For those of you who are curious, Joshua is my nephew! Born to Jason & Esther Fleming (they are the ones with my cutie patootie niece Abby that we blog about a lot :)) About two weeks ago, Esther expresses her extreme interest in Natural Childbirth to me. I was so excited because everything about Natural Childbirth makes my heart jump! I just have such a passion for it! One day maybe I'll teach it... :) Because our Bradley Birthing Classes were 12 weeks long, I just didn't see how Esther could do it without all the training we had (I know there are TONS of people who have natural childbirth without training, but in this particular case, I didn't know how serious she was about it, and I believe its an AMAZING experience with the proper training). So, I told Esther everything I knew during the last two weeks, and she studied the Bradley Birthing Handbook inside and out, and TA DA! She was able to have an all natural childbirth!
I got the extreme privilege of being able to witness the birth, and it brought me to tears. What an amazing thing! Esther was a trooper through labor and delivery! She screamed, she cried, she laughed, she thought she was crazy at times for wanting a natural birth, she walked, she sat, she fought, and because of it, she is the strongest woman I know! Finally after roughly 18 hours of labor, the sweetest little boy I know was born. (Did I mention Esther did the entire thing with just two weeks of preparation- I am in awe!)
As I watched little Joshua come out, head first inch by inch, and then his tiny shoulders, and then the rest of him plopped out, I stood with tears streaming down my face. I might be crazy for saying this, but I absolutely love being a woman. I love that I have the privilege, the blessing, to birth LIFE. To GROW life. What an incredible, incredible thing! It's just SO rewarding to watch a mommy fight and ache and scream and push.... and finally, to be handed their reward for all of their hard work. In that moment, when you first hold your new baby, every inch of pain was completely worth it and completely forgotten. What a beautiful picture. What a beautiful blessing.
Here is the little gift himself:
Jason, Esther, and Joshey with Tanya (who is 7 months pregnant herself), their midwife. Tanya also delivered Temple, and I absolutely love her. It was so neat to have her deliver Joshua too!
Awesome pictures! Congrats Esther, Jason and Abby!!!! Joshua is so cute! SO proud of you Esther for doing it naturally...I knew you could do it! And I love Abby's little RN outfit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for capturing this Em. You were a huge support and we couldn't have do it without you.
ReplyDeleteJason
these pictures are so amazing - em you were so wonderful, we couldnt have made it through without you. cant thank you guys enough for your support. love you guys
ReplyDeletesuper amazing pictures, brought tears to my eyes :)
ReplyDelete