My first two children came days shy of 42 weeks, so I wasn’t holding my breath for when my third baby would be born. I semi-jokingly told people that if I could pick a date, it would be April 21st: just a hair past Easter weekend but more than a week prior to my estimated due date. I had been getting monthly massages to get my ligaments and tendons balanced, had picked out a name for each gender, put my house in order with my nesting party, and finished up my church duties. I had written a list of specific prayers in my prayer journal. -At birth center -Between April 21st - May 9th so Christy [my photographer] can be there (but preferably closer to due date) -Peaceful -All normal, great vitals for me and baby -Jael able to cut the cord -No mec and no hemorrhage -and my unwritten one get a breakfast panini and iced coffee from the local cafe closest to the birth center. April 22nd, the day before I hit 39 weeks, was a very productive day. With nesting in full effect, I organized clothing and items into bins in the basement and meal prepped a pan of stuffed shells and an egg casserole. Around 9pm, Luis and I sat down to play a game after the girls had gone to bed. I felt one or two contractions that felt slightly more intense than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been experiencing the past few weeks. When I laid down to go to bed around 10:30 pm, contractions started coming about 10-15 minutes apart. I sent my mom and birth photographer quick texts - “Just be prepared, because I am not convinced I’m not in early labor. My contractions are a little wince-y, but I’m going to try to get some sleep.” My heart was racing with the possibility of maybe meeting this baby sooner rather than later, and once I calmed myself down enough to rest, I snuggled up to Luis’ back to sleep between contractions. Around 3:30 am, the contractions felt like they were getting a little stronger and closer together, so I started timing them. 5-7 minutes apart and lasting for 90ish seconds. Laying in bed, I tucked a pillow between my knees like a peanut ball and gently rocked back and forth during contractions, distracting myself through them with Sudoku on my phone and scrolling Reddit for third birth stories. The lyrics of Steffany Gretzinger’s “Morning Song” swirled around in my head and so I turned it on softly on my Spotify. Night turns to morning You have been waiting Whispering to me Gently I'm waking It's the dawn of a new day You've painted for me Colours exploding Telling our story Around 5ish, I got up for the day. I brushed my teeth and braided my hair. I put some mascara on and continued working through contractions. My toddler woke up and Luis went in to comfort her. He later told me that she just kept saying, “Baby, baby, baby.” Around 6 am, I went downstairs and opened our front curtains. One of my favorite things to do is greet the morning and the morning of April 23rd was no different. Our east-facing window allows the sunlight to come in and the dawn was just blooming when I opened the curtains. A thin crescent moon was still in the blue-pink morning sky, the “Morning Song” still on repeat. And I can feel the rising of the sun Mercy sings me the promise of Your love I'm reminded how far we've come You're the One that my heart is beating for My toddler came to the top of the stairs, “Mama! Baby,” she said, pointing to our Mama-Roo swing. “Yes, you will get to meet the baby today.” She came down and we snuggled for a minute but then I noticed my contractions got a little closer together and more intense for a few rounds. “Luis, just come hold me, please.” He wrapped his arms around me and encouraged me through them. The birth bag sat by the door waiting.
At 6:15 am, I called our birth center and left a message for the on-call midwife. At some point, I realized that my parents weren’t going to make it there and that things were picking up faster than I thought, so I called my friend Jodie, who is a skilled doula and birth worker. I begged her, “Please come. Baby is coming soon!” She coached me through a contraction while we were on the phone, telling me I was doing such a good job and she told me she would be on her way in a few minutes. The on-call midwife called me back at 6:20 am, and all of a sudden, I hit an extremely hard contraction. My whole body started shaking and I ran to lean against my birth ball on the couch, “Luis, rub my back!” I now realize that that was probably when the baby moved past my sacrum because my back hurt so badly for those seconds. When the contraction was over, I told the midwife, “I’m not going to make it to the center. Please send someone here. I don’t even know if they will make it. Lucy [one of the midwives] lives the closest to me and Jodie is coming too!” The midwife said, “Okay, let me come up with a plan and I’ll call you back.” I woke up my oldest. Our toddler had started fussing at that point, and needing his undivided attention on me, I asked Luis to run the girls to our friends who live next door. At 6:30 am, the midwife called me back, “Lucy is 10 minutes away. Luis, get a stack of towels. That’s all you need right now.” All I could think was I have to get to the bathtub and I ran upstairs in the middle of transition, stripped off my pants, and jumped in the bathtub. At 6:32 am, my water broke. “It’s clear, no meconium,” I gasped with relief into the phone. Then there was a lull for a few minutes. “Steph, I’m so scared,” I said to the midwife on the phone. “Do I need to push if I don’t feel a contraction yet?” “No, just rest and go with your body. If there is a cord around the neck, hold baby close to your thigh and unwrap the cord.” After another minute or so, I beared down with everything in me, “Luis, baby’s head is right there. I think he or she is coming next contraction.” The next contraction came and baby flew out crying and a beautiful pink color, covered in vernix. No nuchal cord. Time of birth: 6:38 am.
