One year ago my precious little Catherine Grace was born.
After contractions all day on the day 24th, D and I packed our bags and headed to the "Clinique de la Chataigneraie" convinced that we would be holding our daughter soon. Alas, I was sent home and told that I was not in "real labor" yet. Well, "the not real labor" continued and "real labor" started at around 4 AM. I was pretty sure that this time it was for real. D, however, was unconvinced and having just taken the day off the day before for the "not real labor," headed off to work at around 7:30. Unbeknownst to him, this is when my contractions were kicking up to notches that required intense prayer and an MP3 player with songs loaded for labor- you are listening to some now, by the way. "Well, here we are, just you and me, Lord, how are we going to do this?" I asked Him. Shortly afterwards, my water broke just as SA was waking up and asking for breakfast. I tried to convince her to do the hula dance with me that I had learned with the sage femme (midwife) in order to manage the pain and work with what was going to happen in my body whether I "worked with it" or not. For once, SA didn't want to dance. .. I found myself on the phone to my friend asking her what it was like when one's water breaks. Assured that I was well on my way to delivering a baby, she promptly instructed me to call D to come home and she rushed over to be with me and SA. To make a long story short, we barely made it to the hospital and CG was born in under an hour. I was actually allowed to reach down and "catch" her as she was born! Then I held her skin to skin for two hours that seemed to pass in 5 minutes. She and I stayed in the hospital for six days- the norm for France plus one day since my milk came in slow. She is my "petite francaise" as she was born in France, has only ever lived in France and is more petite than her sister. We are so thankful for her. I was reminded of these verses today as I was writing.
"You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed
How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God!
They are inumerable"
Psalm 139:16-17
6 comments:
wow, she looks so much like sarah adeline to me now! i can't wait to meet her! big birthday love from aunt abby!
your new blog pic is breathtaking.....almost as pretty as your munchable baby girl! I loved the slide show; your girls are adorable, and I can detect the gleam in SA's eye! The first year does fly....I laughed when I read your labor story-I hadn't heard about the hula!
Okay, that made me tear up...she is so precious! I can't wait to snuggle her. Much love! Sarah
I love your pics! I've been reading your blog every now and again. My sis-in-law Jen has a link to it now on her blog.
If you'd like to check out ours it is
http://utahpages.blogspot.com/
Oh friend, that's all just so dear, the pictures, the story, the music... Thanks for sharing the special day with us. I love hearing about birthing stories! Loved the photos, esp the African style sling. She is just precious. The rosy cheeks just shout "little french doll" to me!! :)
Sweet, pretty baby. Thanks for sharing her wonderful pics. It all just flies by, doesn't it?
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