Happy news!

Introducing Samuel David LaRock. Born at 3:55am April 20th, (on his due date!!) 7lbs 14oz, 19 inches long.

I do find it ironic that as I was typing up the previous post I was in active labor with my adorable son, and didn't completely realize it. I had been having false labor for a few weeks, and because I was trying not to get my hopes up, I was just going about life as usual. I did note to Peter that these contractions "felt different", but I still wasn't sure.

My contractions started sporadically around 4pm on April 19th. By 8pm they were pretty regular and getting pretty painful. But, this had happened to me before on the previous Wednesday, so I wasn't convinced. We did decide to call our parents and let them know that we were thinking "this might be it" and to ask for their prayers. I also called our midwife and let her know what was up. An hour or so later, the contractions started to slow down. I began to worry. Peter had started filling the tub which is quite the task, and I was thinking that everything was going to end again. I decided to lay down for a bit to see what would happen. Previously, my contractions would taper off when I would lay down. They did at first, and then, all of the sudden my water broke. I kind of freaked:-) I was really embarassed! haha. At this point we knew this was it. The contractions began to pick up again and gain in intensity. We called Peggy again, and she suggested that she come on out. She said she'd be here at about 1:30am. Aimee, our awesome assistant, showed up around 1am and wanted to check my status. I was pretty sure that I wasn't very far along. Things were intense, but I was managing fine. Her next words shocked me, "Um, I feel your baby's head." She told me that I was at least at 7cm and that my cervix was gone; effaced. I couldn't believe it. I thought I would be at like 3 or 4cm. She suggested I go ahead and get in the pool which I did. The next few hours are kind of a blur and yet not. I was very aware of everything that was going on. Peter was an awesome coach. He helped me breathe and work through each contraction. As things got harder and I would start to get panicky, he would calm me. I don't know what I would have done without him! He also rubbed my lower back the entire time which helped tremendously. I remember him holding me and praying with me during a particularly hard contraction. What a blessing to have his support! He got in the tub with me and stayed there until after Sammy was born.

I had prepared myself mentally for a hard, long labor and a very hard transition. I was shocked a few hours later to hear Aimee tell Peter that I appeared to be heading into the 2nd stage, (pushing.) I figured that I still had hours to go, and I wasn't sure when transition happened. But, sure enough, my body began pushing involuntarily a few contractions later. I really don't know how long I pushed, but it wasn't that long, and Sammy moved quick. I remember getting scared at this point, but Peter and my team kept encouraging me, and honestly, I couldn't have stopped my body if I had tried. Before I knew it, my son had been born. He seemed to love being born in the water, and I found it very refreshing, too. We all just kind of sat there in awe. Peggy and Aimee just let us sit there in the water and look at our baby. They did some busy work, but really just left us to enjoy the moment.

It's amazing really to sit back and remember the experience. I LOVED that I was at home. I was very relaxed. Peter and I watched some comedy, and he rubbed my back as I had contractions. I updated our blog, stopping for each contraction, etc. etc.

Our amazing birth team, Aimee and Peggy. Judy, my sister was there, too, and she was great to help out:-)

After the birth, Peter and I kept saying that we felt incredibly blessed. I had prepared myself for a long, hard labor, but it wasn't. God really did bless us.

Sammy is beautiful! He's making the adjustment to life outside the womb well. He's a good little nurser. He's still figuring out sleep and wake times, but that's okay:-)

We'll continue to keep you posted, and I'm sure we'll get more pictures up.

Backyard Cookout at the LaRock's...

Once upon a time Peter bought a fire bowl. It actually was over a year ago, but he just hadn't had a chance to build a nice, toasty fire in it. One, fine spring day in April, 2009, he decided to build a fire, invite guests and roast hot dogs and marshmellows over the delightful flame.Meanwhile, his very pregnant wife decided that the warm weather warrented the planting of various seeds in her pots. She remembered the previous year's attempt was a success, (although she was too sick with her pregnancy to enjoy any of the fruits of her labors.)

So, while Peter prepared the fire, Julie and Judy admired their hard work.

Judy, who was one of the guests, did a great job planting her bean seeds. She smiled with joy at the thought of yummy hotdogs and marshmellows.

The flame became hot and ready to roll, so Peter and Judy roasted their dinner. It was a pleasant, happy way to enjoy the great outdoors.

Peter, who was thrilled to finally be using his fire bowl, helped himself to two hotdogs.

Next, the final guest, Joseph, showed up. He also enjoyed roasting his dinner over the open flame.

And finally the marshmellows, in all their sticky splendor, were consumed.

Good times were had by all!

Tub and 39 weeks shots

Here we are after setting up the tub at our place last week. We're planning a homebirth and I'd love for it to be a waterbirth. So, we were able to rent this handy waterbirth tub. Fun times:-)

And here is baby LaRock at 39 weeks. I actually have felt very good recently. I do have normal aches, pains, swelling, and tiredness, but I'm really blessed to say that I feel great! I am getting really ready to meet our little guy:-)

So far not much going on. I've had contractions on and off for the last 3 weeks or so. We'll keep you updated.

Mom and dad came last week and dropped my sister, Judy, off to stay with us. She wants to be a midwife herself and so plans to be around to help out at our birth. I say, brave girl! We've had fun playing lots of nertz and other games. There are only so many games to be played with just two people. She's feeling much better after coming down with a flu bug shortly after her arrival. We've had fun getting to know her better.

That's it for now.

Julie and Pete