James' Birth Story

I thought I'd recount the story of James' birth so I won't forget. Although, thankfully some of the more painful things I'm already starting to forget. Babies have that affect on their mommies.

Labor began just after dinner on 2/10/10. I was so excited that things were starting that I went crazy cleaning the house, organizing things, doing last minute things in the nursery, and packing the bags again just to keep labor going. I also blogged the nursery tour while in labor…didn't want to jinx anything by mentioning that though!

The contractions continued and George began counting and keeping track for me. We did this together from 7pm until 5am the next morning, sleeping only a bit between contractions. At 5am we called our doula, Amy, and told her we were ready for her to come to the house. Not long after her arrival we were definitely ready to head to the hospital.

We checked in and I signed papers while dealing with contractions and we were in a room by 8am. The good news was that I was at 7cm already! So George called the soon-to-be grandparents and told them it would probably be sooner rather than later.

We worked through the next 8 hours of contractions until James was finally born at 3:51pm. And I do mean we. I could not have labored through 20 hours naturally without the help of my supportive husband and amazing doula. It's crazy to me to think about how long I labored, thankfully it did not seem anywhere close to that duration. The last hour was pretty rough, but completely worth it to meet my son.

I remember the midwife and nurse saying, "he's got red hair!" I thought back to all those times I teased George about having a red headed Greek child and had to smile. After several pushes out he came. The joy I felt when they placed him on my chest and my husband announced "It's a Boy" is completely indescribable. Looking at my baby boy and commenting on how blue his eyes were and how big his hands were, and then looking back at the tears in my husbands eyes…James' birth was perfect. Exactly as God had planned.

I feel so completely blessed to have experienced the natural birth I had hoped for, and to have had the support of so many caring people. At just over a week past his birthday, I believe I would do it again naturally. Yes, it did hurt, and yes, labor was long, but I loved being able to feel his progress as he made his way into the world and to soak in every moment of his birth.

George and I are grateful to have family so close by and so happy that both sets of grandparents and Aunt Faye and Uncle Hal were in the lobby waiting to hear the good news! Thank you sweet family and friends for all the support and encouragement!

Welcome to the family Sweet Baby James.
Your parents love you!