New Day/New Life

Oh, Ms. Moon-MerMer-Mary! Get moving, girl! I'm sitting here on the porch, letting the day get away from me, watching chickens eat cat food. Jack appeared on the porch and I do not know who was more shocked and surprised- the chickens or the cat! He showed no interest in chasing them but they were not convinced. It took a bit of interference to sort things out.

But. I am going to go over to the Lily house soon to see everyone. Lily says that they are having a chill morning and I just got this picture.

Could anything be more beautiful? To me, one of the greatest joys of home birth is the ability to simply be in one's own bed in one's own home surrounded by one's own loves after the baby comes. No interruptions of the medical kind, no "we need to take the baby to the nursery for this test," no need for the father to have to leave and walk miles of aisles to get himself a meal. No need for the siblings to be separated from the mama and daddy and new one to worry and fret and miss out on the first few days of their new sister's life. 

It truly is a profound joy to deliver a child at home, especially if the midwife and her team are trusted and knowledgeable which Lily's certainly was.

This is our third birth with Diana and her ladies. 

After all was squared away last night, the sheets in the laundry, Maggie checked for her newborn exam, Lily bathed and dressed and back in her cozy bed with her baby and a sandwich, we all sort of stretched out on Lily's bed and talked about babies and children and woman-things in the most casual and true way. The boys kept running in to see their sister again. I dressed Magnolia in the pink, pink, pinkness of the outfit that her mama had picked out for her and Owen was the one who suggested we put a hat on her. It's all just so organic and I hate the way this most normal of experiences has been taken away from the family and placed in the hands of strangers who make decisions concerning the birth with no knowledge of the family and such strict protocols that almost no one's birth falls within a "normal" range and so medical interventions are common, unnecessary, and frequently useless if not downright harmful.

Okay. Off my soapbox. I know that there are times when medical intervention is life-saving and thank god for that. BUT, not nearly as often as you'd think. 

"What if the cord gets wrapped around the neck?" people always ask. 

And they'd be shocked to know how often that happens. 

I watched last night as this woman who has worked in L&D for ten years, calmly and skillfully slipped Magnolia's cord over her head so that Lily could push out her baby. 

And if the cord had been too tight to do that, she would have known how to handle that situation. 

Tenaicia was so quiet, so profoundly THERE as she guided Magnolia into the world. 

I was in awe.

Ah well. I need to get over there and see what that little girl looks like now. I need to go shopping for the Famous After Giving Birth Salad ingredients, the prune cake ingredients, the Challah ingredients. I need to get those boys if possible to let Lily and Jason and Maggie spend some time alone together. I need to hug my grandsons, to kiss my granddaughter, to see with my own eyes again that yes, she is here. 

Thank all of you for your beautiful comments, the love you send our way. You make it all even more special which I never would have thought possible but apparently is. 

So much love...Ms. Moon-MerMer-Mary