16 years ago today

My son, Elijah Paul was born. What a boy! He is the comedian in our family. He keeps all laughing. He is one of those people that can fit into any group, any click and nobody thinks a thing about it. Most of my other children are not this way.

Elijah is cool. I like spending one on one time with him. He is interesting to talk to and is sharp about people. He watches people, their actions and reactions. I like that about him because I'm the same way.

16 years ago, I was in labor. Elijah was our first home birth. An *unassisted home birth. Meaning that there were no trained medical professionals there. A dear lady from our church came to help out and how thankful for her help we were. There isn't much need for an extra set of hands until things get down to business and then those extra hands are a blessing.

I'd had my previous babies in the hospital. Every time I'd given birth, the baby was whisked away and it was awhile, sometimes hours before I was allowed to see my baby. When Elijah was born, my husband and our friend were rubbing his back and stimulating him and I distinctly remember asking if I could touch him. My friend looked at me a little shocked and said "Of course you can touch him, he's your baby!" We've had 7 home births now. All unassisted and I've never asked that question again. If I had no other reason, getting to hold my baby as much as I want after birth is reason enough for me to have them at home.
How thankful I am that God sent this boy into our family.

*we went with an unassisted home birth because we didn't have medical insurance and we couldn't afford a midwife. After having one unassisted birth we decided we liked birth that way and that it worked for our family so we stuck with it.