This the lovely story of the day Nehemiah was born. I love to read birth stories and enjoyed writing this one.
By Jennifer Goodenough, Spirit Lake, Idaho
                On Monday June 4th in the morning I started having regular contractions. The kids and I did our normal school and I did some extra cleaning. It was important to me to keep the house straight all day. By afternoon the contractions were increasing in intensity and burning. I had been in the habit of walking 1/4 of a mile every day out to the mailbox and back.         

                Around 6pm I took my last walk for a while. I walked very slow and very serious. I would not walk or move during the contractions. I didn't make it all the way this time. When I got back into my drive way, I stopped and leaned on the van and breathed deep through one. I now had no doubt that I was in labor.
                 Leon was late home that evening. While we were sitting around the dinner table, at 8pm, I leaned on the table and moaned through the contractions. The contractions were 15-20 minutes apart.
I wrote this in my journal at that time, "I do not regret these. My baby is coming. "God, I am in your hand. 'I feel you coming baby and I love you. ... I have no worry of anything not going right. 'I trust you God, you rule this night and you control my body and bring this baby'".
                We then attempted to have our regular family time which includes Leon reading the bible and some singing and then usually another book that we all enjoy. I knelt on the floor and leaned on the couch and wondered how they could all care about the book at a time like this. Leon put the kids to bed alone that night. When he was done we made sure we were ready for the birth. We got the birthing supplies out and made sure all the phone numbers were handy. We put the recharge juice in the refrigerator, took out the wine etc. The birthing pool had been inflated for days. By the time we laid in bed it was 9:30 pm. A thunderstorm raged outside.
               Leon went to sleep and I labored in prayer and meditation until 10:30. I couldn't go on without Leon now. I thought that music would help. I woke Leon by asking for a drink of water and music. We found out that the thunderstorm had knocked out all the computers downstairs which meant the music wouldn't play on our laptop.
               Leon then woke Ephraim because he felt overwhelmed to do everything and this baby was coming soon. I felt overwhelmed by the intensity of the contractions. Leon got the music going. It was Faith And Devotions Of A Satellite Heart by Violet Burning and Serene's 'Peace All Over Me'.

               By 11:30 I told Leon to call Sarah the mid-wife. I told him to tell her that I was in late first stage. I heard Leon tell her that they were still 10 minutes apart. I shook my head to myself. I knew that he didn't realize that I was near transition. She came at 12:30 with her assistant Kate.
              Then I made a mistake. I had planned to have a glass of wine during transition. I drank it too early. Suddenly I was far from transition. The contractions became farther apart and more bearable. When my good friend Katrina and her two daughters arrived I began to feel pressure and even embarrassed to not be farther along. I didn't want to make everyone wait. We all talked about it and decided to try and rest. They rested in the living room. Looking back I think they were just pretending to rest for my sake so that I didn't feel pressured anymore.

                I laid in the dark with Leon and closed the door. It was an instant help. The contractions were stronger right away. They were back to late first stage and only 5 minutes apart. After a while when I was crying out to God for help I had a contraction that was very different. I recognized it from other births. It came with the first feeling of wanting to bare down. I had a glimmer of hope in my darkness of pain.
                 I said determinedly and boldly, "that's it, it's time to get in the water." For a brief time, my thinking was clear and I moved quicker than I would have thought possible a moment ago. I entered the water and got on my knees, leaning on the side of the pool. Katrina was on my left, smiling. The shivering that I had had for a while was so bad. Katrina draped a wet warm towel over me and continually poured cups of water over me from the pool. She let me grip her hand and my right hand gripped Leon. He pushed my back very hard to ease the back labor which I had had all along. I was bearing down slightly with each contraction. I knew instinctively to do this. I wasn't trying to birth the baby but, just help my body and the baby to keep doing what they were doing.

                        Katrina knew I was in transition and spoke very encouraging words to me. She kept saying, "you are almost done" "you're going to have your baby in your arms." She said some things to encourage me. While I KNEW what my body was doing, a nagging doubt would come that perhaps I wasn't as far along as I thought I was. This thought would almost cause me to give in to panic. I continued to grip Katrina's hand with my right hand and Leon with my left hand. I would reach out and say "help" f it started when I didn't have their hands.. They would reach out quickly. All through my contractions I would moan low. Sometimes speaking out to God asking for help. God was with me the whole time.
                    When the Sarah checked my dilation and said I was only at 7 centimeters I thought that I couldn't bear it to be true. I would have given up all hope if Katrina hadn't spoken up. She knew the baby was coming soon. "Jennifer, God is bringing this baby." A few contractions later as I was sitting facing forward I felt the baby moving down.
                    Now everything changed again. I had a contraction that lasted 2 1/2 minutes. It finally ended. I was in another world now. I closed my eyes and focused all my energy on the baby's body. I said, "the baby's here". My body was being held in sweet peace and rest. The only thing in my world was the baby and my body holding it and the Lord holding everything. I heard people saying, "wow, she is in incredible control". They were shocked at the change in me.
                     The mid-wife saw all this and sent for the children. Havilah (10) woke Zuriel (5) and Naphtali (3), "guys, guys, it's time." "Mama's baby's 'gonna come out!!" Ephraim (12) and Asaph (7) were laying awake, waiting.  His head crowned and eased out over the course of 5 minutes. Then Katrina said, "touch your baby's head!" It was was difficult to let go of the hands I was gripping and feel my baby's head. After a couple small pushes I saw the baby's body floating. He was pale and exquisite under the clear light filled water. His legs and arms were folded up. I'll never forget that vision of perfect peace. I reached for him. I lifted him up to my chest. The midwife's hands were there helping. Leon was supporting my back watching everything. I cried and cried, "I love you, I love you".

Nehemiah StandFast Goodenough
Tuesday, June 5th, 2007
7lbs 14 oz. 20 inches long

Havilah and Asaph held the scissors together and cut the cord.  I took 2 weeks for convalescence. The first three days were spent in bed (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) not even getting up for meals. After that I moved out to the couch with everything I would need to care for the baby. A couple times a day I used Lanolin to carefully and slowly rub the baby's feet and legs, arms and hands and face. Doing this was such a wonderful time.

On Monday Leon, sadly, went back to work.  The rest of the 2 weeks I spent on the couch snuggling the baby and instructing and caring for the other children. The baby slept in my arms almost the entire day, every day. The kids and I read the Anne of Green Gables book, watched science videos, and ate simple foods. I basically had one week on the couch and got up on Tuesday. It seemed like a very long time, at the time. I wondered in awe why I was allowed to have this joy of mothering that surpassed anything that the world had to offer me. "Thank you creator for this new testimony of your beauty to the world".