We did it!

Hello all! Today, my little flower baby is 8 days old! Wow, what an amazing ride this has all been. It is truly hard to put into words. As I sit here on the couch, the same couch that a little over a week ago, I layed on most of the day wondering when I would meet my little girl. I still cannot believe that this little miracle was in my tummy and now she lays next to me looking around and making the most content and angelic sounds. God is truly amazing.

"It's hard work, it hurts, and you can do it!"

This is was a quote from Birthing from Within that stuck out in my head. Everyone has asked me "How was your labor and birth?", and all I can say is, it was hard work, it hurt, and I did it! Having a home birth assisted by an amazing midwife, my amazing husband and two very strong and supportive women, was the best situation for us. I would not change anything about Zinnia's birth. I truly feel like after going through that experience that I can do anything, that Cale and I can do anything together and that I am a stronger woman and mother because I brought her into this world, my body, my spirit, I did it. I will not sugar coat anything, natural labor and birth hurts, but it is such a productive pain. With every little bit of labor your body brings you closer to meeting your baby. That is how I got through it. Being in the water was wonderful, I cannot imagine giving birth outside of the water after having labored both in and out of the water.

I started early labor late Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. I put off calling Nikki and Misty because in the case that it was a false alarm, I did not want them rushing around to make it here. Well, as the day progressed I continued to have mild contractions and Nikki and Misty decided to go ahead and come to San Marcos. Sam, our midwife checked me that afternoon and I was almost at a 4. Wow! I knew my body was doing something! Misty and Cale and I decided to do some last minute shopping and go out to eat. Nikki arrived after dinner and we just hung out around the house. My contractions were a little stronger but nothing that prevented normal activity. I just sat on my exercise ball which seemed to help. Cale and I decided to try to get some sleep not knowing when our how everything would be taking place.

I woke up close to 5am because I could not sleep through the contractions anymore. We called Sam at about 5:30am and she came over around 8:30. My house was cheerful and filled with excitement. Sam brought over everything to make this organic ti soup which smelled amazing. My stero was playing Sufjan Stevens and the birthing tub was filled with warm water. I handled the contractions for a long time by sitting on the exercise ball and leaning over onto a chair. I would rock back and forth to the music in the background. I went in and out of the pool a few times until finally I wanted no more music and could not make it through a contraction on the ball. I got back in the water and things started to move very fast. Sam never told me how far along I was, but I knew I was close when she started setting up all of her stuff. Most of the last part of my labor is a blur. I remember Cale holding onto me with each contraction. Cale was so calm and supportive and loving, he was so great through everything. Sam and Nikki helped with massage and supportive words here and there. Misty took pictures of the entire experience which is an amazing description of all that took place. Sam told Cale he should get into his swimsuit which let me know that we were close. Before I knew it I was pushing and soon after that, 19 minutes after that, we finally got to meet our preciouse little girl.

Zinnia Peal Bessent was born on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 11:25 am in the water. Cale was sitting behind me helping me and was able to reach down and lift her out of the water and onto my chest. She weighed 6lbs 7oz and was 18 and 1/2 inches long. She had a head full of dark hair, which was the one thing I hoped she would have.

This week has been like a dream. From the beginning of my labor to now, it takes my breath away. I am a mom, I have a daughter, Cale is not only my amazing husband, but is also a daddy and because of everthing that we have been through from the beginning of my pregnancy, through the labor and birth of our child, and now as parents one week into the arrival of our daughter, I am just in awe of the blessings present in our life.

I will be writing more posts and adding pictures as I have time. I hope to put up a link so that all of our photos can be viewed. Thanks to everyone for all of the warm wishes. We feel so much love.