Harper Laine made her appearance into the world last week on March 19th at 7:08 in the morning! She weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces, and everything about her birth was a testament to God's goodness and grace. We are in complete awe of how He worked out every little detail that we had been praying over...The 19th was the date of the "super moon", and we had joked around how that would be what Harper to make her arrival. Well, I woke up about midnight and couldn't go back to sleep. At about 2:00 I felt a small pop and then my water broke. This was such a good sign because with a "false alarm" a few days earlier we were really hesitant to call our midwife and my parents and have everyone head this way yet again only to send them home. Water breaking was a pretty sure thing! Amazingly, after my water broke my contractions really didn't pick up for two hours. We were expecting fast and furious, but this was a blessing because it gave everyone time to get on the road, and it allowed me to get my head around what was happening. We pretty much took it easy until 4:00 and that's when it got fun. :)
My contractions really weren't horrible for the first hour or so. They came at about 10 minutes apart and lasted a minute and a half. About 5:30 I started getting weepy and I knew that we were entering "transition". I got into the tub shortly after that, and then my parents arrived shortly thereafter. I couldn't believe they made it...I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that they wouldn't be there, but God was good! I started pushing around 6:15, I think. It's the first time I didn't have doctors or nurses telling me I could/couldn't/when to push, and it was the best feeling to just allow my body to do the work when it was ready. The closer we got to 7:00, the more nervous I was that the boys were going to wake up and wonder what was going on. Owen consistently wakes up at 6:30, but this morning both boys didn't make a peep till 7:15. Seven minutes after Harper joined us. They were able to get out of bed, meet their new sister, and then go down stairs to my dad making them breakfast. Another "thank you, Lord!". When Harper did make her arrival, it was amazing seeing Jennifer catch her and then lay her in my arms. Once she got her first breath, I then allowed myself to make sure she was a girl, and that was a very cool moment. I have a daughter! Looking back, this was by far the best birthing experience I've had.
The after birth part was pretty crazy - in a good way. I was able to get into my own bed and let the midwives take care of me and Harper. I was really concerned about bleeding afterward b/c that would be the main reason we might need to transport to the hospital, but again, the Lord took care of that. My midwife said she'd never seen so little bleeding in the 350 babies she'd delivered. Craziness. Recovery this time around has been so easy, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have been able to do it all in my own home.
Chris' dad was the first family to make it in to meet Harper, and I think she slept in his arms most of her first afternoon of life. Jon, Katie and kiddos showed up later that afternoon, and the boys were thrilled to have their cousins there to play with. Grandma Debbie wasn't able to come till a little later, but the boys hogged every minute of her time that she wasn't holding Harper! 
With the first week under our belt, I fall a little more in love with my little lady every day. She's been SO easy. She is eating well, and sleeps well. When she gets hungry she starts grunting, which I prefer to crying, and her brothers adore her. They both have gotten really upset when she starts crying or seems to be in uncomfortable. I can only hope that this nurturing spirit continues!Thank you to all who prayed with us. Seeing God answer our prayers even down to the little detail was so humbling. We feel so blessed to have this new little member in our family, and I look forward to posting many more entries about Harper Laine!
