Brian, Elias and I welcomed into our family baby girl
Selah Eden

on October 2nd, 2011 at 12:15 a.m.

To my sweet little Selah,

We are so happy to finally have you here and, yet, it almost doesn't feel real.

Your entry into the world was very different than your brothers. I hope this doesn't set the tone of your life; I have no intentions of constantly comparing you to Elias, but I was very surprised by how you decided to make your entrance. I expected that my labor would go much quicker this time but, girl, you gave me a run for my money! Not that I was in labor as long as some women are but even the midwife thought it was strange. I had regular contraction ALL of Friday night that led nowhere. They eventually went away. Saturday morning we went to visit your great-grandmother Edna in the nursing home. The contractions came back, more intense. We then went to Grandma and Grandpa's to celebrate Daddy's birthday with lunch. By this time, the contractions were regular and intense, so we decided to come home, fully expecting you to make your first appearance on October 1^st.

I labored the entire afternoon with contractions that ranged from 10 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart, depending on how active I was being. It was very frustrating not knowing if I was in true labor so we decided to have our midwife, Barbie, come over to check to see if things were progressing. At about 8:30 I received news that crushed me. After laboring all day, I was a mere 5 centimeters. Baby girl, I made it to 10 centimeters with your brother before Barbie arrived.  I never once cried out in pain while progressing with him the way that I did with you. This was a new type of pain, a new type of birth experience.  I was in tears. 

Barbie asked me to take a walk around the neighborhood to see if that would get things going.  It was obvious only minutes into the “walk” that that was exactly what I needed to jump start the labor.  I stopped more on that little stroll to work through contractions more than I actually walked.  We came back because I felt the need to throw up, though I never did.  I labored the rest of the night and it was the most excruciatingly painful experience of my life.  At about 11:50, Barbie checked to see if I had made any progress.  I was still only 7 centimeters dilated.  By this point I wanted to give up.  My body had had enough.  She offered to break my water, knowing that it might help the labor progress faster.  It worked.  I gave one push after my water broke at which point she asked me to get up so she could put something down on the bed.  I had a contraction while standing and she told me to squat through it.  I got down and could feel your head crowning.  I couldn’t believe it.  I said it out loud and by the time the words were out of my mouth, I had another contraction, pushed and your head was completely through.  I told Barbie and she thought I meant that I could just feel your head.  She barely had time to reach down and catch you after one more push.  You were pretty tangled up in your cord.  It was wrapped around your legs and arms several times.  She worked to untangle you and finally I sat down and she laid you on my chest.  Daddy checked and said, “It’s a girl!”  I couldn’t believe it.  I was so thankful not to have to push for an hour, like I did with Elias, after laboring all day with you. 

Barbie was perplexed as to why this labor lasted so much longer than mine did with Elias.  There was no definitive start time to my active labor since my contractions were all over the board.  And she could tell that this time was way more intense for me.  Maybe you were presenting differently?!

When I told my mom the meaning of your name, she said that you must have just been spending time pausing to reflect on God’s glory and that when you decided to come out, you just did.  I thought that was an appropriate way to describe my labor. 

You were born at 12:15 on October 2^nd, 2011.  You were 9 lbs and 1 oz, 21 inches long.  Both your head and chest measured at 14.75 centimeters.  You latched on right away and I can tell you will have no problem breast feeding once my milk comes in.