The reason I chose to do a homebirth for our 2nd was because I was very unhappy about the hospital birth I had for Leyona. It went well, and I had no complications, but I despised everything about being in a hospital to give birth and for the recovery.
Giving birth is a very tiring and emotional accomplishment, and I found that doing it at home provided the best atmosphere to have a quiet and peaceful birth that could be enjoyed for what it is. Everything about this time around was different, including the length of the labor and birth and the speedy recovery I have been experiencing this week.
With all that said, here are a few details.
I started having regular contractions on Sunday evening around late afternoon/dinner time. They continued on at around 10 or 12 minutes apart, but with no great pattern to them. I went to bed and dozed on and off between contractions for short periods of time. I was keeping an eye on the clock though to see if they grew in intensity or frequency.
Then, around 1:30 am I awoke to a very painful contraction which caused my water to break. I quickly woke Josh up and asked for a towel and the phone to call my Midwife. She told me to call back when the contractions were 3 or 4 minutes apart, and in the meantime to have Josh set the pool up and fill it with hot water.
I ended up calling my Midwife back a few minutes later b/c the contractions grew to be 3 or 4 minutes apart and very intense. She said she was on her way!
When she arrived she checked over everything and helped prepare the room with a few last minute things. I ended up getting in the pool shortly after that to help ease the pain. That was around 3:30 am. Soon the contractions came quick and very intense, and before I knew it I felt the urge to push. My midwife checked me and I was 10 cm, so I went with the urges...and this little guy came out in just a few pushes!!!
Josh held me up so I would not spill the pool water, and my Midwife caught the baby in the water for me and handed him to me (since I was backwards and could not grab him myself). She immediately wrapped him up and I held him on me to keep him warm. A few minutes later, Josh cut the cord and then we began the getting out of the pool process. The rest I will leave out...
It was an awesome experience that I wish everyone could experience...but I know that it is not for everyone or for every birth situation. I will cherish it and retell it many times I am sure...
(If anyone is interested, there is a great documentary out about homebirth vs hospital...it is called "The Business of Being Born"...available on Netflix...I highly recommend it even if you think you would never do home birth or birthing center)
This is my friend Ramey and her family...husband John and son Judah. Some of you may have heard us share about her in the last few months, and some of you may not have heard. She is battling the aftermath of two major brain tumors. One was discovered in January and removed (leaving a small % of tumor behind). It then grew back and the 2nd one was removed a month or so ago. She is now at a local hospital and has not really woken up completely since the 2nd surgery in which the Dr. claimed 99.9% of the tumor was removed. He was actually surprised that he was able to remove almost all (could have been all but I do not think they can claim 100% removal for liability). Anyways...I am just writing to share my sadness but also to share some of her amazing story.
Ramey was the 1st person I met when we went to visit our church here in Charleston. We clicked right away and ended up hanging out and becoming good friends. I have only known her for about a year now, but I have learned how amazing of a person she is. She loves the Lord and is blessed with a beautiful singing voice which she blesses us with on Sunday's as part of the church worship team. She is creative, vibrant and beautiful inside and out. She is spunky and spontaneous, yet careful and thoughtful. I miss her liveliness and charisma recently as she rests and recovers from this surgery.
We are not sure what God has in mind for her...whether to keep her here and perform a healing miracle or to take her home to be closer to Him. It is a very dificult thing to consider the latter...but yet we know that God is sovereign and has his purpose in everything. We know that we are not spared pain and haeartache just because we call ourselves christians, we just have an assurance that there is more to this life which is here and gone compared to eternity.
I know this much, Ramey has touched the hearts and lives of many people....family, friends, and even strangers. She has especially touched our hearts in this difficult time she has been going through as she has not stopped giving God all the glory and praise despite the pain and fear of maybe not winning this battle against the cancer. If our only purpose is to worship the Lord and give Him all the glory, then I can confidently say that Ramey has done that in her life and in her struggle against this physical illness.
"Ramey, I love you and we are praying for a miracle because we want you here with us. I am selfish, I admit, in saying that I want you here with me...with us....with your family. I want you to sing more songs, paint more paintings, take more pictures and drink more tea...heaven will be there forever....it can wait a bit longer for you!"
We have a good friend who is a great photographer.
Since we moved here, we have really been enjoying
What have i been doing for the past 12 years? Well, i'll tell ya. I graduated high school in 1996...which was a very joyous moment because i did not care for my school or most of the people in it. Then i tried out community college, which i did for a few years but never did get one of those nifty degrees...but i'm doing just fine without for now. I studied art, art history, graphics and photography. I ended up really loving photography, and i continue to experiment and learn as i move along. after college...well, i hit some rough patches in my life. I wasn't really close to my family at the time, and i was making a lot of choices that lead from one miserable drama to another. all along, i was searching for purpose in my life and finding nothing but frustration.
that all came to a head around the end of 1999...i hit my rock bottom...and reluctantly went to church hoping for something...i ended up rededicating my life to God and realizing He had a plan for my life that i had been working against for a long time. Thats when my whole life changed...i soon met Josh who is now my husband of 4 years this year (June 2008). That was a little rocky...like learning to drive a 5-speed...but we got the hang of it after a few years of still doing some growing up. We married in June of 2004 and began our life together...always looking to see what God's plan is for our lives.
We are still figuring things out as we go...but for now we are called to live, love, learn, grow and navigate these waters called 'parenthood'. We gave birth to Leyona in May of 2006...and she has brought great joy to our lives. And now, we are anticipating with a new joy, our 2nd child who is due this December (16th/17th). I don't know where this road leads....or how long we will be on it...but I know who is in the driver seat and that alone gives me peace enough to feel safe and secure on this ride called 'life'.
"I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly" -Jesus
This is my first blog. I will attempt to journal here and keep family and friends updated on the every day and week to week details of our life as a family, for those who like the small details. More to come later...
