So it begins...

In the wee hours Friday morning, August 29th, I began having more consistent contractions, (though I didn't realize it at the time). My contractions became full blown around 6p.m on Friday evening after about 16 hours of early labor. They were coming 5 or less minutes apart and were all lasting 1 to 2 minutes, each. This was it! Jon and I were excited. Over the next 44 hours, I labored hard to bring little Madeleine Josephine into the world. It was exhausting but so truly rewarding. God gave me strength and peace I never expected and our desires were acheived through a 60 hour labor. I was able to labor and give birth without pain killers. My desire was to have a natural delivery and God's hand was in every little detail to allow us to acheive that goal. The experience has been amazing for our marriage. Jon and I labored so hard together for so many tiring hours - his support was essential! Without him I would have caved in the first few hours. We also had the amazing support of our "doula" (labor coach), Niki, an awesome woman of God whose expertise helped us through many complications the hospital would not have been patient with. She was such a servant to us both and we are so grateful. (Pictured here).