Happy Saturday everyone… and Especially Happy Saturday to Karen who had her baby… She sent me the email below telling all the details of the home birth. There are pictures TOO! :o) I told her this Saturday post was JUST FOR HER!
Dear Jeanne and Sofa Sisters,
Thank you so very much for all your prayers for the baby and me!!! I think they really helped. I will just talk about what happened like a story and you can just read what you want in case it gets too long.
I was due on July 28th and the midwife was really wanting me to try to move around in different ways to get things started, or soon she would want to try her own interventions, which I really wanted to avoid.
Last Monday was the ultrasound which looked good. On August 14th was a long Rosary walk at Church praying 3 Rosaries with singing down and up a hill near the Church and across the street at the Dominican Sisters’ school. I debated about going (should I save up my strength in case labor started or would this encourage it to start? It would be a good beginning to get it started.) So, we decided to try it for a while at least. We made it about halfway through and J thought it best to go home, so we did. I lost a small amount of blood, so I thought labor would hopefully happen that night and so set things up, but it didn’t happen.
The next day was August 15th and we were fortunate to make it to an early Low Mass, fulfill an obligation far away, visit the library, and had fun at a park
(Saw some crayfish and minnows). Went home at 5 something. At about 7:06 p.m. I was pretty sure I was in labor. I had had a lot of Braxton Hicks, but thought this might be the real thing. Marion braided my hair and Rose, I think, brought pillows and a blanket to support my back while I was on the floor in the living room with Lilly on my lap who thought it was a good idea to eat my ice cream. Shortly thereafter I moved to the recesses of my bedroom, where Lilly hung out for a good deal of time until Joseph sung her to sleep on her mattress on the floor in the sewing room. The contractions accelerated pretty quickly. Joseph held my hand. A pillow helped a lot for the back pain and a hot rice pack helped deal with the pressure a lot. The midwife had to travel about an hour and a half to reach me, and about 45 minutes later, the baby arrived! She wanted me to move out of the rest room and onto a blowup chair, but its comfortableness went away in about a minute. I hit the floor on my knees trying to be modest. The midwife pushed on my back, which helped me to push out the large amount of water and sac, and a short while later, the baby also came. I think the pain of the water breaking out (Apparently the water level was about 23 and usually people’s are around a ten according to the midwife, so there was a lot of fluid) and the baby arriving were the worst out of all the deliveries of our babies, but I was very fortunate that labor was only about 3 hours long!! From about 7:06 p.m. until his birth at 10:07 p.m.! That was my fastest labor! Thank you for praying for a fast labor!! I really wanted him to be born on the feast of the Assumption of our Lady into Heaven and he was!! He didn’t have much time to come out, but he hurried up! Hehe. Also, this baby was very kind in that during the whole first trimester, I didn’t even know I was pregnant. He gave me a kick inside, and then I really wondered.
Anyways, when he came out, his head was blue, but everything else ranked ok. He is bigger than the ultrasound tech thought. They thought 7 lb, 14 ounces. He is 8 lbs 5 ounces and 21 inches long. Largest baby so far. Dark, short hair. Still not sure of eye color. With the other kids, it was easier to tell.
His name is Dominic Raphael. Dominic means “of the Lord”. Joseph is a Third Order Dominican. Also, I wanted to connect him with his sisters, who were all connected to our Lady of Mount Carmel with their names to some degree, and I wanted him to be, too. She has given me much hope in the salvation of my soul with her constant motherly protection with her Brown Scapular. So, one day on a street corner in Rome, St. Dominic de Guzmán, Saint Francis of Assisi and a Saint Brother Angelus from the Order of Mount Carmel all met providentially. St. Dominic prophesied to St. Angelus,
“One day, Brother Angelus, to your Order of Carmel the Most Blessed Virgin Mary will give a devotion to be known as the Brown Scapular, and to my Order of Preachers she will give a devotion to be known as the Rosary. AND ONE DAY, THROUGH THE ROSARY AND THE SCAPULAR, SHE WILL SAVE THE WORLD.”
