Indiana Boon Feek… 8 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches long.
Rory Lee Feek… 180 pounds , 6 feet 3 inches tall.
Our sweet baby daughter Indy was born yesterday, and in a way, I feel as though a new life was born in me also. She is here, and our lives will never be the same. Never. What I will wake up for, work for, and will live for has changed forever. It can no longer be about me. Or just about Joey and I. It is about her, and it is about He who gave her to us.
At 8 am yesterday morning, Joey excused herself from breakfast and headed for the bathroom… not that unusual of a thing these days. But then through the door I heard, “honey, I think it’s starting”… and just like that, the nine months we’d been waiting and praying ended and the moment was upon us. I watched as Joey welcomed the full-on contractions and started timing them and writing their frequency down on a sheet of paper, in the moments in-between, when she could regain her composure. I started filling the birthing pool with water and with camera’s in hand, doing anything and everything she thought needed done to prepare the room. She called her midwife Pamela and by the time she arrived, we’d used up all of our hot water (we’re on a well, and have a small water heater) and the tub was only about 1/4 full. Pamela checked Joey and said she was already at 8 cm. Joey was thrilled. Pamela said not to bother with the tub, we wouldn’t have time. I found myself watching in slow motion, wondering if this was really happening. Taking it all in, smiling and thinking “this is it, this is it, we’re gonna have a baby today!”. Both our girls got their right away and when Pamela realized that Joey was this far along already, she told Joey she needed to slow down. That she wanted her to wait for about an hour before she started pushing. That sounded like it wasn’t going to be an easy thing to do, but thanks to a few sips from a box of wine from our daughter Hopie’s apartment, Joey’s contractions leveled off and 45 minutes or so passed. When Deborah, the other midwife got there (they work in pairs), they tried to break Joey’s water bag. Twice. But it just wan’t breaking. Somewhere around that time, I saw Pamela look up and ask Deborah “when did this baby turn???”. Then she said “Joey, the baby has turned and is now breech. But don’t worry, you can do this”….
If Joey was scared or nervous, she never showed it. It’s as if she knew that was important job to do and she was ready to it. And if the baby needed to come bottom first, and it was gonna be harder… then that okay too. Joey had been in labor just a couple of hours total when it came time to push. And with all her might, she took deep breath after deep breath and let her body do what it was made to do. A half hour later, our Indy was born. Heidi and Hopie and I were all there next to Joey in the bed and stroking her hair and encouraging and loving on her. And then where there had been 4 of us in this family… an instant later, there were 5 of us. And we cried. All of us.
Joey wanted me to be the one to tell everyone what we had… so, through my tears I smiled and said “we have a little girl”. And Joey and I kissed. Not just a little kiss, but a 12 year love story kiss that was just beginning. Our lips touched and we stayed there, locked in the moment crying, with my tears flowing into hers. Feeling the joy that we never thought we’d get to feel. (…story to be continued soon)
