Introducing Juliet Schlaffer Johnson

Juliet Schlaffer Johnson is here and she is breathtaking. No usual blogger, I am writing on Erica’s behalf while she recovers and takes care of our sweet daughter. Having borne witness to a beautiful but very long labor, I can state emphatically that there is no power like that of a woman set to give birth. So here is how it happened. Erica was almost 2 weeks overdue when she took the advice of our midwife and consumed more than a healthy dose of castor oil (no worries, it’s not the stuff you put in your car) to inspire labor. Her contractions started on Tuesday and lasted for about 8 hours. I guess we were up until about midnight before we fell asleep. If you have been through this than you know that a laboring woman doesn’t go to sleep. So our excitement ebbed with her contractions. But by 1 or 2 on Wednesday we were back in action, and (I don’t want to give away the ending here but I think you can look at the pictures and guess at it) we weren’t going to get any sleep until midday on Friday. Erica’s contractions were intense but with a great support team, a candle lit bath and a couple of pots of coffee, we managed to stay at home for a long time. We arrived at the hospital on Thursday morning, bleary eyed and exhausted and a tiny bit scared and excited as hell to find out that she was already 5 cm dilated (that’s half way for all the rookies out there). And that was good news. By 1 in the afternoon she was 7 cm dilated. By 5 she was 6 cm. Now I’m not the mathy-est person, but I can tell you that was a bit scary. So let me back up a bit… I think I’ve already said that there is no strength like that of a woman in labor. Erica went 40 hours without so much as a Tylenol. She had an incredible support team: her doula, her midwife, a nurse who massaged her feet and held her like a baby through some of the toughest contractions (do most nurses do that?) her mother (picture here a mamma bear protecting her cub) and me. All were brave as hell and we all fought with her. Erica was so beautiful and so exhausted and if she slept at all she slept for seconds at a time between contractions and only 2 or 3 times. We tried to be there for her and we told her to keep going but I have to tell you what really happened: we were carried by her strength and we all kept going because she kept going. So you can imagine, if you are still reading this, that we were all distressed by the fact that she had regressed from 7 to 6 cm. This is the part where those of us who spurn the whimsical use of drugs look toward God and thank heaven for the anesthesiologist with the epidural. This is the part we weren’t aloud to watch (presumably because the needle was soooooo long). This is the part where the hospital sends a doctor who reminds you that they are watching and that they cannot allow this poor woman to suffer much longer before they will require a Caesarean birth. The next two hours were scary. But they were also very productive. The epidural relaxed her cervix enough that she was able to have her baby. Gladly, it also wore off before it was time to push, so that she could feel her contractions again. What follows… well, you either know already, or you need to experience it for yourself. But I can tell you that I have been around the world and I have loved every second of it and I have never seen anything as beautiful as our little girl (see attached photos) take her first worldly breath into Erica’s chest as she cried out for her. We are the proud parents of a beautiful little girl. The first born to my family in 55 years. The first grandchild on either side. Like her mother, she is peaceful and beautiful. It feels good to fall madly in love so quickly.

Born: July 11th 1:14 am

8 Lbs 6.4 oz.

19.7 inches long