What a whirlwind day having Luke was! He is MORE than everything we could’ve ever dreamed our third baby could be. He is absolute perfection in our eyes!
We got to sit in the tub for a few moments looking at his sweet face and soaking in all the goodness before we decided to move me to the bed to finish all the things, get cleaned up, and in our herbal bath together. The moment I stood up everyone around me could see that I lost a good amount of blood. Not to worry, my swift Midwives were there with the necessary things to stop the bleeding, deliver the placenta, and get me stitched up (yes, a bummer, but I wasn’t patient enough to let him stay in any longer. lol). Luke was laying with me skin to skin the entire time. What meant everything was that no one took Luke from me. No one hassled me about any protocols. This was my birth. My baby. My healthy and safe delivery. He never had to leave me for even a split second. Luke had THE most amazing latch within 10 minutes of birth. He just started rooting around for me when we were laying down and I was in absolute awe. This was my first baby to get to latch on so soon!
We were all cracking up at his size! My biggest baby yet. 🙂
During the time I was getting cleaned up Luke managed to also have 3 good meconium poops on me. Haha It was hilarious. I remember laying in my own bed just thinking how I don’t have to worry about anything else in the world except for that very moment with my baby. Nothing else mattered to me. I had my Midwives getting me put back together while Dad and Jeff had the tub dismantled and cleaned out of the room. My Mom made me eggs, toast and fruit while my Doula fed it all to me. Seriously. Amazing! These are just a few of the reasons I wanted a homebirth and it all just came together exactly how I wanted. I was prepared mentally to go whichever direction my birth of my baby needed to go but I chose not to go the direction of fear for my birth. No, birth isn’t predictable, BUT there are certain things that we get to choose for ourselves for our birth no matter how it goes and THAT is what made this experience THE most positive one of all three. Nobody had an agenda that was separate from mine and every person was handpicked to be with me – by ME.
I don’t know who ran my herbal bath….but it was INCREDIBLE! Luke and I soaked for a bit then Ellie raced in to meet her new baby brother. For anyone that knows Ellie…she had been praying for a sister since she was 3 years old. I began praying for her prayer to be answered in God’s timing for several years. In my fleshy narrow-mindedness, I thought if God could answer this prayer for her she would forever know that God DOES answer prayer and no one could tell her otherwise… BUT He showed her the biggest lesson of all about Himself and things I never imagined. He gave her a dream a few weeks beforehand about the birth and that baby was a Boy. She was really upset by the dream but it opened up such great conversation. ?When she first met Luke I was nervous she would be upset but from the moment she stuck her hand in our Herbal bath and saw he was a boy, she loved him something fierce. That’s not to say she didn’t have a few moments of sadness over not getting her sister…but she shared with me that she realizes “God doesn’t just give us what we WANT, He gives us what we NEED. And we need to trust Him.” Wow. He ALWAYS comes through and shows up. Our sweet boys will forever look up to their big sister in adoration. She loves like no one I’ve ever met. Before Luke came we had a set of Bows & Hats. Ellie was so excited she would get to be the one to choose the bow/hat to announce to everyone who we had join our family.
And just like that…everyone was gone. I was left alone with my family in my own bed that had never felt so comfy as it did that day.
The next day, Elijah came home to meet his baby brother. He was overjoyed!
Luke Travis, YOU are a gift from God. Our family would never have been complete without you. I am beyond grateful to the Father for His ultimate grace and guidance in every single step of this pregnancy and birth. He is SO good. So. So. GOOD!