wohnzimmer

it's an adventure... becoming a mother and being a mother. discover your style. follow your path. be inspired by mother and author sarah schmid. the birth of our 5th child. 7 days after my due date, 30 minutes after midnight on 1st february 2015: as soon as i went to bed, contractions started. then things happened fast. the film crew that wanted to film the birth just came when pushing contractions started. the rain barrel i wanted to give birth in became only half-full...

a break between pushing contractions. you hear the water running into the rain barrel. "i was not expecting things to go so fast. a few minutes ago i was still in bed." "would have been nice with the rain barrel." "it has advantages, too. then it's over soon." "i just thought i would stay in bed as long as i can stand it." "then with the last one i thought: oh! better get up and let tim (my husband) know." "so i let you know. all as planned." "shall i still wake up johanna (our oldest, who wanted to see the birth)?" "you can do that if you manage to."

a friend of mine wanted to be at the birth. she hardly made it... (husband discussing some technical issue with the film crew.) "now i see a face." "he's turning slowly." "yes, i feel it." "one shoulder is coming now..." "hello! what do we have?" "a boy!" "everything ok?"

"we did this really fast, didn't we?" "we managed this so fast!" "have you been a fast one, like emanuel (his older brother)?" "and you are also good at crying..." "not so easy to take a breath for the first time, huh?" "there we had another one..." "shall i suction you a little? or does it go without?" "we handled this really quick, huh?" "all right? a lot of vernix you've got..."

"and there you wee for the first time." "we've been guessing wrong with a girl again." "can you put a pad for me on the sofa over there?" "did somebody look on the clock?" "one moment... it's 2:45 a.m. now." "you wanted to be born in february, huh?" "didn't you like you are in the world now?" "he is exhausted."

"do you want already?" "you've got everything? it looks like this." "oh you little man." i'm checking if the baby is healthy and has everything it is supposed to have. a few hours later the children awake and greet their new brother. "did you sleep well?" "do you want to see who was born last night, jonathan?" "do you know what we've got?" "it's a boy!"

"look who is coming here." "what is this?" "there, he's sleeping." "come, we look at him." "it is a boy." "no, no baby! no boy!" "no baby, no baby!" "what else is it then?" "what is it? a...."

"no." "a no. is it a sweet no?" "the baby is sleeping. it won't hurt you." "the...baby." "no, no." she was not overly excited about the baby as you can tell. it actually took some weeks for her to accept that she was not the youngest anymore. "there is the baby." "it is tiny." "yes. and do you know what it is?"

"a boy." "yes. it's a boy." "you believed it was a girl." "yes, i was wrong again. i guessed wrongly." "when did it come?" "yesterday when you were all asleep." "did you film it?" "we filmed it. you can watch it." "he is very warm."

"yes, he may not get cold." "you have to keep him warm." "best under a blanket." "yes, i will cover him immediately. i just wanted you to see him." "now you've got another boy for playing." "but little boys are not supposed to be beat up." "no, you may not beat him up." "you are not allowed to beat konstantin up." "he was in the waters, wasn't he?"

"he was in the waters, yes. now he is not in the waters anymore but on the air." "hello!" "hello." "there you are at home after all. i already though you went to church." (my mom had called earlier but we could not answer the phone right then.) "no no, tim was calling someone himself at that moment." "i wanted to ask: is it there already?" "yes, you are calling at the right time." "it was born last night." "so my dream was right."

my mom to my dad: "it's a boy." "hello, congratulations!" "congrats! beautiful." "so, how do you feel?" "yes, i feel fine. the way i usually feel after a birth. somewhat like after my first riding lesson." "or a 30 km march as somebody compared it to." "anyway it went very quick. he was there in no time." "in the rain barrel?" "no, we couldn't fill the barrel in time."

"i nearly thought so already." "it only got half-full and then he was there." "so it was the classical standing birth again." "well, all preparations in vain." "seems i have to try next time again. maybe i'll make it into the water sometime. "so fast?" "yes! well, i thought, i would stay in bed as long as i can stand the contractions there." "that what i usually did." "and when i felt i don't want to and can't be in bed anymore i got up and woke tim immediately."

"tim informed the film crew. but until everything was there and set up the pushing contractions had already started." "they didn't manage to turn on all the cameras." "aaah! hustle and bustle." 19 months later: he has become a gorgeous little fellow. his birth story has not been aired on tv yet.

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