Mother's Day

I cannot believe we are already in May. Our little man is 13 weeks old and the time has just flown by.

Today is my first Mother's Day. It seems surreal that I have been blessed with the title to be called mother, mom, mommy. I was a bearer of life, privileged to bring forth a child through great pain. But you know what they say, that women shall be saved through childbearing. I know the meaning of that verse now. Motherhood has taught me so much. The art of gentleness, patience and unconditional love. No matter how many sleepless nights, lack of freedom or frustrations I may have when I come up short on what to do, I know that I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am so thankful to have been taught the value of motherhood and now being able to experience the joy it brings. I never knew such love, such fierce devotion and protection before I knew my son.

He was created with love, half of the man I will walk this life with and half of my own flesh and blood. He was brought forth in oneness and we will raise him up a man of God, of valor, of honesty, strength and truth.

I have so many dreams for this tiny little boy. I never want the weight of my world on his shoulders, but I know he will do great things. The world is so full of darkness and fear and I hope to teach him to stand out amongst others, to love and be kind, to shine a little more light, even if it seems only a flicker.

I fear time goes too fast as I see him grow before my eyes. But he is all of us, the combination of my own parents, my grandparents, of Justin's family and our friends, all who love him more than he will ever know.

I pray every day that I can be a good mother. One who will teach my son to protect those weaker than him, that will display the sort of woman I hope he will marry. To show him how women should be valued and honored. I hope I teach him to always tell the truth, even when it hurts. I hope I can discipline without causing him to fear, but instead to respect my voice and my instruction. I hope to lay out a path in life that he is able to follow, to encourage him to always try his best, to never give up on himself. I hope I give him optimism and a safe place to speak his mind and his heart. I hope to be half the mother I know I can be.

They say the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. I pray my hand is firm yet gentle, always reaching out to hold the little fingers that seek mine. To wipe tears from sorrowed eyes and rub shoulders that heave into my arms. To tickle little feet. To teach little hands how to write. To make mud pies, dig under rocks and help little ones climb trees. To show not to be afraid of the dark but to be strong enough to face it. And when those little hands grow up and surpass mine in strength and size, I hope they show both hard work and tenderness, never too old to hold their mother's hand.

I never knew love till I became a mother.

He is Here!

Henry Clayton Gere was born at 12:36am on February 8th, 2014 in Hayden, Idaho at our local birth center. He was born naturally with no medical intervention, medication or complications after 10 hours of active labor. He weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. He came 1 week and 1 day early after his mama's water broke early. Our midwife and doula were worth their weight in gold and helped me immensely in delivering without any issues. I had an amazing experience and would deliver out of the hospital again in a heartbeat.

He is perfect in every way with ten fingers and ten toes. We feel so blessed by our precious baby boy and are thankful for God's gift of children.

At around 9pm on Thursday February 6th, my water broke. We were not sure if it was the real thing since I had had no contractions up until that point and baby was still high. We called Sarah, our doula, and she had us meet her at the birth center to check and make sure it was amniotic fluid. We tested positive and we officially had to get a jumpstart on labor. When your water breaks early, chances for infection increase. So we were sent home to get some sleep and came back the next morning to run a penicillin antibiotic IV course. I started some herbal supplements to stimulate uterine contractions. Inga, our midwife, had us visit a chiropractor in the area who specializes in maternal care to adjust my back, hips and pelvis to help baby drop. We came back home to labor and contractions kicked in soon. By the time we finished a second IV course I had entered into active labor. At first it was easy to handle contractions. However, they progressively got stronger and longer, making me nauseous and anxious to progress. Our doula met us at 5pm and headed with us to the birth center at 6:30pm. We labored in the bathtub for a few hours until my progress stalled at 9cm. Our doula had me switch positions to bring baby down and I honestly thought I would die from such intense pain. I instantly understood why so many women opt for epidurals. It is really really hard work not to believe that you will always be in such pain. However, I knew I wanted to go without any medication for myself and my baby so I pushed through transition. I could not have done it without my amazing husband supporting me the entire time and our doula encouraging me when all I wanted to do was give up. One position did the trick and we went from stalled to pushing in no time. After 1 hour and 30 minutes of pushing, they placed my perfect baby on my chest and instantly every second was worth it. He scored a perfect 10 on his APGAR and has been the easiest baby since. We are head over heels in love. I would do it all again. He is growing and doing well with more than enough family to smother him with love. We are so thankful to our family and friends who supported us in our unconventional choice and helped bring our baby Huck into the world loved and adored.

Catch Up

It seems I have been a terrible procrastinator when it comes to updating.

Fast forward and little baby Gere is now at 36 1/2 weeks gestation. That is 3 days away from being pre-term! Once we hit 37 weeks, if I go into labor naturally (not due to a complication) we can have this little boy at the birth center with no issues!

We are so beyond excited for our new family member to make his impending arrival. It seemed only a few days ago that we found out we were expecting and now he is almost here!

I won't lie. Labor sounds so scary. The pain and the logistics of birth are intimidating. But one way or another, we are bring this little guy into the world.

I have been so lucky to have a supportive family (immediate and extended) who rejoice in this little miracle with us.

From the moment of conception, he has had a soul and a purpose. No one can convince me otherwise.

His name is still on the down low from the public though our family is aware of it. We love it and so do they.

His nursery is almost 90 percent complete save for a few last minute items. His midwives went over our birth plan last week. Including such things as any shots, water vs bed, lights, music etc that we may want. We meet with our doula (labor coach) on wednesday and our final birth prep class is February 8th. If he doesn't want to come early that is!

He is fat too! 7 to 8 pounds at the moment at our midwives last guess. So that would probably make a 9 to 10 pounder at his birth if he stays in full term!

I will post a few photos of his nursery and my growing belly. We are hoping for a healthy, term baby soon!