I really wanted him to be named Raphael in honor of St. Raphael the Archangel in the story of Tobias. St. Raphael represents purity and Raphael means “God has healed.” I think I had chosen the name Raphael before Marion our first born existed.
I think that about sums everything up. Lilly really loves to hold him.
And I have attached some pictures.
Thanks for reading and for your many prayers! I offered up my sufferings for the doll ladies and my family.
God bless you all!
Karen from Kentucky
Don’t those little girls look like they adore their little brother? Karen, we are so happy to see your new baby boy! May he bring lots of joy and happiness to your family. I bet your hubby is beaming right now…a son!
Okay everyone… now enjoy the rest of your Saturday!
See you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks so much for sharing our story, Jeanne! May God bless and keep you!!!
Dear Karen, what a wonderful story you shared. I am so happy that you and your baby son are doing fine. I think we can all see the joy in your smile.
The sisters are going to be very attentive to the needs of the little guy. One can already see that.
Blessings to you and your family.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Dorothy in PA and the World!! May God bless you, too! <3
What sweet pictures, Karen! Everyone looks so happy, and yes, even you! Little Dominic looks perfect and is going to be one spoiled little boy with all that love going around! Thank you for sending Jeanne the pictures and how you went through the last few days before the birth. Nothing seems to faze you! I also had two easy births, but mine were at the hospital, so no experiences like yours! Take care of yourself, and I know you will have lots of help with all those big sisters!
Thanks for all your sweet comments, Linda, and for always being so positive! I would need real courage to give birth at a hospital. I am happy you were able to have 2 easy births 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful weekend! <3
Congratulations to Karen and Joseph, and the family!! All of us list aunties are so excited and happy for you all!!
Thanks, too, for sharing pictures with us; he is such a sweet baby; I was glad to see you and all the girls, too. Best wishe to all of you with your new baby. His name is so appropriate!!
Thank you , Charlotte!! It means a lot to me that you ladies care =) Thank you for your kind comments and for all your prayers!! They sure are appreciated. You and Ron are in my prayers, too! I am glad you found a project to keep your hands busy. May God keep you close to His Most Sacred Heart <3
Congratulations on your new baby and your beautiful family. An easy birth for you meant an easy one for Dominic too — he doesn’t look like he’s been through an ordeal, and neither do you. They say to begin as you mean to continue, and this looks like a great beginning.
My mother, who had 5 children, said that when you have visitors and everyone wants to hold the baby — and everyone always does –put the baby on a pillow — it makes passing him around easier and is less strenuous and tiring for the baby. I’ll bet you knew that.
Thanks a lot, Marilyn! That is great that your mother had 5 children. I bet she could teach me a lot. Thank you for the tip! <3
Karen, congratulations on your new little boy.
Thank you Jeanne for sharing these photos. What a very precious beautiful family.
God Bless all of you
Thank you very much, Rosemary! May God bless you, too! <3
Congratulations he is absolutely precious! The girls look over the moon happy with their new little brother.
Thank you, Christine! They are really happy. This morning I got a few pictures of them all gathered around him with their faces in a small circle of space. So precious that they love him. Lilly cries when she can’t hold him sometimes. (I do let her hold him, too). My oldest sister’s name is Christine, too. We call her Chris though. She lives in California. Have a great weekend! <3
Congratulations Karen and Joseph and little sisters of Dominic. Thank you for sending all the wonderful pictures – what adorable little girls and baby Dominic is a beautiful baby.
How happy all of you must be. Dominic will have many watching over him, his whole life. God’s blessings to all of you!
Thanks so much, Paula! Tomorrow is his Baptism at 1:15 p.m.! Feast of a 15 year old martyr called St. Agapitus. I hope it goes well. <3
A big congrats and what a cutie. Love the name Dominic. At 8.4, he won’t be in those newborn clothes long. Same weight as our first and same length too. 🙂 I’m sure the girls will be happy to help out, so please try to get some rest and enjoy the rest of the summer.
