Friday night reflection from Kathryn

Ethan just left for his first Friday night slumber party in the nursery.  (Pictured at top is "us" taken tonight by my parents who are now in town to meet their grandson and help us.)  We are taking advantage of our extra, and final, night in the hospital by allowing the nursery staff to care for him while we sleep.  So here's what I want to talk about--this experience of natural childbirth.  Natural childbirth is not for everyone; but it was for me.

The past 9 months have been a dance of conversations as people discovered our choice for the birth of this baby--to use a midwife as our main medical caregiver and strive for natural childbirth.  I learned early on that the adjective "natural" to describe childbirth is defined by the person using the term.  For us it meant that we wanted the least medical intervention possible during the birthing process AND we wanted medical interventional available at moment's notice if needed.  That's what led us to Women's Health Alliance at Baylor Hospital and ultimately to our midwife, Lindsey Stephens. (Lindsey is pictured above holding Ethan about 5 hours after he was born.) 

Troy did an incredible job blogging our 24-hour labor experience and the blog is not complete without discussion of Lindsey and the two nurses who helped us, Becky and Jenni.  Our office visits with Lindsey instilled great confidence in her medical intelligence and insight.  Pregnancy care is an art and a science and she combined the two beautifully as we progressed through the months and then faced this past month of changing conditions.  

But at the birth, all 24 hours of it, Lindsey showed us the art of delivery.  She gave us the space to create the experience we wanted, and, like a master artist, she took the brush when needed and painted the strokes that helped me, Troy, and most importantly, Ethan, come to life in the crucible of childbirth.

There were some tense moments in the context of those 24 hours and Lindsey coached us and sympathized with us.  And there were some damn funny moments too.  I never expected to laugh myself silly with my midwife, my nurse and my husband when all 4 of us were amazed by the "river."

Lindsey is an amazing caregiver and she is fulfilling her calling that is grounded in science and guided by the Spirit.  As I said earlier, natural childbirth is not for everyone.  It takes a strong desire to want the outcome and it takes 9 months of mental, physical and spiritual preparation.  And, natural childbirth takes a medical professional like Lindsey who has the depth in her soul to bring two people like us through the night.  And, natural childbrith takes incredible nurses who don't have to be committed to my outcome, but still chose to be, and they also carried us through the night and into the light of the morning to welcome our beautiful baby.

I also want to thank all the people who hung on with us through the night, read Troy's posts, kept us in prayer, and left comments.  When the going was tough, Troy shared with me someone's words of encouragement.  Those words helped me to remember that there was a world outside the delivery room, and, this was 24 hours that would pass...eventually.  We never imagined how powerful a role this blog would play in the birth of our child.  Thank you.  

It's strange to think that we go home tomorrow.  Ethan will meet his dog--Sarah--and explore his "oriental" bedroom.  I feel so blessed by the support of my husband, Troy, who hung in there with me and has been AMAZING these past 3 days (and the months before).  We are a family and my heart could not be more full with the love of these two guys in my life. 

I felt the ancestors gather round the night I gave birth.  I have felt the love of my friends and family in the days since.  And now I'm ready to take the next step living in the abundance of love that this little on has brought into our lives.  Good night.