Calvin's birth taught me that I'm not invincible like I thought I was. His birth was a lesson in humility. The labor was longer and harder than I thought it would be, and then, much to everyone's surprise, my uterus decided to invert and bleed like crazy causing a real emergency where I lost a lot of blood, had to be put under general anesthesia and had a long recovery. It made me very grateful for modern medicine, without which I would not have survived. 
Mira's birth taught me that I'm stronger than I think I am. Everything went so fast, but it was truly so incredibly hard. My mind or body didn't have time to catch up with what was going on. Before I knew it, there was a baby in my arms. But I realized, if I can go through 45 minutes (the actual labor was longer) of the most intense, incredible pain I could ever imagine, then I can do anything. This is a new realization for me and it is very inspiring. This sweet, precious newborn gives me strength in ways I didn't know I had before.




A speedy and safe labor & delivery later...