Thursday, October 16, 2008

Belly casting

We have had a young Mama staying with us for a couple of months now. She is due tomorrow! I am very much looking forward to her birth. Not just because I will be happy to have normalcy back but, also because I feel strongly that she is going to have an amazing birth.
I have known Autumn since she was about 9 years old. I met her and her mother at a Rainbow gathering in Arkansas in 1999. Who knew that we would have this karma together? Anyhow, she wrote me several moths back announcing that she was pregnant. I was scared for her but, excited none the less. Then she started to write me letters expressing how she wanted me to be with her during her birth and wished there was some way to make it happen. She lives about 3 hours south of us and we couldn't see that it would work for me to travel that far for her prenatal visits etc. After much thought we decided that she should come stay with us until she had the baby. She arrived here in mid August, plump, scared and excited to be a Mom. Since then we have had many trials. I have had to be mother, midwife and friend. Some days have been better than others...but, in those first few weeks we made a vow to each other that neither of us would give up. That we were in this till the end! I think both of us have grown tremendously and it would dishonest of me to say that I won't miss her when she's gone home with baby in tow.
Renee (Autumn's mother) arrived 2 weeks ago to help with the final preparations for the birth and to help me out a bit. It has been much easier with her around because now I can have some help with the mothering part. One of the things we did was a belly casting. It was my first one! It was great fun and I think we did a marvelous job. toot toot...


Autumn wants us all to wear tie dyed t shirts to her birth. So, we have decided to paint the casting like a tie dyed t shirt and in the middle we will put a placenta print. We think it's gonna be cool.I will post with the pics of that when we get done.












We have taken a ton of pics to document this journey with her and I so, I will definitely be posting some more pics in the days and weeks to come.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

M.I.A.

Greetings!
I am so sorry that I have been out of the loop for a while. Things have been very very busy here. I had a beautiful birth a month ago, that was also a bit of a surprise. The mama had called me several months ago. She was seeing a CNM at one of the local hospitals. But, wasn't happy with birthing in a hospital nor was she happy with the treatment she was being given. So, she was exploring other options. We met and talked until midnight one evening. But, after that I didn't hear from her for a couple of months. I knew she was getting close and thought of her often as we slipped into mid august. I wondered if she had the baby and if everything was good. Finally, about 2 weeks before her due date I got a call from her. She was asking if I would still attend her birth even on such short notice. You know me....I said "of course I will". About a week later I got a call in the morning saying her water had broke. I made all of my arrangements and waited for her to begin active labor. When I arrived mama was happy and glowing. I was so pleased and honored to called to this birth and felt humbled by how beautiful she was. We all decided to spend some time outside while it was still cool so, we sat and talked and ate fruit for awhile. Mama was having back labor so we would massage her back during contractions. Finally, I suggested she get in her tub for awhile to relieve some of her aching. While she sat in the tub she told me stories of amazing experiences in her life with shaman and with healing. She used many different stones and crystals in her bath, I watched in amazement. She seemed so calm and relaxed. After about an hour she got out of the tub and labored in her room. By that time mom in law arrived and we began to lay our hands on mama's belly during contractions. We would breath with her and visualize the baby birthing soon. Finally, around dinner time she began to push. First in a squat and then to hands and knees. She eased the baby out slowly into her hands and then I helped catch him in the end. It was peaceful and perfect as everything was supposed to be. All praises to the creator for another gentle birth! Welcome to Vox born 8lbs. 3oz. and perfect in every way.