A bit of a birth story...

I shared this with the friends who put together the motherblessing and wanted to share with you all too...

The birth was magic...Pete took Austin out in the morning when I was having steady rushes about 8-10min apart and I got the chance to walk in my yard in the dappled sunshine, blessing necklace in hand, walking in between rushes...rubbing each bead and thinking of the meaning and blessing, and I looked up and in the tree was a woodpecker, diligently searching and pecking doing his woodpecker thing, oblivious to me. Looking down, my hand had fallen on the bead my Dad had given me with his blessing of the beauty of birth and how it's part of the natural order of things (very meaningful from the man who has his share of horror stories from previus days as a pastor). It was awesome.

I talked with the midwife in the late afternoon and she listened to me through a rush and asked me to call her after I took a shower to check in. I called Mom who said she was coming home from school and would be right there. As soon as she told me that, the surges started coming w/o a break! Called Linda and Jenny (midwife & apprentice)who headed over, texted Toni (photographer) and they were there by 530 and I was ready to PUSH! They whipped together the birth stool setup and I was incredulous...Pete had taken Austin to the grocery store to get popsicles quick and I was ready to push. The irony that Pete would have made it back early in time to be at the birth but miss it for a popsicle run was too much. But right as I sat on the stool Nana saw Pete pull in the driveway and flew down to get him! Nana told me he saw her running, left the van running, door open, Austin strapped in, running upstairs...woot!

So, he made it, Nana and Austin followed up and I got a sweet breather to laugh and talk with everyone and enjoy being in the sunshine in the window...it was lovely.

Finally got the urge to push, but my water hadn't broken. I asked the midwife about this expecting her to want to break it, but she said some babies are born with the water bag in tact...who knew! She said sailors used to treasure bits of the sac from these babies, believing it helped keep them safe at sea, and that babies born in their sac are said to have special qualities. Not wanting to be the one to nix any special qualities I accepted that Gabe might be one of those babies! And then I got the urge to push again...POP!...you should have seen Linda's surprised face! Luckily we had towels nearby :D So, Gabe was not born in the sac, but our sweet boy was born with a few pushes and I got to meet him with Pete right behind me supporting me. ::warm fuzzies::

He looked so different than Austin did! I was surprised. He weighed 7lbs 5oz, measured 20 3/4 in. Then a few days later he looked identical to a pic of Austin, and now he's well on his way to becoming his own boy :)

My family has been amazing. Mom has been rocked out doing laundry and helping clean up. Pete has been with Austin and projecting around the house, making sure I've got food when I'm hungry. Austin has adored having Pete home. Gee is here now cranking through laundry and dishes and it is OH so appreciated. I feel so fortunate.

One of the most incredible things too has been watching Austin grow up overnight. It was so important to me that he feel part of the experience and not the forgotten first child and have spent a LOT of energy wording things specifically and prepping him. Our baby came into the world and when he latched on to nurse, Austin came over and told me the story again of how "our baby nurse on that side, and Aaa snuggle on other side." Overnight he's become a big brother, and he's amazing. It's not stress free (Austin expresses needing just me sometimes) and he's been practicing figuring out what he has control and power over (no I will NOT wear pants thankyouverymuch) and gets frustrated and overwhelmed, but his autonomy and vocabulary have exploded in the past couple of weeks, and lots of other fun stuff happens...outings with Dad, actually balancing on his balance bike, apples to pick, diggers to haul on trailers, etc.

So, just wanted to share that with you all and thank you for your positive thoughts and support! ::hugs::