Welcome to the World, Baby B....

Last night, I had the honor and privilege of virtually attending my dear friend M's home birth.  We met through K & B on facebook when I was still pregnant with E.  She was drawn to my sparkling wit and dry sense of humor and I loved that she was so (naturally) positive, upbeat and a genuinely nice person.

She decided to live tweet her birth and last night--well actually this morning--at 4:11 AM, her beautiful baby boy was born.  I was so blessed to follow along with her as she worked so hard to bring her baby into this world.  This was her first home birth--her first two children were born in the hospital with what she described to me as the "typical interventions" such as Pitocin, an epidural, etc.  Her third son was born in a freestanding birth center--I've seen pictures from that birth and the story, while not yet complete, is powerful and moving.  I can't wait to read the story of this latest addition's birth, although I felt like I was right there alongside her the whole time.  There was joking and laughter as well as encouragement, support and reverence for the sacred experience of birthing a baby.  It was really a beautiful thing for me.  I thought I would be exhausted after staying up all night, but I think I'm virtually riding her birth high--I'm not tired at all!

I'm so glad that I'm building a community of women for whom birth is normal, natural and who are so willing to openly share their experiences with me.  It is going to do me a world of good to continue to hear about and witness these kinds of births.  It is always so amazing to me that so many women do something everyday that is, really, so ordinary but at the same time always life changing, empowering, sacred and truly extraordinary.   And it's something that I can (probably) do too.

A & E with M's daughter K