They were 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and one in the hanger. The first two were girls; the next three were boys, and the one in the hanger - we didn’t know. I just knew I didn’t want to deliver in the hospital. Baby number one was c-section birth. The following three were born at home and number five in the hospital (I wasn’t “allowed” in this new state we’d moved to to have a homebirth because of my cesarean birth. I have the scarlet C!). When I became pregnant with this last baby, number six, I knew I wasn’t going back to that same hospital. What options were available for me besides the hospital? My midwife told me I could use a hotel. Ugh, that sounded weird, but another hospital birth had no appeal. Okay, if I was going to deliver in a hotel then it would be the finest one in town. So, our dear Australian friends and hubby and I went looking. We visited two of the nicest. We told the clerks we were planning a stay and was interested in looking at their rooms. They happily complied. We didn’t divulge our plan at that time. Ah hah, we found the perfect hotel and room! It reminded me of the room at home in VA where I’d birthed our second daughter – beautiful! The birth day arrived, and we checked in where we had a suite, separate rooms for us and the rest of our children. And in the peaceful early hours of the night my sixth child, fourth son, was born. My midwives were well prepared and had taken excellent care of me. When my husband was helping them bring their items up to the room (they had an oxygen tank among their things) they passed some folks and told them, “We are having a party!” Yes we were!! We were intent to “leave no trace”. Everything I needed we took with us, the room was to be left in an orderly fashion. The ordinary miracle of my son’s birth in that hotel room was perfect. As the siblings awoke and came to see their new brother the boys began rough-housing on the bed to get closer to their newest brother. A push on the face, nose specifically, was all that was needed. That tyke suffered copious nose bleeds with the slightest provocation. It began. Oh goodness, we had all our stuff cleaned up and packed. The only item available for immediate clean up was a fluffy, white as snow towel, belonging to the hotel. We had a good laugh. There was no evidence of a birthing having taken place in that room, but housekeeping picked up a bloody towel that morning. When we left, we showed the clerk our son who had been born in their hotel. She gave us a free night’s stay to use within the year to celebrate. Home, hospital, and hotel – we covered all arenas in our children’s births!!