I didn't really have the opportunity to talk to my mom much about her experience being pregnant with me, but one of the things I do remember her telling me was that I always liked to put my feet under her rib-cage (and it would hurt a little). I believe I was the only one of her babies who liked to do that in-utero and she would always try to push my little feet down! :-) I too, have only had one baby that has done the feet and toes under the rib-cage and that's my little Faith! :-) (If you want you can see one of the first pictures of Faith's "baby toes" here. )
Anyway, I knew that my birthing experience in the UK would not be anything like I had previously had in an American hospital. For one, I had an all-natural water birth. I did not initially plan on having a water birth (I knew nearly nothing about it) but when the contractions became more severe, I thought the water might help alleviate some of the pain (and it did) and I never got back out! What was even neater was that during the early stages of my labor the mid-wife offered me a chocolate energy shake (which contrasts sharply to not even being allowed to have ice-chips in the US)!! I enjoyed it so much, I had two! :-) As the pain became more intense, Brad was phenomenal with his words of encouragement. He read Scripture to me, prayed aloud for me, and gently lapped water on my back (it felt like a massage on my back).
It was most definitely the MOST incredible pain of my life. And there were times that the pain was so intense, I thought I was going to die. But I was so thankful that I had a mid-wife who talked me through what was going on and told me I could do it and even reassured me that my shaking violently was "normal". After Faith was born, my mid-wife, Emily near in tears, gave me a hug and thanked me for the beautiful birthing experience that we shared together. It was very sweet and touching, but I was a little shocked - it was beautiful when I was screaming!?!? LOL!
I arrived at the hospital around 10:30 AM in the morning and had Faith at 2:20 PM. I had a little rest time with my new-born baby girl, took a shower, signed the paper work, and left the hospital by 5:00 PM. Brad's dad came to the hospital in a cab with the car seat and we rode home in a taxi! Pretty crazy! But my alternative was to stay at the hospital with 4 other ladies (and their babies) in the same recovery room. Not only that, I would be responsible to fetch my own food from the cafeteria down the hall. So we went home.
When I brought Faith home from the hospital, I was pretty exhausted and knew our help (Brad's parents) would be leaving in just a couple of days, so when Brad's dad offered to take the 1st night shift, I gratefully took him up on his kind offer. I thought that Faith would be perfectly fine being cuddled with her PawPaw, especially because the nurses always tell you that the first 24 hours babies are very sleepy and usually don't make much of a fuss.
But not our Faith! I think she was sleepy but she came out with a little awnriness and knew exactly what she wanted and that was her "mama". When her Paw Paw held her, she cried and wailed like no other baby I had ever heard! I was in our bedroom with two closed doors between us, but it still was a piercing cry. I wasn't able to listen to her cry for too long.
After a few minutes of the misery, I finally asked Brad, "Will you bring her to me (I was dressed in my pajamas)?"
Brad brought baby Faith to me and placed her on top of me; the two of us were tummy to tummy. And in that moment, my baby went from being unconsolably upset, to being so peaceful. She instantly stopped her crying. In that same moment, my tears began, it was such a sweet moment for me as a mommy. We were so closely knit together; God had formed this little baby under my heart for 9 months and she knew me. She knew my heartbeat, my smell, and even my touch, and only wanted to be close to me, her mommy.
(Faith was a week old in this sweet photo)
Not too much has changed in the last three years, Faith is still head-strong about quite a few things and definitely thinks she knows what she wants. She is also fiercely loyal to those she loves and enjoys being really close to them.
She loves cuddles and I think if she were given a choice, she would sleep cuddled right beside me every night. We don't allow her to sleep in our bed every night. But just the other evening, Faith woke up and was a little upset. So I took the opportunity to just hold "my baby" in my arms for an hour on my bed, listening to her light breathing and brushing my fingers through her fine hair.
I recently had the opportunity to share one of my favorite "mom moments" in a group at MOPS. There are many special moments that I have shared with my girls, but the one that stuck out the most to me is when my little Faith gently caresses my hair, or twirls my hair in her little fingers. She has the most gentle touch and is such an affectionate little girl.
Another thing, I love about my little three year old is her generous heart. One of Faith's favorite snacks is fruit snacks and there are normally not too many in a pack, but nearly every time if I ask her, "May I have one?" She will cheerfully give me one with a big smile (opposed to many other fruit snack eaters I have known :-) ). She brings so much joy to our lives and it is such a blessing to get to celebrate her life.
- Up to now, this has all been an "introduction". Now on to why this post is about the 'perfect birthday'
As I have already mentioned, Faith was born in England. And in England, they write the date as DD/MM/YY but in the US we do MM/DD/ YY. Brad often found that confusing at work. For example, he especially thought the 3rd of February or 3.2.07 was confusing because to him it looked like they were saying March 2nd! Anyway, Faith's birthday was 10.10.07. which worked out perfectly for both the US and the UK! We didn't have to be confused for either place. :-)
Also, Faith shares her very special birthday with her PawPaw Holmes. The two of them ("birthday twins") met the day she was born. :-)
I made a little photo book for Faith too! It gives a glimpse of our first year with our baby girl! :-)
We love you Faith!
It's fun to read about her birth, especially since we met you guys after she was born. I would love to look at her book next time we are over.
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