The One who Paved the Way
Leaving the care of my wonderful midwife, Barb, mid-pregnancy was one of the many hard parts of moving away this summer. Not only was Barb one of the women who helped me birth my first baby safely and beautifully at home, but she also helped start me on the path of studying and using herbs, and she has been a source of wisdom and encouragement to me in all things birth and baby for the last 2 years.
I was truly sad to leave before she was able to complete our prenatal care with baby Violet, but before we parted ways, she left me with this beautiful advice:
“Just remember,” she said, “when you’re getting ready to birth this baby, just reach down and feel the top of her head, and remember that this one [Aria] paved the way for her. Your body will remember what to do.”
Those words have echoed in my mind as I prepare and pray for Violet’s birthing day. Subsequently, Aria turns two years old in less that ten days, so I thought I’d celebrate “the one who paved the way” by reposting her birth story from our family blog.
Reading through it again so close to “birthing day” sends a renewed sense of excitement through my heart as it calls to mind some of those intense sensations and emotions –the fierce determination of labor, the physical pressure and pain that gives way to the most empowering yet truly humbling “right of passage” into motherhood. Here’s an excerpt from the story that sums it up well:
“Our first moments together were surreal. I was amazed at her fragility and her strength. Here was this little creature whom God had blessed us with. She was so delicate, so helpless, yet to be able experience birth on her end proves her own God-given health and strength! I remember so vividly taking it all in for the first time—her dark, soft hair, almond-shaped eyes, long fingers, perfect little nose, beautiful, puckered lips, the chord still connecting her to me for a few moments more. The weight of her in my arms instead of my belly was exhilarating! Nothing could have truly prepared me for this moment. I felt such a rush of love and energy and awe.”
–Read the rest HERE—
At 40 weeks, with 1 centimeter down and 9 to go, I must once again trust the Lord with this birth, as I did with the first. I hold it all with an open hand, desiring that His will would be done, and praying in faith that he would indeed bless us with a safe, natural birth again.
To Him be the glory!
Barb with 8-day-old Aria
