Our Baby

Our sweet Natalia Grace was born on April 5, 2010 at 6:47 a.m. She was 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 23 inches long. Her birth was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I had decided before I was married that I wanted to do waterbirth and preferred to have a natural birth without any kind of medication or drugs. From all the research I did I found that the most gentle way for a baby to enter the World was in a familiar environment - from a fluid environment (amniotic fluid) to a water environment before her little body became subject to gravity, light, sound, etc. I was right. My sweet baby was never stressed. Not even in the birth canal. She was so calm and alert right after she was born! My midwife handed her to me where she laid in my arms while we waited for the placenta to be delivered. We waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsating before clamping and cutting it. In doing so Natalia received all the nourishment and oxygen that her body needed to function independently from my body. Josh was able to sever our connection. He was AMAZING! My sweet husband was SO supportive and comforting. He was with me every step of the way and was my partner through everything! How I love my dear husband!

We took a birthing class called Hypnobabies. It was amazing! It taught us how to relax deeply using self-hypnosis and use the body's natural anesthetic to control discomfort during birthing time. The affirmations were very helpful in preparing my mind and body for birth. I was completely at peace with her arriving when she was ready. My body handled pregnancy VERY well! I gained over 50 lbs. without gaining any stretch marks! What a miracle! It's been 3 weeks and I'm only 13 lbs. away from my starting weight. I think I finally found a perk to being 6 feet tall! :) I was horribly disappointed in myself in how I used the skills I had acquired for birth. I practiced my hypnosis and knew it would work for me - there were many occasions when I was experiencing discomfort and used the cues that released my body's anesthetic and the pain was instantly gone. I trusted the process, but when it came time to use it I wasn't very successful. Labor came on very quickly and I delayed starting hypnosis in part because I wasn't sure if it was really go time and I could manage the discomfort I felt. Once I knew it was active labor and we would be having a baby shortly my thoughts turned to "I'm at this point and I should've already been doing this - how do I catch up now?" I should've immediately used my skills. I used some of them and when I did they were very successful. I'm so sad I didn't get the full Hypnobabies experience (over 70 % report a pain-free birthing experience). But I have NO regrets! I had a beautiful healthy baby naturally with NO medication or drugs. That was my ultimate goal. I will most definitely do it again! But the next time I'll be more prepared!