New Arrival

So, I'm a little late in posting a blog, but today is the first chance I have had to get to it. As many of you know already, Emmaline Grace Charlotta Farina was born Wednesday, November 7, 2007, around 9:43, give or take a minute. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Labor lasted 42 hours, and by the end I was absolutely exhausted. David had been fighting off a gum infection around one of his wisdom teeth the weekend before. Unfortunately, he was not very good about trying not to wake me when he got up at night. Therefore, neither one of us got much sleep all weekend long.

Monday afternoon, right when the closing of our house was scheduled, I went into labor. However, I didn't realize it. I just thought I was having really bad gas pains. When I noticed that there was a pattern to when the pain came and went, it occurred to me that I might possibly be in labor. After the closing was done, around 5 o'clock, we drove to the house intending to clean it some. I never got to cleaning, though, since I was feelig a bit miserable and tired; David never got to cleaning, either, as he had struck up a conversation with one of our new neighbors.

I called Erin since my contractions were pretty regular and told her what was going on. She decided to go ahead and come over, not wanting to risk missing my delivery. It was really encouraging and reassuring to have her there. As much as I needed the strength and presence of David, it was just as important to have another woman with me, especially one who is my sister and has already gone through this. Anyhow, my contractions became stronger and closer together, and they kept me up all night. I spoke with my midwife and she encouraged me to get some sleep. Since my contractions were only in the lower part of my uterus, she wanted me to wait and see if this was truly the real thing. After going for a long walk around 3 o'clock in the morning, I was able to go to sleep; I didn't have anymore contractions after that.

I got up Tuesday morning and took a shower. After that my contractions came very randomly, so I just ignored them. Erin helped us move some things over to the house, we treated her to luch, then Erin headed home. Around 10:30 that night, I woke up having strong contractions. They started off about half an hour apart, but by 3 o'clock the following morning they were a minute or less apart and very painful. Amy my midwife told me to go ahead and come into the birthing center. I called Erin and told her what was going on, and she headed out the door for the second day in a row. David and I arrived at the birthing center around 4 o'clock that morning, and Erin made it there by 5:30 or 6.

Erin helped me walk around and deal with the contractions while David got some rest. Then David joined the party again in time for Emmaline to break my water around 8:45 or 9. After some really hard pushing, Emmaline joined the party around 9:43. Yay! It's over!

I gave birth to Emmaline in a birthing center called Blessed Births. It was a wonderful experience, and I could not have done it without the help of Amy. She was such an encouragement and help to me, especially in the hardest moments of my labor. David and I greatly enjoyed the atmosphere of the birthing center, as it was very calm, peaceful, and felt just like we were in our own home. We and our wonderful new daughter were left to rest and relax and just enjoy some time as a new family. We loved it, and I cannot imagine giving birth anywhere else now.