Relieved, I held the baby over my arm as Luis started pushing on my belly like our midwife instructed. Hemorrhaging was a real concern for Luis and I because I had hemorrhaged with my last birth pretty quickly. “Blood isn’t gushing, but I should probably get to a reclining position in the tub,” Luis grabbed a pillow and I laid back, settling in with my new baby. I flipped the baby over into my other arm. “We have another girl!!” I announced. We took a moment to breathe and look at our baby girl. “We are here!” I heard the midwife come in the front door approximately two minutes after. I responded, “I’m upstairs in the tub, holding the baby!” All of a sudden, our tiny bathroom and hallway were filled with the midwife, my friend Jodie, and our birth photographer).
Our oldest daughter had been asking throughout my pregnancy to cut the umbilical cord, and while I was hesitant not to make a promise in case I couldn’t keep it, we were able to call her over from the neighbors’. “Mom, do I have a brother?!” She came into the bathroom with an excited face. I responded, “You have another sister, AND you get to cut the cord!”
After the placenta was delivered, I got to move to my comfy bed - thank God for Jodie happening to have chucks pads in her car! We spent the next few hours healing and laughing and in awe of Ciela (See-ella) Jubilee.
The girls snuggled on the bed with us for a bit. My middle daughter was so excited to meet the baby she had been kissing in my belly all these months. She tenderly held her new little sister. Three girls. What a gift.
My list of prayer requests? All answered except one, and that one, I didn't mind ;) -At birth center -Between April 21st - May 9th so Christy [my photographer] can be there (but preferably closer to due date) -Peaceful -All normal, great vitals for me and baby -Jael able to cut the cord -No mec and no hemorrhageEven my unwritten one was answered when my dad picked me up a breakfast panini and iced coffee from the cafe!
My parents arrived into town to meet their newest grandgirl. It was such a beautiful day, fitting for our newest love!
Appendix I
We have not ever found out gender before birth because I just love being surprised. But after two girls, I was slightly panicked to come up with another girl’s name. We loved Jubilee as a middle name, but I didn’t want it to be a first name because I didn’t want her to get nicknamed. One night we were chatting while laying in bed. Luis proposed “Ciela” - “Cielo” in Spanish is “heaven; sky”. Ciela Jubilee means “heavenly joy and celebration!”
In the Bible, a Year of Jubilee was when debts were forgiven, people were free, land was returned to families. While the Jewish Calendar doesn’t see a Year of Jubilee yet until all the Jewish people are back in Israel, the Catholic Church declared a Year of Jubilee for 2025, which focuses on spiritual renewal and hope.
With her beautiful morning birth and so many answered prayers, she certainly lives up to the name and my continued prayer is that she brings the celebration and joy of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth and bears witness to many people finding freedom! 
How could I ever be disappointed about a third girl... When sisterhood's bond is my daily view? When I get to model adventurous motherhood to little girls? When I pray and hear whispered prayers for wisdom flowing out of our mouths? When girlish giggles and wonder fill my home, and colorful crayon rainbow pictures cover my fridge? When I get to teach them that womanhood is a blessing and not a curse? **I wrote this 4/24/2025** Appendix 2 I had a list of tasks on my bulletin board that I needed done before the baby came. As I wrote tasks onto index cards, I debated putting my bathroom on there. My mom and mother-in-law weren’t able to make the party and it felt so vulnerable to have my bathroom on the list. I knew it was so dirty, especially the bathtub, so I humbly wrote it down. I figured that if no one chose it, I could do it before the baby came. At my nesting party, my friend Cheyenne, newly postpartum herself, chose the bathroom. I was doubly humbled. I told her, “Even if you get part of it done, that is such a huge help. Thank you so much!” Her baby was tucked into her carseat napping and her older kids ran around outside in my yard, and that woman cleaned the bathroom top to bottom. Little did I know that would be where Ciela was born. But God knew, and through Cheyenne, he had prepared the space for Ciela to enter the world. “You have not because you ask not,” the Bible tells me. So I keep trying to put aside my pride and ask, and the Lord is faithful to give us what we need. Psalms 145 was integral in my prayers in the weeks leading up to birth and Yahweh was truly faithful. Psalm 145:14-20a – “The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him.”
Appendix 3 Apparently I need to be careful with what I study while I’m pregnant. Exodus was an interesting choice, I guess. Someone needs to get me a shirt that says, “Vigorous Woman” on it. ;) “The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” - Exodus 1:19 (ESV)
All photos are by the fabulous Christy Renee Photography, except for the first one that my husband snapped as I caught Ciela.
Congrats, again! Always a joy to hear about the birth of a precious one!
Such a beautiful read and a beautiful family. I love that you wait to find out what you’re having. Such great pictures. I felt like I was there too ❤️😂.