theholtsite

Last night around midnight Jill started the whole labor process. At 4AM we drove to the hospital, and by 11:11 we had a new child.

The women who worked with Jill said that it was one of their favorite birth experiences ever. Jill was calm and collected the entire time, stopping periodically to thank God and her helpers throughout the process. Wow. For a first baby, 11 hours is quite a short labor apparently from start to finish! It was 100% natural – Jill never once asked for any drugs.

Jill and I had a lot of people praying for us during the process, and could totally see God’s hand in the whole process. It was really sort of miraculous for a first birth – how smoothly and quickly it went and how skilled our helpers were. Our doula, Nicole Glover, was fabulous. Personally I stayed around the whole time but let the womenfolk do their jobs and just got things for Jill now and then. I was very proud of Jill and how she handled the whole thing.

It’s a girl! 7.5 pounds. Her name is Alice. Alice means “noble one”.

Right now we’re all hanging out and taking it easy. We will probably be home on Sunday if all goes well.