Thanks so much, Joy! That is neat they were both the same size! 🙂 The girls and J have been serving my meals in bed, so that is really great! Yes, now I can turn my thoughts to other things this summer other than the advent of his arrival. School starts on Sept. 2nd, so not much time left. Take care! <3
Hi Jeanne…. Happy Saturday! Thank you for sharing Karen’s story. Such a sweet story and photos.
Congratulations Karen and J!!! What a wonderful addition to your sweet family. The girls
certainly look so happy with their new little brother and I love his name. My youngest grand baby
is also a Dominic.
Hugs
Ingrid
Thanks so much, Ingrid!! That is so neat you also have a Dominic!! God bless you! <3
I hurried through my chores this morning so I could get to the blog and read the story and see all the wonderful pictures. What a little cutie Dominic is. His sisters look over the moon with happiness. I like the name. So meaningful as are the names of your lovely daughters. Unlike my daughter who was named after a sinking ship. When I was little the Andrea Doria sunk and I loved the name Andrea so all my dolls were named Andrea. When I finally had my daughter and David called my mom to tell her and what we named her, she mentioned that I finally got to use the name of the sinking ship on a real child. I had totally forgotten all that.
So glad to see your labor was quick and things went well. Andrea was 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 21″ long, Sean was 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 20″ long so I’ve never had small babies. The 3 to 6 months clothes people gave me before they were born weren’t worn for very long. Fortunately you probably have lots of bigger sizes on hand and I found that for awhile whether clothes are considered girl or boy doesn’t matter and I think boys look very good in pink. We did not know what gender Andrea was before she was born so much of the clothes we were given worked for both. We did know Sean was a boy so we got a lot of clothes for a boy at my showers. But I’m not sure all that really matters because even when Andrea was dressed in pretty obviously girl outfits (we thought), people would still ask if she was a boy or a girl.
So glad all is good with you and your family. Now you can relax and enjoy your lovely family.
Thanks so much, Barbara! That is special that you hurried through your chores to read about him. Thank you! 🙂 I like the name Andrea. I used to have to walk to the public school (from the private one) for band lessons with my third cousin named Andrea. We both played the trumpet. She wore hearing aids and was quiet, but was kind.
Your babies were big! I wonder if they are tall now? Enjoy the rest of your weekend! <3
Both my children are tall. I used to joke that after years of holding them on my lap for family pictures they would one day have to hold me. My son is I think 6’2″, which is very handy when I need something over my head. Andrea is about 5’10”. Being just 5’3 1/2″ I would have loved her height. Fortunately when she was growing up girls were getting taller so clothes length was no issue. But my youngest sister was about 5’11” and she had a terrible time finding pants long enough. I have to hem everything. By the way you look great and well rested.
That’s funny.
I am close to 5′ 4″ but not quite. Thank you 🙂
A big congratulations to you, Karen, and to your lovely family. I’ll bet your husband is thrilled and your girls look delighted with their new baby brother. Dominic is so precious. Thank you for sharing all the wonderful pictures. God’s blessings to all of you!
Thank you very much, Laura! I think he is happy, but the handyman business has been slow lately maybe due to the economy. He has been very kind and helpful though. May God bless you, too!
I will be praying for your husband’s work to pick up. Having a husband in construction I know the ebb and flow of that business all too well. Faith always worked for us, even after some kids got on a job site once, started up David’s bulldozer and ran it full throttle into a bayou. All the receivables that fall went into fixing the dozer since he had to do it himself because he couldn’t afford for Case to do it, not to mention he couldn’t work. That left no money for Christmas. Best Christmas we ever had. We always knew the reason for the season so our focus was on church, but we all made gifts for each other that year and they are still some of my favorite gifts.
Thank you, Barbara ❤
Congratulations Karen, such lovely photos. Don’t let the girls spoil him too much or they will make a rod for some poor woman’s back when he grows up lol. Take Care
Haha