Rose Eileen Liesland

It has been a busy 48 hours. On Sunday morning at 10 Susan started having some light contractions, accompanied by a very strong muscle pain in her uterus. She was in bed most of the day Sunday. The contractions subsided, but the muscle pains did not.

Monday brought more contractions, and the muscle pain had weakened dramatically. Susan spent most of the day in bed, trying to get some rest, but being jolted back into alertness every 10 or 20 minutes by very strong contractions. She made it downstairs for dinner, but did not eat a thing and was up to bed about as soon as dinner was over. I got the kids to bed at 9, hoping and knowing that we were in for a long night.

The contractions intensified and by 11 or 11:30 we were fairly confident that this was the real deal. The contractions continued, intense, but never incredibly close together. By 1:00am Susan was in the birth tub and by 1:15 she thought it was time to call the midwives. I was not so sure it was time, but over the years I have learned that Susan is a very wise woman.

The midwives arrived around 1:35 and things continued as before. I didn’t feel like things were getting too intense and, in fact, I thought that opposite – that the tub was slowing down the contractions.

At 2:34, according to the midwives’ notes, all of a sudden Susan’s birth noises changed – from the groan of a contraction to the grunt of a push. Every labor is different, but for Susan these noises are very clear. I was surprised at how quickly things turned and before I knew it the midwives were standing over us with the rubber gloves on, ready for their part.

5 minutes later we got to meet Rose Eileen Liesland! This is always an amazing experience. Once Rose was in Susan’s arms, Susan asked if I would wake up the other kids. I woke up Andrew, Mari, and Elliot and let them know it was time to come meet the baby.

Officially born at 2:39 am, Rose Eileen Liesland, born at home, weighed in at 9lbs 0oz and was 21 inches long.