11 May 2015

The Birth of Marie Emeline

How this post was not written soon after she was born (or really anytime last year) is beyond me. Maybe it is because we've been so in love with our Marimer, Mimi, Marie Sweet, Marie Darling, Sweet, Marimie, that it escaped me. Here it is:

I had pre-labor for a couple of weekends leading up to her birth. I think that I actually passed through every phase of labor before the actual birth, including transition. I was squatting, thinking she was going to come out of me only to have the feeling subside immediately and then feel like going to bed. It was totally uncharacteristic of anything I've ever read about birth.

The morning she was born I woke up at 3 a.m. with slight contractions but I did feel like I needed to be up and moving. They didn't disappear like they had the weekends before so I woke Jordan and we started getting things ready.

There is a purple line that indicates how many centimeters dilated a woman is. Not too long after I woke up, Jordan told me it was at a 10. Seriously. I made it through active labor and transition and felt almost nothing and slept for all of it! I had cleared a lot of things from my family line regarding birth and fear and he reminded me of this and also reminded me that labor does not have to have pain associated with it. I was in so much shock that I almost didn't believe it. Then I could feel her head very low and knew it must be true.

I didn't leave the bathroom; I felt safest in there for some reason. It was cozy and warm and I think intuitively I knew she would be born in there much earlier in the pregnancy.

The only "pain with a purpose" I remember was when she was emerging. Jordan was on his hands and knees, I was leaning on him and it was all I could do to keep myself standing but there was no way I could have moved myself to the ground. As he saw her head come out he told me on the next contraction he'd need to be up so he could catch her. Then, she came out and he caught her. We looked and were filled with joy that it was another girl. All of the kids came in right after they heard her cry and were all so excited that she was here.

Jordan gave me a blessing right after and she didn't stop crying for quite awhile. Finally she did and latched on just fine. She was 7lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. She was born at 6 a.m.

Each birth has gotten progressively easier with Marie's being the easiest. She came at the time she did to heal me, our family lines, and to  provide the calm ending to our little family unit. Each time my body performs as it should and I'm reminded that I was created to bring these four spirits to earth and create a body for them. It has been an honor.

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