The Birth of a Chilean-- Part 2

Instead of waking Leon, I came downstairs and made chamomile tea. I believed that the baby needed me to walk a little and be upright. I leaned on the counter, swayed and moaned. I had a cold with a bad cough and felt that it was helping the baby move down, maybe it had even helped get labor started. I was able to trust the cough to God instead of worrying that it would come at a bad time. All through the labor I would cough hard but I never had to cough during a contraction.
By 6:25 am I was on my 3rd cup of chamomile tea and I thought that I better eat some sauerkraut to keep up my strength for later on. It was difficult because I wasn't hungry. I read the bible for a while and then went back up to bed to see if I could rest. I couldn't.
 I touched Leon's face and said, "you are going to see your baby today". He was awake instantly and we both started wondering what we should do. We made the bed in nervous excitement. We went downstairs and told the children one at a time. They were completely thrilled. We started to make eggs but I was very little help as the only way that I could manage the contractions was to be alone in the dark and I was becoming very serious.
My downstairs bathroom is like a narrow little cave. I could barely get in and shut the door as large as I was.  I wanted to stay around everybody because it was so cheering but I couldn't labor in public. So every 9 minutes I rushed into that dark cave, locked the door, and focused my mind and body on surrendering to God. Then I would come back out and pretend to be interested in what everyone was doing. I even sat with them at the table to eat eggs, but I couldn't eat.
I wanted to take a shower but we needed new batteries for the hot water tank. So Leon went up to the store. He had to go again a little later to get a corkscrew so that we could have the traditional glass of wine in transition.
Often the house was fairly still with a majority of the family with Leon or at the Feria. I spent the morning drinking Chamomile tea (9 cups total) and sitting on the couch listening to Michael Pritzl and Dan Powers. I wandered around and put a few things away and talked to my daughters. Sometimes I would start crying and we didn't know why.
When I heard Mr. Powers sing about his grandmother dying, I could hardly contain my sobs. The candles burned and the incense entered each room.
I found a powerful position standing up in the cave for contractions. Supporting my lower back firmly against the wall and with my hands pressed against the wall in front of me. I hung my head and let everything sink down. I decided that I would not go upstairs to shower until that position didn't work anymore. Finally, I headed upstairs.
 Ever since labor began the night before I had kept my secret of being farther along than anyone suspected. I knew that if anyone came over too soon, I wouldn't be able to relax and labor could very possibly slow down. This had happened during Nehemiah's birth. Leon called the midwives and told them to be ready, but I begged him not to let them come yet.
 "I am doing so well. I need this time to be alone with my family without any pressure. I need this privacy".
He said, "we can wait just a little longer, it should take them about 30 minutes to get here once we tell them it's time."