I am always anticipating being at a birth, but even more so when there is a heart connection.
I met Mel and Chad 3 years ago when they first came to our church.
They are amazing people. Sincere, kind and incredibly funny.
They mean what that say and they say what they mean……well…usually.
Never the less, they are wonderful people who we have been so blessed to have in our lives.
Mel called me shortly after finding out she was expecting and asked if I would be her doula.
I am begining to realize that I don’t know why my good friends do this.
They should just say…”You need to put my due date on your calendar; be there”.
I am thankful for their politeness, but I can’t imagine missing it for the world!
On the day before this baby’s birth day I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to get my kids ready for school, only to find a TEXT on my phone that Mel’s water had broken at 1:30 that morning!
I promptly sent her a text back letting her know that this was a ”no no” in doula land and that if she needed me, she should call me.
So, a few minutes later I got a call.
MEL: “Hey. Your awake”
ME: “Yep, I am getting ready to get the kids ready, how’s it going?”
MEL: “well, not much is happening. I talked to Sam and she said to get some rest.”
ME: “Are the contractions getting stronger, longer or closer together?”
MEL: “not much”
ME: “you should definitely rest another hour at least and then call if things are changing”
MEL: “o.k.”
ME: “o.k.”
MEL: “alright, I will call later”
ME: “o.k.”
MEL: “o.k.”
ME: “talk to you later”
MEL: “o.k., bye”
ME: “bye”
So…the day wore on and ON and ONNNNN. No calls.
So.. at the expense of being obnoxious, I called after lunch.
Things were just kind of putting along.
She said she would call later.
Finally that evening I had had more than I could take waiting on the other side of the fence.
I called and found out that everyone was there…BUT ME.
So, I said in a pituful voice, do you think I could come over and visit for a while??
Of course!
So, off I went.
I got to the house about 6:30 p.m. and hung out and talked while everyone milled aroud passing time.
Mel was having contractions and they were making her work, but not at the pace she was hoping.
We spent a lot of time sitting and talking and watching The Office, which was a very welcome distraction.
Mel’s mom Shellie and her sister Lacey, got in the kitchen and whipped up a huge bowl of delicious chicken salad that was gone by the morning.
We all wished Chad a happy birthday at midnight on Friday.
After many herbs and pumping sessions Mel finally surrendered to the need for rest at about 2 a.m Friday.
She decided to take a shower and go to bed to get some rest.
The rest of us tried to find a spot on the couches and get some sleep.
I got about an hour and a serious crick in my neck, thank you very much mean couches!
Mel walked in and woke us up about 3:15 saying she felt like she might be getting a little “pushy” at the middle of each contraction.
Sam said she should check her progress and then we would go from there.
Yay! Mel was 8 cm and progressing!
She climbed into the birth pool and used the water to relax while the next two centimeters melted away.
She labored great and hardly made a sound.
Chad climbed in the pool with her and supported her during all the hard work.
At 4:40 a.m. the pushing stage rolled in.
It was undeniable that the baby was immanent.
Mel and Chad made an amazing team.
She only pushed for a brief 33 minutes before baby Sutton was born into warm waters.
They pulled him up and held him close; with the familiar sounds of happiness and tears of joy.
It was a beautiful birth.
He took his time getting here, so I am wondering if this will be a sign of a slow easy going kind of nature.
Thank you for letting me be a part
A big thank you to Laura Wootan for all of the amazing photography in this blog.
