It has been two weeks and four days since the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Azra. Today marks the day of my first week at home alone with the baby. Chris and I really enjoyed two weeks at home together to spend some quality time with Azra, and each other. Now that I'm on my own, I can finally get to sharing all the of the details of her birth!


After 39 weeks of patiently awaiting our baby's arrival, I was beginning to get particularly antsy. Not only did I have to endure the constant emails/calls/texts from my caring friends and family asking if she had arrived yet, but I had to carry around all the extra weight which was really starting to hurt my legs and back. Once I hit the due date, I had permission from my midwife to begin trying everything I could to speed up the process a bit. On Monday the 14th, I started trying oils, teas, and I even turned to acupuncture!

On Wednesday I went to bed only to feel too restless to stay there, so I went downstairs and watched TV for awhile. Around midnight I started feeling contractions that were strong enough to interrupt me from watching "The Rachel Zoe Project." I didn't really believe that it was true labor, but I decided to start timing them for lack of anything better to do. After an hour of contractions, I was beginning to get a little lonely. Still not believing that I was in labor, but hoping that I was, I went upstairs to wake up Chris so he could keep me company. I don't think he believed it either because he seemed a little annoyed to have been waken up at one in the morning.

At this point, I completely lost track of time. I remember the contractions being much more intense than I ever could have anticipated. I rotated between the exercise ball, the bath tub and the bed. I don't really recall ever telling Chris to do anything to help, but he was always there doing just the right thing nonetheless. From rubbing my back during contractions, continuously bringing me water to drink, to even turning off the lights and lighting candles in the while I was in the bath tub, everything he did was just perfect. I didn't really have much time to think about what was going on as I was trying to sleep for one or two minutes in between the contractions. However, I imagine he was beginning to get a little nervous (especially given my frequent shrieks of pain!).

After my water broke (luckily, while I was in the tub), Chris knew that it was time to go. I was able to make my way back to the great room while Chris packed the car and put our dog in the kennel. By this time, I was in too much pain to get up and walk to the car. During a very short break in between contractions, he helped walk me to the car. It must have been right before 8 by this time because I remember looking ahead to the road and seeing all of the cars of rush hour. Luckily we live only five minutes from the hospital, so I was in my hospital room in no time.

By the time I got to the room, I was already 8 centimeters and feeling the urge to push. Pushing was super difficult, but less painful than the contractions. I felt like she would never arrive, but Chris was right there for me, cheering me on, and reassuring me that I really could do it. After 1.5 hours of pushing, Chris proudly announced that we had a beautiful daughter. The midwife laid her on my chest and she looked up at Chris and I like she knew exactly who we were.
Azra Mae Brock
8 lbs 2 oz
9.17.09 - 9:14 AM