It’s true what they say about the third child. Being a third child myself, I remember
looking through my baby photo album and feeling jipped over the lack of photos
in comparison to my two older siblings.
And only about 50% of the pictures in my album were of me alone; the
other half were photos of me with my brother or sister. Whose album is this anyway?!?! Well, as a
parent of three children, I can now attest to the fact that having fewer photos
and less of a to-do over your arrival does not in any way mean you are loved any
less.
When Leah was born, we posted photos to the blog from the
hospital room a mere few hours after she was born. Isaac’s photos were put up a day after his
arrival. And here we are, on December 6th
with a 2 month old baby in our hands. So, it is without further ado that I introduce
you all to Anna Noel, our newest family member who joined our world on October
5th. (Anna, should you read this when you are
older, please don’t be offended. Life
has been tumultuous. You will
understand.)
Just hatched. And still not so happy about it.
When our fourth baby arrives, we *might* tell you about
it. (And no, fourth baby is not “in the
works” yet, folks. We are just hopeful
we will be blessed with another little one… one day.)
Anna’s due date was October 16, but thankfully, she was
ready well before then. During the wee
hours of October 5th, I randomly woke up at 2:26 am. And there was no going back to sleep. It’s not that my water broke, or there was
any strong contraction that rousted me, but I just had a feeling. I lay in bed for a while, trying to go back
to sleep, and eventually meandered out to the couch where I drifted in and out
in between some very sporadic contractions.
No biggie, I told myself, I got this.
I’d prepped for months with a hynobabies program to birth this baby
naturally, and having decided to give birth at the local Birth Center, I didn’t
really have any other choice.
We took a walk that morning and while Jared and his mom fed
our kids lunch, I did my own thing.
Listened to some hypnosis tracks (which weren’t working *quite* like I’d
hoped), but mostly, just focused and gave myself some hardcore pep talks. (Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. Thank you, Coach Eric Taylor.) I don’t know what it was, transition maybe,
but shortly before 2 pm something snapped inside my head, and I remember
clearly thinking, “What are we DOING here?!?!
We need to go!”
Enter the most intense, yet miraculous, hour and a half of
my life.
We arrived at The Birth Center at 2 pm. I started pushing at 3 pm. And at 3:25 pm, sweet little Anna Noel graced
us with her presence, where she floated up to me and I scooped her up and cradled
her in my arms. I was the first person
ever to hold our baby. No doctor, nurse, or midwife got their hands
on her first. Just me. It may
be the hormones, but I still can’t think about it without tearing up with utter
joy.
It’s funny the things I remember about it all. I remember the soothing warmth of the water
in the tub. I remember at one point
feeling as if someone was tearing my hips apart. I remember as Anna was crowning, thinking, “I
bet this would really burn if I wasn’t in the water.” I remember feeling intense pressure with each
contraction. I remember feeling her
little head, and with it, the sense of relief that I was almost there. As with most babies, Anna’s shoulders got
stuck and the midwife needed to help her out.
And I remember thinking, “Those are hands in me!” I remember asking if she was a boy or girl, but nobody had checked yet. So I checked myself, but I couldn't get a good look, and it just didn't seem that important at that moment. But mostly I remember seeing that tiny
little body in the water right before I scooped her up and thinking, “We did
it. Thank you, Lord.”
Throughout it all I never felt unbearable pain, discouragement,
or like I couldn’t go on. (And that, I attribute
to Hynobabies. Seriously ladies, give
this program a whirl.) It was
hard. It was intense. It was amazing. And undoubtedly, the most worthwhile thing I’ve
ever worked for.
I should have known that would be the case. After all, Anna Noel, a name we’d picked out
years ago, means “gracious birth”. How
could I expect anything different?
And now she’s here, and she’s perfect. She looks mostly like Leah, but I see Isaac
in her too. She eats well, sleeps well,
and is just generally mild-mannered as far as babies go. Her biggest fault, if you could even call it
that, is that she wants to be held to fall asleep most of the time, which
requires me to sit with her rather than do chores around the house. And
you know what? Perhaps that’s just God’s
way of saying, “Sit, Gina. Rest. Delight
in your child.”
Don’t mind if I do.
