Joan-Claire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The day finally came....and then went. Can you believe she's already three weeks old! I can't. But all the same Joan-Claire is here and she is very, very loved!

These pics are all from her on day two and three. As you can see Ada is in LOVE with her baby sister. In fact she only refers to her as "MY BABY". So that's good. Ephraim, on the other hand didn't take to her quite as quickly. I'm always fascinated to know what's going on in my children's minds. We talked all the time about our new baby sister before she was born but somehow he really and truly expected to have a baby brother. She for the first day and a half he refused to look at her. But finally Joan-Claire used her awesome baby skills and she won him over. He's in love just like the rest of us.

So, the birth story..... I decided to have this one at home too. After Ada I just wouldn't want to do it any other way. We rented a birthing tub again. I've had four of the seven kids in the water and let me just say it makes all the difference in the world. I started having contractions at about 1am. I'm never really quite sure when it's the real thing. I called Dawn Wadleigh (the most wonderful midwife ever) when the contractions were about ten minutes apart. We decided I'd call her when they got just a little closer together. Luckily Thomas was listening to the spirit and decided to call Sarah Simmons ( who if you remember actually delivered Ada and is now Dawn's assistant). He asked her to come before just in case. Good thing. All of a sudden the contractions were five minutes apart. It was not like previous labors. The contractions of course hurt, but I felt like I still had a while to go because they weren't excruciating yet. And I was able to talk  and move in between them. As I was sitting on my stability ball I felt very strongly impressed that it was time to get in the tub. I almost pushed the thought aside but it came again more strongly so I listened. And then almost immediately the contraction were closer and closer together. Sarah got there. My water broke. And then within five minutes of Sarah arriving Joan-Claire made her appearance! I was in labor for a total of two hours, which of course I am most thankful for. Marley was the cutest and sweetest birth assistant to Sarah. Joan-Claire tied Townsend for our biggest baby at 8 lbs. 7 oz. She was 20 1/2 inches long and actually has a little bit of hair, which for us is a rarity. Yay! for babies.