Dear Lydi

Thank you for making my 4th embarkation into motherhood a blessing that I could smile through! I was so overwrought with fear for the birth of my 4th child, after the mind bending pain of the previous 3. I wanted that baby desperately, enough to face the dragon of delivery.

You promised me at our first meeting, and probably during the phone conversation before I saw your beautiful face, that I would be able to have child #4 without the agonizing experiences of the past. I didn't believe you. I just wanted to keep my sanity and be healthy enough to care for a healthy newborn. You continued to assure me, month after month, as you sincerely visited me and monitored my health and that of my unborn child.

Did you know that I had initially wanted to be hospitalized for the birth? I joked about wanting to be knocked out 2 days before and awakened 2 days after. I wasn't really joking. What I wanted was to erase the pain of the past births at home and never experience it a 4th time. I wanted to believe that babies were indeed delivered by storks. I wanted nothing to do with the event! I had even enrolled with a doctor and gone through all the routine tests and examinations. I was planning to go with the flow of the status quo: hospital, epidural. But, something nagged at my mind, reminding me of my convictions about non-medicated births and the potential beauty of giving birth, if just allowed. I had tried it 3 times and just couldn't get it right!

Well, in all my pondering, worrying, and praying, I finally heeded the answer from above that all would be well if I chose to have another home birth. In reading the newspaper, my husband found an article about you. I read it, recognizing the name of one of your clients. I called her and got the lowdown on you. She had nothing but good to say. I thought you were worth my investigation. I called you and that's how it all began. The night of it all, when the true test came, it was like a dream, not a nightmare.

I called you, knowing it was time for me to meet the challenge, and you came right away. At the moment of your arrival you went right to work, making my work easier. It was not even an hour when I heard my baby's first cry. It was a miracle in my life, commonplace in yours!

Past times had exacted hours from my life, draining me before I ever met my babies, the rewards for my sacrifice. During those minutes of labor, you told me how to respond to the natural inclinations of my body and my body responded, in turn, like a dance. The pain was that of planting a big, heavy tree, or, perhaps, more like moving a mountain with faith in God and assistance from Him.

I had a smile on my face when my baby first looked at me. I was interested in her, wanting to meet this important little person. I was still in control of my mind and body when she entered the world. It was a POWERful feeling to know I had done it and done it well.

I thank you for all these gifts. The best thing that happened to me that year was the beautiful birth that you played such an integral role in assisting. That wonderful night when my 4th baby (and later the 5th) was born was one of pure joy.

Thank you, Lydi. I love you