Hana Aluna Loggins was born on Monday, September 29, 1997 at 2:10 a.m. She weighed 8 lbs, 7 oz, and was 20 inches long, with long brown hair. Hana is my 5th child and Julia's 2nd. Our first experience was a homebirth over 4 years ago, and because of scar tissue on the cervix, Julia's labor was like transition for 36 hours. Because of that 1st birth, we were somewhat unprepared for what Hana had in mind.

On the afternoon of Sept. 28, Julia walked around our home having mild "pre-labor" irregularly paced contractions. Was this "false labor," we wondered? At first they were 15 minutes apart, then 10, then a half hour at 3 to 5, then back to 13, then gone for a half an hour. We thought perhaps we'd sleep through the night, but at midnight her water broke and we were off and running.

Within 2 hours of active labor, Hana popped out into our dear friend Mary's freshly scrubbed hands, just minutes before our midwife showed up. I would have caught her, but I was occupied at Julia's top half, riding out her contractions with her like a cowboy on a bronco. Julia and Hana are happy and healthy.