One year ago yesterday...

I woke up feeling great. That was surprising as I was 40+ weeks pregnant, four days overdue to be precise. I had a feeling that this pregnancy was going to turn into a similar scenario as Mali's--that is, overdue, then non-stress tests at the hospital, and then eventual labor induction. I did not necessarily want that repeat. BUT, I was feeling really well; well enough to envision giving birth.Most importantly, Grandma Deni was already there and having a blast with Mali. So at our scheduled Midwife Center appointment we decided to hurry things up and elect to be induced.(Anyone that's ever had pitocin knows that's' crazy)

Oh, that hospital stay! Jonathan was trying his best to cope with a bad cold, we were both really anxious, and although the epidural took away any pain, time passed so slowly. The night passed. Morning came. Morning turned into afternoon. My mom arrived. The afternoon passed. Evening came. Finally, into our third shift of midwives and over 25 hours later, we had our reward.

Even her arrival was difficult, as she was born with the cord around her neck and not able to breath. Our midwives and nurses quickly tended to her and it was only a matter of minutes before we heard her newborn sounds. Jonathan had seen her across the room and let the news slip that she was a girl, but we were too caught up in the urgency of the moment to even process that. Finally, finally, finally, we were able to hold our 7 pound, 1 ounce little wonder. She was perfect for the name we had envisioned: Brinnly Ruth.

We cuddled and cuddled her as she grew stronger. Eventually we were able to believe (with much reassurance from our midwife) that she was just fine. She nursed well and soon found one of her all-time favorite resting spots: Daddy's chest. We began to settle in for our first night together. It was official--we were a family of four.