NOEL & HOMER’S BIRTH STORY: BABY SALAMASINA
Being present for the birth of Baby Wolman is a moment I hold dear to my heart. I believe that birth is a sacred experience – the most purely human experience anyone can have. Since the beginning of time, women have carried and birthed babies, calling on a strength only we hold to bring about a new generation. Recently, I have heard so many young men and women talking about how birth destroys women’s bodies, spreading negativity about the most natural process in the universe! I have to disagree completely (but respectfully) with these opinions; our bodies are TRANSFORMED by this change, transfigured into something different, something bigger than ourselves. Our bodies know exactly what to do: how to grow life, how to labor and push when the time is right, and produce food to nourish and grow these new little bodies. Each mother’s experience is unique, sacred, and based on the decisions made by motherly instinct for the new life they’ve been gifted. Some mothers are adoptive, foster, surrogate, or birth, each deserving respect for their calling. This is a truth so dear to me!
In this post, I will be sharing Noel’s birth story. Please be kind and respectful in your comments. This was a beautiful, sacred experience that deserves to be celebrated! Scroll through and follow her story from my memory:
I woke up on a Sunday morning to the best text ever – baby Wolman was coming a week early! Noel had gone into labor early that morning and was waiting at the hospital. I hurried and got my Primary lesson (woo, CTR 9!) covered and headed to Utah Valley Hospital in Provo. When I got there, the room was so peaceful and both Noel and Homer were napping. There was such a wonderful spirit. And the waiting began!
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Noel had called her mom in Arizona really early in the morning to let her know that the party was getting started and she jumped on the first plane possible to get to her girl! Moms really are the best. No matter what we need at no matter what age, they’re willing to drop everything and be there for you. Bless them!
Noel was a CHAMPION throughout this whole process – so patient with everyone and concerned about how everyone was doing when she was the one getting ready to push out a baby. Her epidural took away much of the pain, but it doesn’t take away all of the pressure that was building. So while baby waited to make her grand entrance, we napped (Amanda), we ate (sorry, Noel), got hand massages (only Noel, she earned it), and watched football.
And then, it was time to PUSH!
Noel was so powerful while she was pushing! You could feel her pulling from an inner strength; it was amazing to watch. When the doctor finally came in, we knew that baby Wolman would be here very soon! While Noel was pushing, the doctor used a small suction cup device to help guide baby’s head underneath the pelvic bone; the only side effect is that it would create a little “hickey” on her head that would go away in about a day. The doctor urged Noel to give one more big push and with a primal yell, baby Wolman was earth-side! Noel immediately burst into tears (along with everyone else in the room) and Salamasina was placed on her belly for the first time. She wasn’t there for long as the NICU team was called in to suction her and clear her lungs.
Daddy was so sweet when he came over to see his baby girl for the first time! So hesitant, but I could tell he just wanted to be near her. She had such a sweet cry newborn cry! We’ll see how her parents feel about it now, but it was the sweetest sound after such an ordeal. After the nurses cleaned her up and suctioned her a couple times, she immediately found her thumb and sucked away, quieting instantly.
She was much smaller than we all bet she would be, especially for being a Polynesian baby! 6 lbs even, 19 inches! So little!
Such a mind-blowing experience to be present for! We were just taking her maternity pictures and two weeks later, Salamasina is here with us! I’m so grateful that I got to take part in this and be present for this moment.
If I could just do birth stories for the rest of my life I would be in heaven (and also EXHAUSTED, physically and emotionally). While everyone’s process and experience is different and should be honored just the same, birth is a beautiful thing that deserves to be celebrated! Go to your mom today and give her a hug, because she was a warrior bringing you into this world!
Welcome to earth, Salamasina Wolman!
