Birthday Slideshow

The Name

Michael is named after his grandpa, a hard-working man who faithfully loves and serves his wife, family, church, friends and neighbors. He is a man who has surrendered his life to JC. It's our hope that Titus and Michael will be best buddies with all their young and fantastic grandparents -- Mike, Jon, Louise & Jen -- even across the miles and with visits less than we'd like!

Isaac is given as a middle name because Drew & I want to remember the story of Abraham and Isaac as we raise our boys. Abraham was willing to obey his Heavenly Father, even unto the point of giving up what he most held dear -- Isaac -- because he believed that his Heavenly Father was completely trustworthy and loved Isaac more than Abraham ever could!


The Birth Story

Michael's Creator heard all our requests. We asked for a healthy, happy, brown-eyed little boy, born on a Sunday morning via natural waterbirth. Asked for a shorter labor, too. Got all that and more.

I started light contractions at 2am. Went for a walk and hung out in the cool night. Labor picked up around 4am. We timed some contractions around 5am, and called the midwife to touch base. I was experiencing back labor, and crawling around on all fours seemed to be the best way to cope with the pain. Seriously, I was doing crawl-laps around the living room.

6am it was time to go to the hospital. Off we went --- a 20 minute drive to Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury, MN. Titus was born here, too. I love the Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) here because they are supportive of natural childbirth. Anyway, I was dilated to 5cm/7cm during contractions. Still crawling around on the floor. Baby's heart rate was doing awesome (you don't want it to drop).

Got into the waterbirth tub at about 7am. If you've never heard of the advantages of waterbirth, google it! It's amazing for mom and for baby. It relaxes mom, and gives baby a nice transition from water-in-the-womb, to warm water of the tub. Rather than ho-ho-ho and he-he-he-ing through contractions, I sang to baby, to myself and to Abba. Why moan and groan when you can sing?

Ok, so Michael started to come down, and I had tons of back labor because his head was digging into my tailbone. Finally, he turned. After some screaming and a few good pushes he was out and onto my chest! Amazing!

Drew cut the cord (yuck, I can't watch that). Drew is an awesome labor support person.

Michael was nice and pink and content from the first second. He did some skin-to-skin time with Dad while I delivered the placenta. Immediately after that he nursed. Drew and I were both surprised at how good he is at nursing. The midwife described him as Piranha-style.

Though there was some soreness, we all felt like a million bucks and had a fabulous day celebrating with our families. Michael is a handsome little guy and looks just like Drew.


So all praise goes where it is due -- to Michael's Creator. thank You.


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