The Birth of Boaz Lee Stark

As I'm sitting here, at home, in bed, nursing my sweet little Boaz, I am journaling about the beauty of today and thought I would share a short version of our birth story with all of our friends and family that have prayed about Boaz's birth for weeks now.

It is fresh on my mind and so incredibly exciting! As many of you know, I had been in prodromal labor for weeks and honestly thought for about the last month that I would have this baby "any day now." But 40 weeks passed ... and then at 41weeks I was starting to wonder if my dream for a natural, out-of -hospital-birth would become a reality..... Well on that last night..... I stayed up watching treehouse masters until 10 pm with my friend Tara, and once again, we made plans for the following day, trying not to get my hopes up that this baby was going to come any time soon.

At 1am, I woke up with some strong contractions but lay in bed for a few minutes thinking they may go away. At 1:15am I woke Jared up and said "I think this is it". Jared sent a text to our midwife, Connie, and we decided to stay around the house for an hour and time the contractions. They were 5 minutes apart so she let us know if we wanted to, we could labor at our house a bit longer. Jared told her we'd come to the birth center at 3am.

In between the contractions I got ready, grabbed some last minute things to take with us, checked on the kids and then insisted that the giant watermelon on our counter needed to come to the birth center with us in bite size cubes. My very kind husband with his "are you serious" look happily obliged.

Thankfully our wonderful friend Tara had come in from El Paso this particular week just to be of help so she was able to stay home with our sleeping boys. I woke Tara up and told her we were leaving; it was 2:55am.

The ride to the birth center was a little rough ... and as Jared puts it, "I only got yelled at two times and my hand should be better in a couple of weeks". I told him the whole way there that I better be at least 6cm because these contractions really suck. We prayed together before going into the birth center and got settled in while the contractions got even harder. At 3:30am Connie checked me and I was definitely not 6 cm.... I was a 9!!!! She filled the birth pool and called her assistant, Katie.

Both sets of our parents were on their 30th anniversary trips at least 3 hours away. My mom was going to be my birth photographer but I knew there was no way she would make it to Katy in time. Fortunately, a few days before, I had asked Sara Griffin if she would be interested in being our go-to photographer if my mom couldn't make it and thankfully she said she would love to. I called her immediately and asked if she could come up to the birth center. Sara showed up very soon after and truly became a part of our family through this experience.

The next 3 hours of transition labor and pushing were the most difficult, painful and powerful moments of my life. Worship music playing, prayers being spoken and pleading with The Lord. All I could do was to get through each contraction... Connie held my hands and spoke scripture aloud, her eyes were my focal point, while Jared used every pressure point and massage technique to try and relieve the pain. He coached me through breathing, Katie continually gave me sips of juice and water and spoke soft sweet words and Sara took moments away from her camera to wipe hair of my face and affirm me. It was truly a room filled with the Holy Spirit.

I labored in the pool until it was close to time to push then I moved to the bed. I always thought delivering in the water is what I wanted but my body took over and once I got to the bed I knew he was coming. I labored a short time more and felt the urge to push. After17 min of pure adrenaline, and by the grace of God, Boaz Lee Stark was born into the world screaming and super healthy. He was born a strong 8lbs 4oz and 20.8 inches long. I've never felt so elated, grateful and at peace. Thank you to my Heavenly Father! He created the spectacular and miraculous beauty of birth! I've never in my life felt so close to my creator.

My parents arrived just moments after he was born and got to meet their fourth grandson. That beautiful and tiny vintage home was filled to the brim with love for Boaz. Jared and I are so thankful for Katy Birth Center and the wonderful and wholesome birth experience we had there.