Tamahra Faith Mast

Our precious baby girl, Tamahra Faith Mast, was born July 2, 2010 at 11:04 am. She was very diplomatic in the time she chose to arrive in that she came a day after Canada day and two days before Independence Day. Amazingly she arrived exactly on her due date which is apparently a rather rare occurrence.

The whole experience was very blessed, God brought together a amazing crew to encourage me and support me through the whole birthing process. Our team included my mom who flew down from Canada, Adrienne Shales who acted as doula and, of course, my amazing husband, John. There were also some amazing nurses and doctors who helped me so much.

I went into labor at 1:30 that morning and we got to the hospital by 4:00 am. John stood by my side the entire time, breathing with me, spoon feeding me crushed ice, massaging my back and applying counter pressure to my back. Adrienne, was a constant source of peace and reassurance as well as wisdom when it was necessary. Mom took on a mom's role and was constantly doing whatever she could to keep me comfortable. One nurse in particular, Lou, was so helpful, when I really needed it she gave me the pep talk of my life which gave me the drive to press through to the end. It was so worth every minute of it. And what a joy and relief it was to finally get to hold our baby girl.

I had all these ideas of how everything would be from the labor experience to what it would be like to be a mommy. Once again those got thrown out the window. It was way different than I imagined but honestly way better too. I've come to a realization of a common misconception which I had embraced and feared for so long. When talking about pregnancy, birthing and parenthood, people would tell me how hard or painful it could be. I therefore always feared these things. What I've come to realize, as with all new responsibilities, harder or painful is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact these experiences have brought some of the biggest opportunities for me to grow emotionally and spiritually and some of the biggest blessings I've ever encountered. It's amazing how the enemy, through fear, tried to rob me of these things. I am so glad God gave me the courage and the strength to press through, it is the best decision I have ever made.

This new chapter in our lives as parents has obviously just begun and another huge part of my walkout is to not get ahead of myself. Often times I'll catch myself worrying about what's going to happen next, the next stage in baby's growth or even my marriage. What I've come to conclude is that every day or even every moment is like a contraction; you take each one as it comes and deal with them one at a time. As soon as you start thinking about the next ones to come and how hard they may be you get overwhelmed and forward progress is hindered for that time. So I guess I'm saying I'm learning to take life one bite at a time. Matthew 6:34 says: Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.