I am still smiling about the wonderful, peaceful, unassisted home birth we had twelve days ago. The birth was as calm and laid back as my little cuddle man is. He was apparently in no hurry, waiting until 41 weeks before deciding to mosey into the world. Labor lasted around eight hours, that long only because I slept some of that time. There were no regular contractions that evening (Oct 22) when I hustled the children to bed early but I had *that feeling*. I prepared a strong RRL infusion for myself, drank it down, and retreated to my bedroom. It wasn't long before contractions came; some of them I had to stop and breathe through as I prepared for bed. Sometimes I sat on the birth ball, sometimes I leaned on the bed, or got on all fours. I felt the position of the baby, that he was head-down. (Just a few days prior I'd felt a tiny foot down in my pelvis, and had prepared myself for a breech birth, just in case. No fear, just prep. Yah knows how baby needs to be born.)

I got into the birth pool around midnight when contractions were getting serious. They still weren't really consistent, but they were obviously effective. I was taking a swig of liquid Cal-Mag about every hour, when I remembered. The warm water in the birth pool was so soothing, but it seemed to slow down labor at that point so I didn't stay in long. I crawled into bed with Hubby, and slept until 3:30 a.m., when I was awakened by another really good rush! Back into the pool for a while, and I needed counter-pressure on my lower back for those contractions, and I was moaning through them. Hubs made note of the "good birth sounds" and we knew I would go through the "transition" stage soon.

I love/hate the transition stage.

Around 4:20 a.m. I got out of the water for a potty break, then I wanted the shower. Hot water is so amazing during labor! I was trembling, and my teeth were chattering. As I stood in the shower, I checked to see if I could feel the baby's head descending, and YES, I could feel the bag of waters bulging! At 4:46 my water broke at last, oh heavenly relief of pressure! Twelve minutes and a few contractions later he was crowning, and I breathed the head out, then gave a little push for the shoulders. Right at 5 a.m. baby was born. A boy! HalleluYAH!

He cried right away, and started pinking up as I held him. He didn't need any kind of suctioning of the nose or mouth. He opened his eyes, and the brightness of the bathroom was too much. (Forgot to dim the lights..) I sat down in the tub as Hubs ran some fresh warm water for us to bathe in. Baby latched on for a short nurse 20 minutes after birth, and our eldest daughter joined us in the bathroom to assist me and hold the baby in towels while I birthed the placenta.

I pushed the placenta out about forty minutes after the birth, but it was not completely letting go, so I held it there until it came loose on its own. It looked complete. Hubs carried the baby and placenta bowl to our bed to cut the cord and dress him while I cleaned up. Then he and our daughter helped get me dressed and settled into bed.

I'm counting my blessings, and one of them is that I am able to have our babies at home this way, with no interventions, no hurrying, no strangers around. Another is that my husband is so attentive and encouraging when I'm in labor; I can't imagine delivering a baby without him. Another is that Yah enabled me to give birth to ten children. (TEN. I can hardly believe it!!) Another is the wisdom I've gleaned from other women, which helped me to be better prepared for postpartum care, so that I'm not just surviving, not just making it, but doing WELL. I'm grateful. My Abba is so good to me!

My "snuggle man" weighed 9 lb 1 oz, and measured 21" long. He was born on the seventh day of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), something I had anticipated from the time we first learned I was pregnant! He was circumcised on his eighth day. His name is Joshua Ezra, Yehovah is Salvation and He is my Help. We praise Father for this beautiful gift!