Introducing Jonas

Hello Again,

Well, it looks like I won't have to post about birth in Brazil and debate all the pros and cons of home births, hospital births, public or private health care ever again....

The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful healthy baby boy named Jonas Arthur:

Last week Wednesday, while we were in Maragogi, I started having contractions.  We spent the whole night awake wondering if we should drive back to Recife, two hours away.  They subsided somewhat the next day, but over the next three days and nights I had probably 2-3 an hour.  And of course in the evening there's a little more, so every day I thought was the day!  Anyways, on Saturday night I finished my birth plan, sent it off and went to bed.  It took a long time seeing as it was Portuguese, but I copied and pasted a lot from examples she sent us.  Right after that the contractions got worse.  By two o' clock on Sunday morning we called our midwife, as she lives 40 minutes away and we thought we should warn her.  They were maybe 4 minutes apart.  She happened to be at a restaurant 3 minutes away!  So she came and hung out.  I was hoping to have the baby before the kids woke up.  During the next couple of hours we had the other midwife arrive and the English speaking doula.  She did not know she was part of our birth plan.  Our midwife didn't know the doula was part of the plan either, until she read it after she got here.  When I emailed her the plan earlier I had asked her if we needed to meet with the doula and the doctor to let them in on the plan.  Shaun and I were thinking maybe we didn't need the doula, but I felt we should in case we ended up at the hospital or in an emergency.  The midwives can't go into the hospitals and we don't speak Portuguese...or at least medical Portuguese.  Shaun actually met the doctor we had as a "backup" when he dropped off his wife in the middle of the night: the other midwife!  At around 5:00 I actually laid down as the contractions had spread out, and was able to sleep 10 minutes at a time.  I was thinking that maybe I wasn't in labour after all and I was wasting everyone's time!  Lyla, who was super sick this week with fever and stomach issues, crawled into our bed at 6, then Seth and Hazel woke up.  I was still having contractions around 10 minutes apart, however at that point we decided to drop our kids off at our friend's house.  In my mind I had thought I would have been much more able to handle pain for the sake of my kids if they were in the house... however I realized I cannot.  I admire and respect those women who are peaceful and serene, even when in pain.  So at 7:20 in the morning Shaun went to drop off the kids.  Right as he left I had probably four contractions in ten minutes and we were wondering if it was a good idea to leave.  He returned at 7:45 and Jonas was born at 8:25!  To be honest I can't believe it was only 40 minutes after he returned because it felt like an eternity.

The kids came home yesterday evening and are enamored with little Jonas.  Hazel for some reason had told us a few days ago that she was going to call the baby Jo-jo. Seth is excited to teach his little brother hockey and soccer, and also to share a bunkbed with him.... hopefully that lasts :)  Lyla is very excited as well, however is definitely still under the weather.  The fever/vomiting symptoms have subsided but she still has loss of appetite and now she has blisters on her tongue...

In all (after the whole labour part that is), it was a great experience.  It was super relaxed and low key after Jonas was born, and nothing happened without our consent or knowledge.  This is an interesting observation because in Canada I don't think I ever even thought about everything that gets done during/after a birth, but now that I've thought about it there are a lot of things that we should at least think about.  

Above all we are so thankful to God that everything went well and that He kept us safe and in His care.  Here's a few pictures of the last day and a half: