World's Greatest Great-Aunts

Nancy and Julie headed back to Provo about an hour ago. They arrived on Thursday and we spent three incredible days with them. Everyone in our family will agree that the last few days must have been divinely orchestrated. It honestly couldn't have been more magical had we planned it ourselves.

Nancy is my dad's youngest sister (my Grandma Roma's baby girl) and she and her roommate Julie (who has been an adopted part of our extended family for 20+ years) have never witnessed the birth of a baby. The fact that they were here and that the baby arrived on Roma's birthday was not by accident. They were going to come later in the month to help after the baby arrived, but decided General Conference would be best. Julie is the RS President in their ward and thought it would be easier to get away on a weekend without Sunday responsibilities. Then at the last minute, they decided to come Thurs-Sunday instead of Friday-Monday which worked out so perfectly. After they arrived on Thursday night, Aaron and I stayed up late until midnight talking about anything and everything. On Friday, Nancy and Julie spent the entire day painting my dining room and doing other house projects. I was able to do ALL my last minute nesting items... there literally wasn't a single other item on my to-do list. Friday afternoon, I had an appointment with my midwife. I was dilated to a 3.5 and was contracting through the night. I was trying my best to relax and keep the baby from arriving a day early.

Nancy and Julie waiting for the baby to arrive!

I woke up on Saturday around 4 am and was pretty sure it was the day. I took Sunny on a walk for about an hour and then came home and paced around the house for about another hour. At 6:30 am, I woke up Aaron, my aunts and called the midwife. When I knocked on our guestroom door to wake Julie and Nancy, they both sat up in bed and were so excited to hear she could possibly be born on Roma's birthday. They got up and wouldn't even take a minute to shower because they didn't want to miss a thing! When she was finally born, the only people in the room were Aaron, Nancy, Julie, my midwife & assistant. The boys came in just minute after she arrived and got to watch Nancy cut the umbilical cord. Nancy was so cute and each time she talked to anyone on the phone she would say, "Guess who got to cut the cord?" She was also the liaison between all my family members. It was a very difficult labor for me (more on that later) so it was wonderful to have someone else keeping the family updated, particularly my parents in Chile. No one else is closer to my parents than Nancy and Julie, so I know it meant a lot to them to have them here when they are so far away.

After the baby was born, I took a nap and Nancy and Julie went to work in my garage. They hung shelves, organized storage bins, and cleaned it beautifully... as if they hadn't done enough! I am so grateful to them for taking sick days off work and driving down to be with our family for this special weekend. They came bearing lots of gifts, not just for the baby but for my boys too. They made delicious meals (a few that are in my stocked freezer) brought 2 dozen of their famous Shirley's dinner rolls, ordered pizza, worked so hard doing projects around the house, played with my kids, cleaned our bathrooms and walked the dog. (Sunny loves Nancy so much, gets so excited and pees every time she see her!) After listing all the things they've done for us this weekend, the most important thing that happened was the bond we felt as we welcomed in a new baby to the family. We talked about it and cried together afterward and it was nothing short of miraculous. I told them today as they left that there isn't two other people I would have wanted to share this experience with. We love them so much and will never forget Roma's birthday! October 1st is a special day, indeed!