Amanda writes this beautiful birth story on her blog Ladybug Love - go check it out! Here is a small excerpt...
"My due date was Christmas Day and it came and went. I swore I would never tell anyone my due date again as I have had a history of my kids "cooking" longer than expected. Forest was 43 weeks, Emerald 42, and Opal was 41 weeks so of course I thought baby number 4 would be right on time. After all, I had shed a week off of each birth, right? It never entered my mind that I could go past the "legal" dates of 42 weeks in Arizona. I was living up to my "post dates" label ... I wasn't too concerned because I was late for everything but ..... well...... lets just say.... there was concern. I called my midwife in Oregon with all my "What Ifs", Her response, "its a short flight". Gotta love that girl!
Thankfully, at the next prenatal the essence of that appointment was one of support, making me feel that I have choices, and that there was no pressure. I am thankful that my water was not broken, that my membranes were not stripped, that I was not asked to drink castor oil,and was not forced to induce. Instead there was a reevaluation of my dates, we talked of how babies come when they come, and that every pregnancy is different. Of course I couldn't resist taking the Freedom and the Seed bike for a spin around Tempe. I remembered going into labor the night I rode my bike along the Portland river front (with Emerald) so when I saw that the girls at FATS had a bike. I was destined to ride........WWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEE as my family waited I peddled as fast as I could with a belly as large as..... well lets just say I got a lot of laughs and stares. I needed that ride after an intense appointment. It made me feel lighter.."
