Another Farmer Enters the World!

Tuesday evening, October 9th, it was just another end of an intense harvest day for me, ready to cry over a sink blanketed on the bottom with tomato scraps as the last batch of peeled tomatoes went into the pot to heat up before being packed in jars.

Then the call came, our oldest daughter, Stephanie called to say that they were heading up to Lake Tapps to the midwife as the contractions were four minutes apart and not changing.  They would call us again from there.

I put the last pot of tomatoes in the fridge, change my clothes, tidy the kitchen. Bet got ready as well. Dirt went to bed.   His theory was that he would get a little sleep before a long night.  Bet and I watched a show on the t.v. while we waited for the call back. 

Eric finally called saying that they were staying but things were progressing slowly.  I spoke with Steph who said come whenever but they were determined to hold out until after midnight.  I asked if she felt she could actually  hold off that long.  She was confident that she could so I said I was going to let her dad sleep just a little longer then head up.

Eric doesn’t do well in the delivery part of birthing.  He was in with Stephanie when their oldest son, Kai was born ten and a half years ago on January 10th.  But five year’s ago, when their second son, Aksel was born on September 10th, Eric opted out and turned over the coaching and encouragement to his sister Rebecca and I.  We were the official birth helpers but Bet was in the corner of the room and managed to be handy with the scissors when it came time to cut the cord for Aksel’s birth.

This time Bet wasn’t being bashful and sneaking in the door quietly, whether asked or not, she was going to go up and be an active support for her dear sister Stephanie.  We did a few more things Bet and I, then we listened to Dirt’s snoring get louder and louder, at one crescendo, Bet and I looked at one another and said we could drive ourselves.  I went into the bedroom and woke Dirt up to ask if he did indeed want to go or stay.  He muttered his choice for staying, mentioned something about having got directions off Google, I told him I saw the directions and had them in my pocket.

I grabbed a few dollars for coffee because I didn’t want to wait any longer at home, it would be easier to stop for coffee at this point.  Who knew that coffee shops aren’t open at ten at night?  Not me obviously.  We finally got a cup at a stand on South Hill manned by two lovely self absorbed twenty something glitter bottoms.  To bad the coffee didn’t stay as hot as they thought they had. 

Messed up a bit on the directions that Dirt had taken down, he only wrote the part he knew he needed to remember, unfortunately I wasn’t totally clear on the preceding part and so took a five minute detour before getting back on track. 

Once back on the right route, the Exploder had some objections to the giant hill that took us back up out of the Big Valley and on to the east hill side where the giant fingered lake lays, a reservoir that used to provide power.  Its shore, though only full of water in the summer, is lined with beautiful homes with boat docks and garages and the midwife’s is no exception. 

I had been there five years ago for Stephanie’s last check up the day she went into labor with Aksel.  The midwife’s home is lovely from the outside and the birthing center on the ground floor is very nice indeed. 

Bet and I arrived just a few minutes after our predicted eleven o’clock p.m.. The little family and Auntrabecca were just finishing up one of Bet’s favorite movies, The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky.  Great movie, but more important was the lady on the couch who would occasionally look a little uncomfortable.  With the movie over and Step looking a bit more restless, the midwife came in from upstairs and checked Steph.  It was now about twelve-twenty, Steph’s water broke and it was the day to have a baby. 

Kai was still awake, he looked like he had had my coffee instead of me, but Aksel had been asleep on the floor even before Bet and I had arrived.  I won’t bore you with the details, it was a labor, albeit a quiet one.  Steph is not vocal like her mom, much more like her dad, though he’s never given birth so she could even be quieter.

By a little after one in the morning Steph was delivering a baby with her mom and little sister Bet at her sides and her sister and son at her head.  The baby came into the world and it was announced, the baby is a boy. 

Hurray!  Not that a little girl wouldn’t have been delightful but what fun, all boys!  All born on the tenth of their month!  Good job Steph!  Good job…what is his name Eric?  Klutch Henrik Manley.  Good job Klutch Henrik Manley!

Kai was beaming with joy!  He was so excited, and helping dad and mom pull out his baby brother’s going home outfit, the same outfit that Kai had worn home from his birth!

When a person marries they gather round them more than just the one with whom they become one, they immediately gather to them a larger family, and Steph really hit the jackpot with the family God gathered ‘round her.  In particular this night, Eric’s sister Rebecca, who shares birthing babies and farming with Steph. 

See the bees on the sleeper?  With such a first outfit, an older brother who loves to keep bees with mom, an auntie who is always in the garden, an uncle who’s a beef farmer, great grandparents that were poultry farmers, other aunties who garden and raise animals, a grandpa who shears and raises sheep… how could Klutch not be a farmer already?