Meant to be

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with a dear long-time friend of mine, who gave birth to her second child on Tuesday. I was her doula and a few days before we had just had our prenatal visit, in which we discussed her plans for the birth. She had a home birth for her first baby and this one as well was a planned home birth. On Tuesday, two weeks before her estimated due date she woke in the night in labor, and things progressed so quickly that the midwife and I both missed the birth! That is the first time as a doula that this has happened to me, and at first I was devastated to have missed it. I was so looking forward to supporting my good friend as she labored and birthed. Once Frank talked me down and I thought about it, and spoke with my friend, the more it became clear to me that it all happened in the perfect way for them. It all happened how it was meant to be. They were able to share the moment together, just the three of them. What an amazing, exhilarating, experience for my friend, her husband and their new little girl to share. Her husband caught the baby, placed their new perfect and healthy little girl on my friend's chest and they waited for the midwife, and everything really was just as it was meant to be.