My New Sculpture

We have noticed in our window shopping through many towns in Holland that miniature sculptures are quite popular here. By miniature, I mean under 12 inches in height and usually much less (some quite small at an inch or two), most commonly cast in bronze. Being an art lover, I enjoy seeing these sculptures and have wished to own one myself. There was a lovely abstract sculpture of a family of four in a gallery in Delft that I admired for months before baby Stephanie's birth. I didn't want to jinx us by purchasing it before we were a family of four ourselves, so we waited it out. Markus took Ellie to Delft in the days after Stephanie was born...and the gallery had closed down. That sculpture was gone. Sigh.

This week, Markus bought me the perfect sculpture to celebrate baby Stephanie's birth. Given the sculpture's size and shape, we call it my "Home Birth Oscar."




Stephanie's home birth was a huge achievement and a precious time for me and for us as a family. Although it's not for everyone, I am so happy we went with that choice. I would like to thank our midwife Christine for giving us the space and the confidence to get through labor as a team, and for making the entire experience the polar opposite of a medical birth. We were so happy to get to know Stephanie in the time immediately after her birth, and we appreciated how you gave us that time without question. I would also like to thank Astrid, our kraamzorg who assisted Christine after the birth and took care of me and baby Stephanie for five days afterwards. Your warmth and knowledge helped us become true believers in the kraamzorg system! Thanks must also go to our Ellie, who amazingly slept through the entire birth process, even when I was making serious amounts of noise in the living room (where Stephanie was born). And of course, thank you to my life and labor partner, Markus. I could not have done it without you.