Jo
and Shawn's Story
The Birth of Emmeline Tai Boeser-Hutton
I met with Jo and Shawn on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.
They had been for a check-up at the hospital and were very up-beat
and optimistic that things would be happening soon.
Amazingly, Jo made it through two nights of stop-start contractions
that limited her sleep and by the morning of the 3rd January she was
labouring constantly. That afternoon, Jo and Shawn decided to head
into the hospital and when I arrived at about 6:30pm Jo was coping
well in the bath. She breathed through each contraction with such
ease, you never would have known she was even in labour! With the
music, aromatherapy oils and candles, the ambience in the room was
so beautiful.
At
9pm Jo and Shawn agreed on a check to see how things were going.
There was progress, but like the previous part of her labour, it was
quite steady and it was clear that this little one was certainly in
no hurry! There was some concern about how Emmeline was coping, so
Jo and Shawn agreed to have some fluids administered (to combat
dehydration) and do extra monitoring. Emmeline was coping quite well
and Jo used a combination of squatting, kneeling and standing to
help bring her down.
It wasn't long before Jo felt she needed to push her baby out; her
stamina, both physical and emotional, was absolutely amazing (given
three nights in a row of little to no sleep) and her willingness to
give her baby all that she had was so admiring. Shawn's support
increased to even more at this point, and together they did an
amazing job to bring their baby into a positive, calm and joyful
atmosphere.
A beautiful little girl, Emmeline Tai, was welcomed into the world at
1:55am on Sunday 4th
January 2009.
Congratulations, Jo and Shawn, on your gorgeous little "angel".
Jo, you were a rock, cool as a cucumber against circumstances that
could have otherwise been seen as adversities that challenged what
you wanted your birth experience to be like. You worked beautifully
with your body, and birthed little Emmeline into the world with
womanly intuition and grace. Shawn, your never-ending support was
amazing! Your words of encouragement and gentle touch helped make
Emmeline's birth such a positive experience for all three of you.
Congratulations, well done and your lovely prize sure is deserved!
A special thankyou to Ingrid for allowing me to be backup doula. It
has been a pleasure working with Jo, Shawn and, of course, little
Emmeline!