And here she is!

Wednesday evening we were going to go the holiday party at the climbing gym but instead we had a baby. Yup, just like that. After nine months of growing they sure make a sudden quick appearance. We are all overjoyed and can't believe how amazing little Zadie Frida Teitelbaum is. She is cute and cuddly and chubby and seems to have spent her nine months in utero perfecting the art of breastfeeding. Sophia doesn't want to leave her side and keeps exclaiming "I love her sooo much mama." And I am sure you will all love her too. 

 

For those that like numbers, she was born on December 14 at 7:43pm. She weighed in at 3660 grams and was 50 cm long. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Three sisters. One placenta. 

 

About a month ago I casually mentioned to everyone in my family that I felt December 14 would be a good day for the baby to come. This was half in seriousness and half a joke, as I figured it would be nice to space out the children's birthdays and my orderly mind decided 14 obviously fits well before 21 and 28. Last week when the midwife scheduled an appointment for the 14th I exclaimed - "Oh that's the day I decided the baby will come." But, realistically, I knew life doesn't work like that. 

 

For those interested here is what home birth of a fourth child is like. Well the midwife visited on the 14th in the early afternoon, and I had had a few contractions - but that is pretty normal in the days or even weeks leading to birth. But she let me know she was in town until 8 pm, so if they became more frequent she could sleep at a friend's house to save herself the journey back and forth. And then my body started emptying itself. Contractions were still far apart but seemed like my body was gearing up for something. Jakob thought this very funny and decided to take his next meeting from home. 

 

I still wasn't convinced this was going to turn into labor, so we walked over to Aurora's school to pick her up. I felt bad so I sent Sophia into the school yard to get her. Sophia informed Aurora she had to come, because the baby was maybe coming...to which Aurora replied, "Why, because it's the 14th?"

 

While Jakob worked from the bedroom I gave the children a snack, read some books, and decided to spend the time finally getting some sewing done (I guess this should have been an obvious sign that I was in labor). By the time Jakob finished his meeting and started dinner I was convinced that I was probably in labor. So I told Aurora we should go through the bag of things she brought home from school (it being the second to last day - another sign of labor?). I didn't much feel like joining the others for dinner and opted instead to sit on the ball during contractions and tidy up between them. And then I texted this to the midwife at 6pm "contractions are getting more regular and stronger so potentially not worth driving home."  Sounds confident. And at 6:21: "yup def in labor." 

 

Jakob had wanted to take the kids to a friend's house, but I felt baby would likely come after bedtime anyhow so best to save ourselves the trip. At the same time, I think I must have said about three times during active labor, "isn't it bedtime yet? Why don't you tell them to sleep?" But I am really glad they stayed. And I think they are glad they stayed too. Sophia was really the best labor support anyone could ask for - when it looked like I was in pain, she would come up to me and say "I love you mama." And then at 7:01 Jakob texted the midwife to say "Fyi contractions are less than two mins apart." At this point we were pretty confident a baby was going to arrive soon so Jakob put a movie on for the girls and took to entertaining me. And he was entertaining. Eating the chocolates I had made for him to enjoy during labor (a tradition that he thinks is great), taking selfies, making a big show of taking painkillers (his back hurt), making jokes. I am quite sure I was laughing between contractions until the baby came out. Somewhere in this period the midwife showed up. As my contractions became stronger and me more moany, Jakob overheard Sophia whisper to Aurora "I think the baby is going to come out soon" (she really paid attention during those birth videos!)

 

I think I expected labor to continue longer but soon after the midwife showed up, my body decided it was time to rid itself of the extra weight. Out she came, into Jakob's waiting arms, on a yoga mat in the entrance foyer of the apartment. A minute later the girls, knowing what screams would herald, tiptoed out of their bedroom to come meet her. Tova took a look at the scene of arrival and with a serious expression informed me "actually, mama, I have no baby in my belly - I will just share yours."

 

We were so lucky to have a really competent but laid back midwife who stepped in when needed and otherwise created a nice family space. Once she saw the baby was alright she stepped back and let us coo as a family. There were no pitocin injections, no management of the placenta (it just came out on its own in its own time), no aggressive massaging of my abdomen, no wiping down of the baby. Just good humour all around. What lucky people we are to welcome our daughter into the world in such a peaceful family centered way. 

I got a baby and flowers!

"Why do people say this is going to be the best day of your life?!"

The girls coping with labor

Only happiness here

Luckiest mom ever

Luckiest sister ever

Just a girl with her baby

This will be a well loved child