I'm copying this from a thread at a group where I was a member at the time of Sophie's birth, just in case you're wondering about the converstaional tone of the "article."  ;)

 

 Happy 4th of July, everybody!

Just a quickie before I head off to bed and TRY to sleep---LOL.

Sophia (no middle name yet) Hunt was born at 12:12am, almost exactly 3 1/2 hours ago. She came bang! on her due date (a first for me), which may explain why she weighed 8 lbs. and not 10. She is 21 and some fraction of an inch long. She has dark hair and "the nose"---all my kids have my "button" nose.

I have TONS more to tell y'all, but I haven't slept in 2 days, so I really should go, even though I'm wired to the gills!

Nothing went like I expected (not bad, just diff.), but we were VERY blessed to have another uncomplicated homebirth.

Thank you, Father for your abundant gifts to your children!!

 

(later...)

 

Labor--well, it depends on what you consider labor. My midwife and her mom got here about 40 minutes before Sophie was born, and I was still cracking jokes between contractions (I'm kinda a ham when I'm not in agony). The last several contractions got progressively harder very quickly. So, I'd say hard labor was under 30 minutes. Contractions never got one on top of the other so I got breaks in between. Wonderful except for the very end when her head was out only up to her eyebrows. I know it's supposed to be a "good" thing to ease the head out, in order to let the perineum stretch, but oh, my word! That hurt more than pushing out ten-pound Ben! Her hand was up around her chin, and I had to wait for the next contraction because I wasn't having any success pushing on my own in between (believe, me, I TRIED!!). Later I asked my midwife how long it took to get her out, because it usually only takes me one push for the head, and sometimes that's all. I asked "A year and a half?" She giggled and said "Nooo, more like seven minutes!" Ha ha ha. One more push and the rest of her was out and it was over!!

I feel great! Sore all over. Even under my arms---how funny is that? Must be from when I was pulling on the bedsheets trying to get leverage for pushing. [edited to add:  i only spent a short time on the bed, and then moved to a down-on-one-knee position next to the bed for the delivery] The adrenaline (sp?) train is leaving the station, though, and I'm starting to feel more tired. My back is sore, and my milk is starting to come in, so now I've got hot and heavy parts in the front. But compared to pushing out that head...I feel fabulous!!

She has been sleepy, but I expect that will come to an abrupt end here shortly. I was much more "present" mentally this time---Praise the Lord! It was one of my prayer requests ---so I was able to pick her up and nurse her almost immediately. Other than the fact that my n!ppl*s aren't getting "perky" yet (good grief! what's the right word for that?), and so everything tends to slide around 'til she gets a good suction going, she's nursing like a pro.

This makes a total of six Awesome Blessings for me!! I have two from my first marriage, and four with my husband Stan. You know how in the book of Ruth, Naomi wants to change her name to Mara? I want to change mine to something that means "Blessed beyond belief!"

I looooove having homebirths. We always have a Plan B, but I had such a peace about this one, I never even gave it a thought during labor. This was my second homebirth. Amazing how much faster my recoveries have been! When my midwife and her mom (who acts as assistant and doula) left a couple hours after Sophie was born, I walked them to the front door. And they gave me a hard time because after I went potty for the first time (about an hour after birth), I grabbed the spray cleaner and attacked the toilet seat. They were cracking up and reminding me "You don't have to do that, you just had a baby!" LOL Well, we've only got the one bathroom, and I was trying to be a good hostess!
It was nice to feel good enough to CARE about clean toilet seats, ya know?

P.S. Early labor started Sat. morning, but didn't really get going until Sunday evening. A couple hours before she was born, I remember thinking "I didn't get any sleep last night. The only way I'm getting any sleep tonight is if I have this baby!" Funny what motivates you to work hard sometimes. BTW, I didn't get any sleep that night, either. I was too excited! LOL