Emeth's Birth in Pictures

A photo documentary of Emeth's birth will have to do until I can find the time to put the words together for his birth story. No worries for the faint-hearted, there is nothing graphic in here :).

Many thanks to my wonderful birth attendants; to my midwives, Amanda and Jamie, whose knowledgable watchfulness put us at ease throughout the whole evening, to my mom for staying awake the whole time ;), and for giving birth to me at home 28 years ago even though I weighed almost 10 lbs! (I appreciate that fact much more now than I ever did before giving birth myself.), to my sister Rachel for providing the wittiest remarks of the night, to my sister Penny for being our birth photographer, to my sister Robin for opening her home (and my brother-in-law Brian!) to us so we could bring our fourth baby into the world surrounded by our family, and lastly to my 2 month old niece, Rebecca, whose occasional cries caused all the waiters downstairs to think that the birth had already taken place multiple times :).

I can't list Jessie as a birth "attendant", because I think he works just as hard as I do. What an amazing supporter he is! I can't imagine getting through labor and delivery without his enthusiastic and sensitive presence by my side.

Still dressed up right after returning from our abbreviated date

- 2 hours and 40 minutes to go -

Two outfits sit waiting by the bedside

- we don't know yet which one will be used -

A lower back massage is a boon to laboring women

- I must not be in the midst of a contraction, because I'm smiling -

Getting to the point where I cannot go through a contraction without him at my side

- 1 hour and 5 minutes to go -

Time to get in the tub

- 55 minutes to go -

In between contractions

- its crazy how normal you can feel between really intense contractions -

Getting ready for the next one

- these things are requiring more of my concentration now -

Getting a lot sharper

- how much longer do I have to do this? -

Late in labor there is a lot of bad humor going around the bathroom(birthroom?)

- ask Jessie sometime about why a pitchfork is required in calving -

Jessie has climbed in with me to help me deal with my contractions

- 6 minutes to go -

I am pushing with the very next contraction

-3 minutes to go -

My Reward - unquestionably worth it

- Jessie caught Emeth entirely on his own, he was first to see his son -

These moments are some of the most memorable and beautiful of my life

- Now I can say that of all four of them -

Nobody could doubt that this is a boy's face

- 1 minute old -

Resting a minute before moving into the adjoining bedroom

- what a great "babymoon suite" this has been -

It doesn't take Emeth long to find his reward

- he's still nursing like a champ -

No caption required

-ditto-

Cute little wrinkled baby feet

Finally we turn him over to Amanda to do the newborn exam

- everyone is curious to find out how much he weighs -

7 lbs, 15 oz

- my biggest baby, but everyone had guessed over 8lbs -

One of my favorite parts of birth at home, the newborn exam

- always done in my presence, at my baby's pace, and with a gentle hand -