I am AMAZED.

While I won't do justice to Jen's writing skills, she asked that I, the professor, start this post about our daughter's birth because it is still a bit unreal to her, and I have a different perspective.

I could go on about the detailed schedule of what happened when, or the technical explanation
regarding the internal pressure of the uterus during a contraction as given by our OB to an interested former engineer (myself), or that our baby was born without any vernix to speak of.   All of which may be interesting to some, but not that interesting to Jen. So I won't talk about those things.

Instead, I'll talk about my impressions while all of this was happening, what I was feeling and thinking. Then all of you who love to read Jen's blog because of her open expression of thoughts and feelings will not (hopefully) feel slighted. But I can't promise a 7-page entry.

What sticks out most in my mind is how amazingly well Jen handled the whole situation. Jen was able to deliver our baby without an epidural, and really mastered the whole labor experience.  The entire labor lasted about 5 hours, she was happy and talkative for all but the last 45 minutes, thanks to her hynobirthing scripts on her iPod. I had prepared myself for 5 hours or more of a snippy, cranky wife due to the labor pains (which is totally fine given the situation; I get snippy and cranky just by fasting for two meals...), but I was not prepared for what I saw.  Jen had her iPod turned on, but was externally focused between contractions. She would laugh and joke with the nurses, or talk with me about whatever was on her mind. During contractions, she became very inwardly focused. She would stop talking, close her eyes, and take measured breaths while focusing on the hypnobirthing scripts. Then it would pass, and she'd be her happy self again. It was the most calm labor I could have imagined for her.

The final 45 minutes were more difficult. Talking by the nurses or myself would cause Jen to loose her focus and she could really feel the pain, so the room became silent during contractions. As she was pushing through the last few contractions, I was amazed at her poise and determination. I knew that there was a lot of pain there, yet she had the mastery over her pain. She didn't scream uncontrolably, as could have happened. To me it sounded like a battle cry from Lord or the Rings or Braveheart, a sound of her sheer will conquering the pain and everything else that stood between her and her baby (note: ladies, there's no need to apologize for these battle cries. I couldn't believe Jen was with it enough to even care what we were thinking about her actions, much less apologize for them). While I would voice words of encouragement, inwardly I was speechless with amazement.  I believe her OB's words were, "Wow, you have a really high pain tolerance". When it was all over and she finally had her little girl, Jen was bright and alert. Such a different recovery compared to her last two births--emergency c-sections.

My wife, who has been induced during the births of our first six children, was trying desparately to experience labor starting without any medical interventions. Yet it became increasingly clear that if our girl didn't come on her own soon, we'd need Pitocin to start Jen's labor. Sunday night was difficult for both of us. Jen felt a bit forsaken, and it was hard for me to console her. She expressed her exasperation with the wait, her wondering about why things were happening this way, her concerns about all that could go wrong having a VBAC after two c-sections. But then she talked about all that could go well, all of the blessings that we had seen in our lives during this pregnancy. We had done all that we could do to bring about our desires, which we believe were righteous and good.

So, while Jen's labor was induced, our OB did what he could to respect our wishes and wisely started her with the minimal doseage possible to get things going, to minimize the risk of uterine rupture. I felt so happy for my wife, seeing her labor progress so rapidly with so little discomfort and so little Pitocin. And in the end, it turned out that having an induction in the hospital may have been the best thing for Jen because her water didn't break until two minutes before the birth, and the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and body. Out initial plan of waiting at home until her water broke could have resulted in a birth in the front seat of our car--a very dangerous proposition given the condition of the cord. But because we were at the hospital, everything worked out just fine.

And so, I really feel amazed to have a healthy baby girl (Eve Antonina, 7 lb 8 oz, 20 in long) who is already nursing like a champ, a happy wife who is recovering more quickly than with any other birth, and a mother-in-law who is lovingly watching over our other kids. Life is very good.