and got my hospital bag packed and waited for another call from them to tell me they were really on their way to the hospital.  

i got up to Stevens hospital at 4am and began my labor coaching duties: talk her through the contractions, hold her hand, breathe with her, rub her back "harder",  do not even think about mentioning an epidural, and using phrases like "good job, y

ou can do it, this one's almost over..." my favorites from the handout she gave me were "breathe in through your bellybutton and out through your bottom" and "imagine your body opening like a flower." needless to say, i did not use those phrases during the birth for fear that i'd crack up laughing and Sis would punch me. My mom arrived at about 7 and Paul, she, and I were by her side until 12:25 when a beautiful boy entered the world.  He weighed 9 lbs and was 21 inches long.  He has dark hair and is sooo beautiful.

Melissa was amazing! she went through the whole thing without any medication.  Mel had a birth plan and was determined to stick to it and she did.  She was so cute too- she had been pushing for a while and we could see his head but he wasn't coming out. "This doesn't even hurt..." was Melissa's retort (although plainly we could see that it did) she just wanted that baby out!  

One of the nurses said "wow, this baby is a lot cuter then the one that we delivered earlier..." Birth truly is a miracle and it was amazing for me to witness it rather then be the one doing it.

Thank you Sis and Paul for letting me be part of your baby's birth experience.  I felt priveledged to be there with you and mom and loved the opportunity to witness the miracle of life. 

PS: just in case anyone is wondering when I'm up for that again, let me just say this: it was good birth control for me--in the sense that I know I'm not mentally, emotionally, or physically prepared for it.  If and when we do have another child, I want to go natural again and do another waterbirth like I did with Sydney. I would love to find a group of midwives and a hospital that does waterbirths....  so no news for me... especially since I'll get to cure any baby cravings by driving up to see my new nephew.  He does have a name but I don't think Sis has posted it so I'll wait until she officially announces. :)