Natasha Ruth Reid's Birth Story

We are so proud to welcome Natasha Ruth Reid to our family! Natasha was born on her due date: December 12th, 2008. She came into the world after a short 2 1/2 - 3 hour labour. She weighed 10.05 pounds and was 22 inches long.

Every one of our prayers was answered when Natasha was born - even the trivial ones, like a 12 ~ 12 birthday (Robynn's is 9 ~ 9, so I thought the continuity would be kind of neat!). We had the water birth we were hoping for. Natasha is gorgeous, healthy, & happy. Catherine Holland, our midwife, was there for Robynn's delivery; she was with us for the delivery of our son, Fraser, and it was our hope and prayer that she be there at the delivery of this child. Yeah! At the time of Robynn's birth, our two midwives were Catherine and Jennesse Oakhurst. They have since taken on different partners in the same clinic, so we didn't get to see much of Jennesse with this pregnancy. But since all home births need to have two registered midwives present, we were fortunate to have Jennesse be the second midwife! It was very awesome to see these two ladies together.

Actually, at Natasha's home birth, you could say there were nearly three midwives. Robynn was ever present, and - another prayer answered - she was able to attend Natasha's birth, literally inches away in our birth pool! How cool is it that Robynn was a part of Natasha's coming into our world! Actually, this may be a vocation for my little Robynn. Robynn was so interested in the whole process, that when Jennesse and Catherine were examining the placenta after the birth (to ensure it all came out), Robynn was right there asking questions and being a part of the process. My mom, who was there for support and to take care of Robynn, couldn't understand how this 4-year old could stand looking at the placenta!!! Mom had to leave the room!

So there you have it, well, some of it... But the whole family present, in that little pool in our kitchen, was just an awesome and powerful experience.

Oh, and in case you're wondering. I did take the labour induction cocktail. It didn't taste so great, and the results... well... You are supposed to take two doses - five hours apart. 20 minutes after taking my second dose, I was in active labour with contractions 3 minutes apart. Natasha was born just about three hours after that first contraction. Does it work? Who cares; I have my baby!