Born: September 18, 2009 at 6:00 A.M.
Weight: 6 pounds 4 ounces, 18 1/2 inches
Parents: Katie and Michael
It was a beautiful fall day when my husband, Michael, asked me to go for a hike at Effigy Mounds. I smiled as I said yes because it was a similar hike two years ago that encouraged our son McKinley to come in to this world. We loaded up the car with McKinley, the dogs, some food, and plenty of water and headed to Iowa. We decided not to mess around with simple trails today and headed to Marching Bear Mounds which took us straight up the bluff. The picnic on the top was charming, as was the view. As we descended down the bluff I felt my heart quicken as I started to feel a tightening in my abdomen. It had worked! The contractions had started. Once we got to the car I told Michael what I was feeling and we decided to go strait home. I was trying to relax, but the excitement made it hard. I called Denise when we got home and told her that the contractions had started, but were far apart and not consistent. She told me to call back in an hour with an update. Nothing had changed in the following hours, so Denise suggested trying to get some sleep. It just might happen tonight! Sure enough, I awoke at 2:45 am with strong contractions every 5 minutes. I woke up Michael and hurried downstairs to call Denise. Since we live about 45 minutes from Viroqua she and Tavniah were on their way at once. Michael and I started to prepare for the birth by filling the pool (twice!), heating water, and of course drinking tea. About 4 o’clock Denise and Tavniah arrived filling the house with a calm presence, as the contractions continued to increase in intensity and length. AHHH…at 5 the pool was finally full and ready to go and I sunk right in. With the pool being in the middle of the kitchen it was easy to continue to talk as we waited for the baby to begin her approach. I remember Denise stating that I must not be in transition yet since I was still smiling. Well, a couple a minutes later there was no smiles. As I felt the baby begin to move down, I reached for Michael’s hands and didn’t let go. It wasn’t long before I felt the need push. I could feel the baby was close to crowning and knew that it wouldn’t be much longer. Denise reminded me to stay calm and Michael started to tell me how much he loved me. That helped me focus on the next push. Oh, I could feel her right there, but she had not made it out yet. I took a couple of slow breaths waiting for the next contraction. And PUSH, at last her head slid though! What a relief! At the next contraction I pushed her body out and she was in my arms in seconds. Our child born at exactly 6 o’clock. Michael paused from taking pictures for a moment to ask if we had a boy or a girl. With all the emotions I hadn’t even looked, so he reached over and told me that we had a girl! Our little baby girl started to nurse right away and I felt absolute euphoria. So this is what my great grandma felt when she told me that childbirth was the closest to thing to heaven. I settled into bed with Tavniah’s help, while Denise checked on the baby. The room faced east and I saw the first rays of dawn approach making my child glow. It took Michael and I a day to decide on her name, but when we did we felt it was her choosing. Her name is Aurora, meaning dawn. Aurora was born on September 18, my grandmother Ione’s birthday, so we decided to give her the middle name Ione. Welcome to the world Aurora Ione Kabat.
Thank You Denise and Tavniah for making this experience so real and absolutely wonderful.
