Just after 1:30 a.m. on Friday morning, Faye gave birth to a baby boy. We named him Liam Jacob Stevenson-Twist. Liam and his mom are both healthy and recovering well.
Labor came on very quickly at 10:00 the night before, when Faye was feeling some “light pulling” sensations every one or so minutes. Our primary midwife, Noah Singman, came as soon as I called and was on hand at 10:30. By that time Faye was obviously in labor and was starting to moan and hang onto me while sitting on the toilet. Her contractions began on top of one another and stayed that way for the the entirety of her three-hour labor. Faye was fully dilated within about ten minutes of Noah’s arrival, and our second midwife, Sheila, showed up not long after. After another thirty or forty minutes laboring in the bathroom, we all moved carefully into our bedroom and onto our own bed (covered with protective plastic and sheets from the birth-kit Faye had prepared.) Shortly after 1:30 (I’ll get the exact time up here later), Faye pushed Liam’s head out and his body followed on the next contraction, flying out and into Noah’s expert arms with astonishing velocity!
Neither Faye or I could imagine a more wonderful two people to have guided us through this intense and amazing journey than Noah and Sheila. That we were able to have this amazing experience in our own home and enjoy such a calm, quiet and personal space was just perfect. Noah and Sheila stayed with us for several hours after the birth, attending to all the medical necessities with graceful and loving detail.
Shortly after his birth and a snuggle on mom’s chest, Noah and Sheila clamped his cord, which had stopped pulsing, and Faye severed it herself. (While I was mercifully free to look away!) After some false starts, Liam was able to latch onto Faye’s breast and get a good first feeding in. When he seemed to be pretty happy and full, I took him from Mom and laid him on my bare chest. We hung out together in the bedroom, in front of a space-heater while the ladies all went to bathroom to work on birthing Liam’s placenta.
When all was done, and everyone was cleaned up, with Liam happily dosing, Sheila and Noah left us to rest sometime near 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning.
Birth stats:
- Liam was born at 1:36 a.m. on Friday, June 24, 2011
- He weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces at birth and was 20 inches tall
- His APGAR scores were 9/10 and 10/10
Since then, Faye and I have managed to get a pretty good amount of sleep, though I was exhausted last night after staying awake to deal with a few loose ends at work, take phone calls and cancel plans that we had for the weekend and coming week. We’re just starting to find our groove now.
Many thanks to my aunt Margo, who came over Friday for a few hours to assist Faye while I went to work for a bit and took care of some chores.
Thanks too to all who have already heard the news and passed on their congratulations and love.
My cousin, Sirena, will be organizing a meal-train in the coming days, so if you’d like to help keep us fed and have a chance to meet Liam, keep an eye out for that email. 🙂
For now, Faye and I may not be able to respond to calls, emails or texts, but we receive them all and are very appreciate of all the wonderful love being sent our way. Thanks and we can’t wait for everyone to get to see this gorgeous baby boy in person! For now, enjoy the pictures below. 🙂
With Love, David
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