SAOIRSE'S BIRTH STORY

Everything looked very interesting: Saoirse was going to be born in the backyard of her house, on a summer day in Wisconsin. Their house was about 2.15 hours from my house, which gave me a little bit of anxiety. Other thing that made this birth special: baby was the first daughter together of a couple in which each had their own children. I must say that it was a relief when the time to drive those 2.15 hours had a certain date and time and was not random. Jean, the pregnant mother, was going to have a natural induction by the midwife breaking her water on a Friday morning. So it was. Saoirse's labor was different. It was outdoors, while her siblings played in the backyard. Jean seemed to endure the pain (or hardly felt it) and we could sit and have a chat, and just chill. We talked about our families, and experience the calm that precedes the storm. A storm that was not such. Rather say a drizzle. Already in the pool, where the warm water sheltered both mothers, Jean and Ronda, the waves seemed to be intense but tolerable. Deep inside of me I envied that mom's tolerance for pain, as well as her patience and determination. Her delivery was hers and no one else's. When just a look of pain appeared on her face, I knew that Saoirse was making her way into the world. So it was. With the inexplicable strength that women have, the moment arrived. One of the biggest newborns I had ever seen (10lbs 5oz) made her presentation. One of her little sisters was by her side to welcome her. Her older sister and her grandmother witnessed the birth with tears of pure joy. Their mothers exchanged glances of satisfaction for having achieved the dream of consolidating their family with one daughter of the two.