Our Little Christmas Present

We are very much enjoying our new baby girl. During our two day, two night stay at the hospital I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. It’s been so much fun to have a little baby in our house again. I forget just how little and fragile they are. That being said though, I’m surprised that Ariana can almost hold up her head on her own. I don’t think Eli could do this for at least a month. Maybe she’s off to a head start.

Kim’s labor and delivery went really well. It all went much faster this time, overall about half the time. Like Eli her water broke and we weren’t able to labor at home as much as we would’ve liked. But after arriving at the hospital we were able to walk around to ‘augment’ labor naturally. This had minimal results, so a little bit of pitocin got things going a little quicker. Kim was in active labor for only about three hours, from 7-10pm.

Something that’s important to both me and Kim is to have a ‘natural’ labor, ie. without pain killers or an epidural. We’ve found that there are dozens of benefits to doing it this way, including heightened awareness, a less lethargic baby, easier breastfeeding, and huge sense of accomplishment. Plus as an added bonus I get to play a much more important role- her birth partner and coach. Instead of just sitting on the sidelines and watching the doctors and nurses I was really needed to help Kim cope with her labor. I helped her breath, kept her timing, and gave her something to focus on. I really felt needed, which was nice. She appreciated my help and the delivery in a sense was something we did (and accomplished) together. I don’t think you quite get that experience if you go the pain killer route.

We thank God for our new beautiful gift. And what good timing too, just before Christmas. I can’t think of a better present really. Thank you God. This Christmas we’re reminded again that a baby does indeed change everything!!