It's a GIRL!

Olivia Rose French was born at 11:58am on Sunday the fifth of July. She was 11 pounds, 4 ounces. Twenty-one inches long. And what a surprise to see it was a girl! I really thought it was going to be a boy.

I am still in a bit of a daze. As much as I wanted it to happen, it all went by in such a hurry, it's hard to believe it's over.

I woke up Sunday morning around 8:30 with pains. I had been having pains here and there, and as these contractions were not steadily spaced apart (some close together, some far apart), I did not realize until around 10:30 that this was the real thing. I called my wonderful midwife Jesica, and then rounded everyone up to go to the birth center. Before we left I started to feel the urge to push, so we really started to boogy to get to the birth center. From the time I realized it was really labor, to the time she emerged, was about 90 minutes.

Olivia was born just under a half hour after we arrived at the birth center. It was the easiest, fastest labor of my five labor & births. I think due to the great advice of the midwives, in taking as much magnesium as your stomach can stand the last trimester. I highly recommend it to anyone pregnant! Even at the very end, when she was half in/half out, I was feeling little pain between contractions, which has never happened for me before. This was the first labor that I felt the pain was bearable. Not that there was no pain, or no moaning and groaning on my part, but the pain was definitely not at the high degree it was with the others.

This was my third waterbirth, and my third Andaluz baby. The tub was really nice to sink into as soon as we arrived. They had my room all ready to go. I chose the "Brisa" room. I loved the soft feminine greens of the decor, and the coziness of the room. The tub was a delight.

Olivia was a little unresponsive in the beginning. Jesica gave her a mouth-to-mouth breath, and I saw her take her very first breath. I didn't notice a first breath with the others, so this was a special memory that I will keep from this birth. She had ingested a lot of gunk, and took a bit to cough/hack it all up, but in short order she was just fine. Thank the Lord, and the awesome midwives!

Recovery at the birth center is like being in a luxury bed and breakfast resort! You are pampered with herbal baths, lovely lotions and soaps, and even a professional massage. My first! It was a lovely experience. And the food. Wow. I think food never tastes better than the first 48 hours after a birth. I ate way more than I imagined I could. Everything was wonderful.

I am overwhelmed at God's blessings in our lives. The joy and happiness that parenting brings is so much greater than I ever anticipated. And it keeps getting better! To see all five of our children - so uniquely different, yet so amazingly similar - it is a humbling thought to know they are our responsibility. That something so great and wonderful has been entrusted to our care, to nurture and train up to be a moral light, a breath of fresh air, in such a dark world. To whom much is given, much is required. And I feel we have been given such great treasure! God is very, very good.