Tavlin Emma

I like the way a friend of mine posted her birth story: the short version and the long version. I think I will offer the "sincerest form of flattery" by imitating her.

The short version - Two hours after I had my first contraction, Tavlin was born in the living room about 3 feet away from the open front door, outside of which Eldon was strapped in the carseat of the running car.

The long version - Shortly before 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 7, 2011 - Eldon climbed into bed with us and woke me up.

6:00 a.m. - I felt my first contraction. I continued to have them every five minutes or so and wondered if (and hoped) I was really going into labor.

6:30 a.m. - I got up and took a shower. I continued to have regular contractions. I started packing my bag to go to the birth center.

7:00 a.m. - I called Mom and told her I thought I was going into labor and that she should probably head down.

I think I ate a bowl of cereal. I read the checklist of things I was supposed to bring to the birth center and realized that I had forgotten to pack anything for the baby.

7:15 a.m. - I called my midwife and told her I'd been having contractions since 6:00. She asked how strong they were, and I told her that I didn't remember them being this strong with Eldon, but I've been saying that about all sorts of things through this whole pregnancy. (As a side note, I think that God gives us amnesia about pregnancy so that we'll have more than one baby.) She told me to keep track of them and to call her back in about 45 minutes.

7:20 a.m. - I tried contacting various people whom I had previously talked to about watching Eldon, but I was unsuccessful in arranging for anyone to take care of him.

My contractions increased in intensity, and I kept worrying about finishing packing the baby things that we needed for the birth center, as well as finding someone to take care of Eldon.

I was surprised by how hard the contractions were and was starting to think I didn't know how I was going to get through the labor...it was so much harder than I remembered!!

I gave up on trying to get anything done and lay on the couch and groaned through several contractions.

7:50 a.m. I felt like pushing and had Joseph call the midwife. He also managed to reach someone to take care of Eldon, pull the car around to the front door, and get Eldon in to the carseat.

My water broke as I was watching him do these things. He kept urging me to get up so we could go. I got up after one contraction and made it to the door, where I leaned on the door frame to deal with another contraction. As I leaned there, I felt the baby's head and said, "I think I'm crowning!"

Though dubious, Joseph helped me step into the living room and kneel at the ottoman to check, and sure enough, the baby's head was peeking out.

7:58 a.m. I pushed once, and the baby's head came out. I pushed twice more and Joseph, who hadn't even wanted to cut the cord, caught the baby as she was born.

Joseph called the midwife to have her come here instead of the birth center, and then he escorted me upstairs and into the bathtub, where I waited with the baby until the midwife arrived while he went and parked the car and got Eldon and dealt with little details like that.

My midwives arrived and checked the baby and me and actually cleaned up a lot of the mess that we'd created and were overall just pretty wonderful.

Tavlin was 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 1/4 inches long, and she is just perfect! We are happy to have her here.