Little Miss Avalon: The Birth of Avalon

It was in the evening on March 26th when I got a call from your mama. She was having contractions- still thought they were pretty far apart though and just wanted to give me a heads up. Sounded like they were about 10 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long or so, so easy peasy stuff in the scheme of things. I knew I wasn't going to sleep (even if there was time- I just get so excited when a baby is coming!) I waited at home for an hour or so, and then decided I would feel more comfortable if I was in Bellingham, since I live in Everett (things don't generally progress so quickly that it would've been a problem, but just in case your mama needed me asap, I didn't want to have to make her wait). I got to Bellingham around 9:30pm or so, and went and saw some friends while I waited for the word. It wasn't more than an hour or so that we decided it was a good time for me to come over! When I got there mommy was sitting on the birth ball doin' her thing.

We sat inside for a bit and had some girl talk. Daddy was sleeping since he'd been up since 3am and it was decided that he'd be far more important towards the end of things (didn't want him falling asleep!) I finally talked your mama into going on a wilderness walk to get things moving. It was dark and wildernessy, but we were brave! I remembered your daddy had told me that mama knew some constellations so we talked about that, among many other things. We returned to the house and mom took a shower. We thought it was probably a good idea to let the midwife know soon that you were coming, so we gave her a call. We could tell she didn't think your mama was as far along as I knew she was!!! My guess was 6cm at that point- and she was holding up amazingly well! After the shower, we sat on the birth ball some more while drying off and talked about just one more walk before we left. We took off into the wilderness again, flashlight in hand. We didn't make it so far this time because there was a creepy wilderness noise that sent us trucking back quickly!!!! At this point I could tell that your mom was entering into transition- her contractions got very strong and we had to stop OFTEN to work through them. By the time we reached the house, we decided we were calling the midwife to tell her that we're serious about coming in now. We woke up daddy and got necessities together! We had to stop and work through a ton of contractions before we could make it to the car!!! I knew the car ride wasn't going to be great fun (never is), so I gave your mom some tips on how to *try* and stay reasonably comfortable on the ride into town.

We made it to the birth center (it was officially March 27th- You're an Aries!). The midwife plopped your mommy down, and guess what? 8cm!!! And she didn't believe me- we showed her! ;) The midwife checked your heart tones and we were just movin right along.

Daddy began to fill the tub. Since mommy was so far along it was a good time to hop on in!

We got mommy on into the tub and it was good! She stayed in there for quite a bit! I poured water over her tummy during contractions.

After a bit, we wanted a change of scenery and decided to get out of the tub to do a bit of laboring and slow dancing. At one point, mama flopped back onto the bed and we tucked a million pillows under her- this was a new position for me! And you the midwife picked up the camera so there's the rare photo of myself and your mama and daddy!

Daddy and mama were doing some slow dancing when I caught this gem of a photo. Probably the best picture of the whole night- dad was a total sport and did great while your mama labored, but labor is hard work for everyone! Ha!

I think at this point mama thought it would never end- but I had noticed her having grunting noises at the end of her contractions. This is the universal sign of getting ready to push. I tried to let her know she was doing great and it was almost time to push- though I don't think she believed me!!! Every mama hits that point where it feels like it will never end! We thought perhaps we'd get back into the bathtub and prepare for a water birth :)

It didn't take long before your cute little head starting coming down. Daddy got in position to catch you! The midwife assisted him in guiding his hands to where they needed to be to support you on your way out.

And you're out!!!! Up on mommy's chest to snuggle for the first time! Very beautiful and amazing!

And during our wildnerness walk, I had told your mama about how I loved being able to cut the cord, daddy said he didn't need to since he caught you and so I had successfuly guilted your mama into doing it!!! ;) I feel so blessed to be such a cool part of your birth!