Emma's Birth Story

(If you don't like details, you might want to skip this.)

I've always said, if I could "order" a birth, I would order Emma's! It was just right!

With Olivia & Derek... I was not in labor... then BAM, I was in hard, active labor!

Well, Emma's started a little more textbook...

I woke up around1 a.m. contracting. It was 3 days before my due date. Remember, Olivia & Derek were 6 & 5 days late... I was thinking this wasn't real labor.

Actually, I should back up a bit. You know how "normally" each delivery gets faster? Well, since Derek's birth was 1 hour 16 minutes, I was a little nervous about how fast Emma would come. As a matter of fact, a couple of nights before I really went into labor, I thought I was going into labor. I called Amy (our midwife), & she quickly came over to check on me. Did I mention it was after midnight? Well, by the time she got to our house, everything had stopped. I wanted to know if "anything was happening." So she checked me. She couldn't even FIND my cervix! Talk about depressing! So, I figured it would be a while yet before we'd meet our little Emma! But just a couple of nights later was the night I woke up wondering if I was really in labor...

As I laid in bed, I would watch the clock. Again, it was after midnight. I think it was around 1 a.m. It seemed my contractions were pretty regular... maybe every 5 minutes, but they were very manageable. I was debating on whether or not to wake Dano. After all, he had to get up at 3 a.m. or something like that to go to work. And it was 3 days before my due date... what were the chances that I was really going into labor... AND just a couple of days before, Amy couldn't even FIND my cervix!! So, I was hesitant to wake him. Well, thankfully the Lord woke him with the help of Olivia! For some reason, she came into our room upset. She was about 3 1/2 at the time. So, Dano got up with her & took her back to bed. (What a great Daddy!) Then when he got back, I told him about my contractions. He immediately went into "get ready for a homebirth mode." I don't think we called Amy right away since things were slow. I just stayed in bed & read between contractions. It was a nice start. Eventually, we called Amy, & she and the apprentices came. I have no idea what time that was when they arrived, but they had plenty of time to set things up (unlike Derek's birth). The contractions got stronger & closer, so that I was no longer interested in reading between them. Finally, I was ready to push. Actually, it had only been a few hours... it was close to 4:30 a.m. It seems I hardly had to push & not that many times, and she was born! Yea! Another wonderful homebirth. A major difference with Emma & the others is that she cried... a lot... after she was born. The others were very content after birth... but Emma cried for about 45 minutes! I was concerned something was wrong, but they assured me that some babies just cry. Thankfully, this was not a preview of her personality. She was a great baby... BUT she only liked to be with Mommy or Daddy... especially Mommy. She remains this way til today! The others aren't this way at all!

3 days early
Emma
8# 2oz... our smallest to date!