On the 22^nd of February my mom called to let me know that I had to have the baby on the coming weekend otherwise she would not be able to come, since she could only take off from work the next two weeks but not later. Even though, I was enjoying being pregnant and did not want the baby to come out yet, I started cleaning the house including the windows to induce the nestling instinct. After I was done, my husband and I went for a seven-mile bike ride. On the next morning, three days before due date, contractions woke me up, which I tried to ignore and continued sleeping. At 6:30 am I was not able to sleep any longer. The childbirth educator taught us to “go on with your life” during early labor. So I went to class at the college without telling my husband who was still asleep.

Here I started timing my contractions, which were about five minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long. No one noticed I was in labor. During the break I called my husband to let him know the baby was coming today. Afterwards I had an appointment with my midwife who told me that the baby might come today or tomorrow. Disappointed I went to wholesaler grocery shopping. I was deciding about cheese ravioli when I realized my contractions required more attention and were quite painful. By the time I got home, my husband all excited cleaned the house and even washed the dog. Entering the house at about 1:30 pm I told my husband how horrible it hurts and that I now understand why women get anesthesia for labor and childbirth. I am glad it is not an option in home births. I was told to take a nap, but when I tried to lay down it started hurting even more so I was sitting on the birthing ball and leaning with my back against the wall while my husband timed the contractions. They were rapidly increasing in length and intensity. We called the midwife and the security at the gate to authorize her and her assistant to enter the community. At 3:00 pm I told my husband to sit on the chair while I would squat holding on to his knees for support. My water broke in this position the minute I squatted. My husband went to fill the tub so I could relax in the water because contractions get unbearably intense after the water breaks. While I was in the tub moaning like a wild animal, my husband was continuously calling the midwife to make sure she was on her way. In between contractions I was asking God to give me the strength to survive the next contraction. The assistant arrived and was making me more comfortable with cold compresses on my hot face. It did hurt so bad and I felt like pushing, but the assistant told me to wait until the midwife arrived. My husband smiled encouraging at me when he heard me express my desire to push. Because my water contained some meconium and the baby’s mouth and nose would need to be suctioned I could not stay in the tub. By the time I got out of the tub the midwife arrived and checked me on the bed. She said that I was fully dilated and I could start pushing in the semi sitting position with my husband supporting my back. However, the next contraction came and it felt so uncomfortable that I had to get on the floor in the squatting position to be comfortable. My midwife was sitting in front of me on the floor. I did not push for a long time and the baby came. Immediately after she entered the world she was put in my arms. The baby was quietly looking at my husband and me. We uncovered the baby to see its gender. In this wonderful moment I did not know what to say or think. I was just amazed by the big deep blue eyes looking at me. After some time elapsed I cut my baby’s last physical connection to me, the umbilical cord.             

The conclusion: God created a woman’s body for this big purpose and it can do a perfect job without any interventions. God will carry everyone through the worst pain if we only ask him to. 

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