Sewing Our Life Together: Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

A year ago on March 11th, Japans most powerful earthquake ever recorded was sending life threatening waves outward into the ocean. That isn't what woke me up in the middle of the night though, the repetitious contractions squeezing my pregnant belly and threatening to crush my spine can take credit for that. I tried to distract myself by nibbling crackers, cleaning the refrigerator (nesting?) and even soaking in a bath. The pain would not lessen however; while I called my midwife, my husband and mother in law were anxiously calling our family in Hawaii.

My husband and I drove to the hospital. The earthquake caused tsunami waves that swelled up to 133 feet and traveled up to six miles inland on Japan. Even though I was only dilated to two centimeters, my contractions were coming steady enough and fast enough that we didn't dare leave the hospital. The tsunami caused nuclear accidents and explosions making numerous civilian evacuations necessary. A meager 45 minutes later I was being led to the delivery room where I flopped around desperate to find a position where I could escape the horrible pains of back labor. I arrived determined to have a natural birth, and so instead of calling out for pain medication I was begging for a C section. The midwife only laughed at me, and it was too late anyway as it was time to push my daughter into the world. It would later be reported that 15,854 people lost their lives to the earthquake that day. Our family gained a life. "The World Bank's estimated economic cost was $235 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in world history." After only a three hour labor we were holding a healthy, beautiful little girl who was and is priceless beyond compare.

A year has gone by and my heart aches for the families who lost loved ones during that terrible storm. It also rejoices in the birthday celebrations of our precious one year old. We were lucky enough to have my mother in law with us from out of state over the weekend.