I've just returned from The Event and just gotta scribble it all down before it evaporates in the wee hours.
It was bee-yoo-tiful. Not in a Hallmark-y way, this wasn't a Lifetime Channel kind of birth. It involved, has it has since time began, lots of waiting. A room full of women, chatting and gossiping animatedly, and suddenly! CONTRACTION. And silence, as a room full of women breathes in unison, sways in rhythm to the mother on the birth ball. The contraction ends, and the conversation picks up right where it left off. Really cool to watch. In between, Maggie was heard to say (and I plan to remind her of this frequently) "This is boring." Which, in point of fact, it is. One is having pains too frequently to sleep, but not often enough to be Exciting. Then it becomes very Interesting, possibly Excruciating, and then it becomes Joyous. But for a while there, it is pretty boring. This is why midwives traditionally brought needlepoint or some such fidgety Thing To Do With One's Hands.
I plan to birth at home with our next one, and I plan to have the same houseful of women (plus my immediate family) attending. Not having consulted with Maggie yet, I don't think she really gave a rat's ass who was there or wasn't, once the Action started. Her husband, however, was able to do His Appointed Duty without distraction because when Maggie wanted juice, one of the Birth Handmaidens would ghost out of the room and it would materialize in his hand. Ditto blankets, snacks, music, etc. He could focus all his attention on The Process because there were Helpful People to do the piddly chores that need doing at such events. It seemed to be a marvelous idea, from a Handmaiden's point of view in any case.
The living room looked like a Junior Sleepover, with everyone's babies sacked out on couches and in chairs and on floors while the mommies were keeping Maggie company.
One interesting side note: sympathy contractions. Never heard of them. Felt them. Chatting with midwives afterward, discovered it's not uncommon. Layla (the Bat-Midwife) spent the last three months of her own pregnancy having contractions, as she was attending births all that time.
I've seen hospital births, I've given birth in a birth center, and now I've seen a home birth. Nothing short of a medical emergency is getting me out of my house for the next baby. The stress level is so much lower, and the body functions much better. Watching Maggie and Scott bring their new son from the womb, as we all cried and cheered, it seemed so basic. This is the way we're meant to enter the world. This is how we should greet our new family.
I am so grateful to them, that they asked us all to be a part of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Happy Birthday, Harris Parker Geraci. And Congratulations to Daniel, Devon, Dillon, Harper, Maggie, and Scott. Y'all make damn fine people.
Pamela
