Ella Grace Baldwin

Well, after not posting since the end of November, I am somewhat embarrassed, but maybe with the newest addition to our family, I'll be better at posting on a more frequent basis. Hey- one can hope, right? lol

Ella Grace Baldwin was born on December 29th, 2010 at 11:34 am. She weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz, and measured 19 inches long. She is beautiful! A lot of you have been asking for details, so here they are:

I started having noticeable contractions at 11 pm on the 28th. My dear husband came home from work at 1:30 am to find me sitting in the chair by the fireplace with a pen & notebook in hand, and the stopwatch on my cell phone ready to go. Most of my contractions were 60-80 seconds long, and by the time he came home were about 7-10 minutes apart. We loaded up the car, called our midwife, and headed north. As we were driving, I remember thinking, "this really doesn't hurt that much, I can definitely do this..." When we arrived at our midwife's birthing center (LifeCircle Birthing & Wellness Center) in Shell Lake, WI at 3:30 am, she told me I was at 1.5 cm and definitely in labor. However, she encouraged us to go home and rest until my contractions were stronger & closer together. We headed to my parents house, and by 7 am, I was contracting every 3-5 minutes and my thinking changed to "wow this is really intense and is definitely painful."

We called our midwife, and headed back to her birthing center. I went from 1.5 cm to 5 cm in 5 hours. Our midwife estimated that I would deliver our baby around 2 pm that afternoon. I was so excited, but at the same time thought to myself...2 pm?! That's 6 hours away! Well, Ella had different plans, because within 2.5 hours, I was completely dilated and was told I could start pushing if I felt up to it. Within half an hour, Ella made her entrance via water birth. It was the most beautiful and powerful experience of my life. Having a natural birth was something I've wanted since the day I found out I was pregnant. I knew it would be painful, and wasn't afraid of the pain, but learning to let go of pain in the midst of a contraction and trusting my body to do the work God created it to do was life changing for me. I never knew I was capable of doing something like this- I am blown away at the strength God gives when we think we can't go on. I am also blown away by my amazing husband who was a rock and a great source of encouragement & comfort throughout labor. I am beyond blessed!

Ella truly is perfect in every way (I know that as her mom I'm a little biased), and has already brought so much joy to Andrew & I. Despite sleep deprivation, figuring out breastfeeding, and poopy diapers, I am beyond content and filled with so much love and joy for our daughter. Andrew and I are so blessed to be parents and are enjoying it very much!