Charlotte Ayla Lheron’s Birth Story
I had my beautiful baby girl on Saturday morning, December 5, 2009 at 11am. I think this home delivery went beautifully. With our meager scale and measuring devices at home we assume she weighed in at 9 lbs. 4 oz. 21.5 inches long. She showed up with lots and lots of dark hair with a tiny bit of red in there to tease me with. After thinking about it and getting to know her for 14 days, we named her Charlotte Ayla Lheron.
That is the short story.
If you want to read the this, go get a snack and a comfy chair because this is the long story… and I am not kidding…
My water broke at 8:30am while I was still in bed visualizing the birth like I did every morning. I wanted this delivery to go as smoothly as possible. Being in the comfort of my own home to deliver my baby was so important to me. I did have Beatrice at home and the others totally natural, so I knew I could do this! I know my body, my own comforting sights, smells and energy of my home. This is how I wanted our baby it enter the world. So, I felt “the pop” and I knew it was time! I was so excited I was going to meet my baby! I relaxed and laid down and started to listen to my hypnotic birth CD. I told Chris to go make breakfast for the family and call the kids friends to go play for the day. Chris made BACON with breakfast of all things! All I could smell was that freaking bacon! He felt so bad! Ha! I just told him it would serve as a good distraction. He was frankly lucky I was already in my “happy place”. At about 9am things were starting to move along with the labor.
I use this technique called Hypnobirthing and for me it is basically mind over matter. The idea of turning my mind over to my body that knows exactly what to do was the key! That is what I focused on this time. It was like the other births were test runs. For months, Chris and I worked hard on reading scripts and training each other to relax during the labor. The funny thing is that I didn’t want him to do anything except be there and touch me. I needed to know he was there and that was all. I needed his support and he did just that. I just listened to my CD that led me through my meditation and it was awesome.
I was laying down and was feeling things quite strong but I knew that things would go a lot quicker if I sat on my labor ball. So, I did just that. It was awful changing positions and at one point, I did think… why do I do this? Give me some drugs! But, I knew that the hospital wasn’t going to work for me, so I just refocused. Chris’s mom was there and she helped me get more comfortable. She and Chris looked at each other at one point and thought I was asleep! That is because I DID IT!! I reached the total relaxation where I did not feel any pain at all!!! NONE! It was soo exhilarating! I just kept on saying to myself that this was what I wanted to reach and I was doing it! I was so proud of myself! I could tell that Chris’s back was aching because I could hear his actual facial expressions writhing in pain behind me as he held me.HA! I wanted to tell him to just go to his “happy place” too, but I decided the bed was a better place to just relax. Only a few minutes later, I pushed with the few contractions and there she was! AMAZING! Our baby was perfect!!
Recovery with natural childbirth was so great as well. I shared some tender, awesome moments with the baby and Chris and then got up, took a shower, got dressed and went to the living room to nurse the baby. Everything happened in 2 hours!
It was a sacred day I will always cherish and remember!
We took this picture at Grandma Arba's funeral this weekend. It was so nice to come together and see eachother and realize that we do miss eachother. We dont live close to anyone and we talk occationally. It seems like so much has happend in each of our lives that has made it so we justify the distance. But, in this picutre. I see a nice space in the back with the boys. It is a perfect spot just for Mark. We miss him and I hope I can live my life so I can see him again.
Beatrice has been so much fun these past 2 years. I think Beatrice has brought such a joyful and fun spirit to our home and lives. To anyone that meets her, she just makes people happy! One look into her eyes, and you are a better person because of it. Her smile warms you up! We are pretty confident in saying that Beatrice started the baby craze of 2009. Hey, even us.. we had to have another baby in hopes to have another like her. HAHAHA!
