Tryfan's birth

I realized as I started writing the details of Tryfan's birth that actually this complete story is not appropriate to be posted on the internet! The short version is that I was expecting this birth to be a lot (or at least a little) shorter and easier than Rhiannon's birth, and it was NOT.

The first part of labor -- when the contractions were not terribly painful but increasing in magnitude and frequency -- was lovely. We arrived at Foderiket at 8:40pm on Thursday night (Oct 18) and had about 4-5 hours of walking the streets of Oslo, listening to calming music (Sigur Ros, Coldplay, Bjork's "Vespertine"), lounging in warm bath water with candles all around...it was really gorgeous.

And then there was about 7 hours of really hard work and trying to relax through a lot of pain. Rhodri was such a star through it all, even though I ended up really leaning on his dodgy shoulder and in the end, making rather large noises right in his ear! And yes, there was a point where I was thinking to myself, "Stupid natural childbirth! This really really hurts! Why did I think this was a good idea!"

But in retrospect, I would not have done it any other way. There is something so amazing about being able to feel one's body actually give birth to a baby. If nothing else just to know that I have access to that much strength and power, which must come from beyond myself. But I am extremely glad that its over and that we have a healthy son!

PS. If anyone wants to all the gory details, just email me [lisl.lewis@gmail.com] or post a comment here.