Caitlin's Sharebook 

My first child was born at 6:51 AM on December 10, 2011. She was 21 inches long, 9 pounds 3.4 ounces, and two days overdue. "Aylah Racheal-May"

My labor pains lasted 12 hours, starting at 2cm dilated and jumping to 5cm at 2 AM check-in by midwife and then to 10cm at the last minute check. I was then told I could give in to the urge to push, and five pushes later, she slid out faster than the midwife could put her hands in the water.

I had a natural birth in a tub, which I decided had too hot of water, not enough room (though it was massive), and at the end: did not take enough pain/pressure away for my comfort. Everyone gave me cold washcloths to keep on my forehead, neck, and sides, and amused me for one second when my doula announced I needed to give her a second to move her hand before I snapped her fingers off.

I did panic a bit, but was actually able to relax (finally) when my momma prayed out loud and right after she finished I was allowed to push. According to my DF, I made him cry before she even came out because I kept looking to him to help me and he didn't know how to help me besides sit there holding me up, breathing with me, and telling me he wasn't going anywhere and that I could do it; and I remember at the last minute making him promise me that he could feel where her head was so I would know she was actually coming out when I was trying to push (which, I stopped for a minute after the first to ask him several times if she actually did move forward to come out).

Aylah had been measured as small for weeks before delivery and when she came out, I had only seen her for one second before deciding that she was NOT small. However, I only needed a couple of stitches in the end, so I guess she wasn't too big.

Her father handed her to me, weighed and measured her, cut her cord, bathed her, and dressed her before I nursed her for the first time and then he also got her diaper changed (and she showed me some loving expressions from him that I have never seen before)! She is now nursing regularly and has gone through a stack of diapers. I am also grateful she is a solid sleeper -- only having woke up twice during her constantly sleeping because of an excited family member fussing over her (fingers crossed she lets me get some sleep often).

This whole pregnancy (and especially during delivery), I swore up and down she would be an only child due to increasing discomforts, but now that mommy-hormones have hit, taking away the negativity, I would certainly do it again. I never thought you could feel so strongly for someone you had never seen before, by only looking at them for a second and then their first sounds being loud cries, but you can.