Finley Mae Soleil Gillon has arrived! She was born at home, in the water, on Friday, May 6th at 7:00am. She weighed 8 lbs., 9 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. My wife's labor lasted 7.5 hours and she was inspiring throughout.
My wife's water broke at 11:30 pm on Thursday night while we were laying in bed... she heard and felt a "pop". We got up and she moved to the shower, where we looked at each other incredulously. It's not happening, is it? Within an hour the dull aches turned into intense contractions. Her mom, a former midwife who had arrived earlier that evening from Iowa, and I put hot wash clothes on her back for a couple of hours as the rushes strengthened. We hurried around getting ready in between... I ran around like a maniac trying to sort out the tub and everything else. It was happening so fast.
By about 2:00 am, my wife laid down on the floor in the living room, moaning "open" through rushes and falling asleep in between. I laid next to her and, along with friends, comforted her as we fell in and out of sleep. When she stood up near 5:30, happy to see the first signs of sunlight, she was nearly fully dilated. Realizing she was farther along in labor than anticipated, we called our midwife, Maria Iorillo, who was incredible. She arrived shortly after to find us in the birth tub. Several intense, thrilling, overwhelming pushes later, a posterior head emerged... that was a surprise. The shoulders and body quickly followed. I pulled our baby up to my wife's chest and we snuggled. What an amazing feeling. We soon found that she was a she and I cut the cord.
Finley and my wife are both healthy and we're deeply enjoying our first days together.
Look for next blog post that will tell you all about the placenta!!
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