Mama had nine children. I am the youngest, and I have often felt a deep sense of gratitude that she surrendered her life to this process so many times. I see it as no small miracle that I even exist in the world. And that my seven children exist. Mama was always the first person…
Tag: labor
The Poetry of This Morning (On the Day Before My Due Date)
The poetry of this particular morning is not lost on me. May 15. The day before my due date. I woke early this morning after a night of mild, sporadic contractions, wondering if today will be the day that we will meet our son. It could happen at any moment. The waves of contractions reminded…
Moving Through Fear, Walking by Faith (How This Pregnancy Is Giving Me a New Kind of Courage)
I am in the second trimester of my sixth pregnancy. This is really happening. This is set in motion. In a few short months, this pregnancy will end in labor, delivery, and the prize of all prizes–another sweet baby in our family. People literally say to me all the time, regarding birth, “Oh, you’re a…
Heidi Wren Chester: A Birth Story
I am so grateful to this little sweet baby for what she has done for me. This is the story of how Heidi Wren came into our world five weeks ago. We rearranged the house most of the day, except for when Randy took Rosie and Paloma to Babyland General for a birthday party to see a…
Any Day Now…
It will happen any day. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Our life is about to change forever–we will be meeting our son in a matter of hours or days. I didn’t remember how surreal it feels to be in the last days of pregnancy. The minute-by-minute goals of my life for the last…
Living Through Transition
I have three beautiful children, and consequently, I have experienced three life-changing births. When Rosie was born, not having any previous knowledge of what it would be like to have a baby, I read books about labor and birth. Nothing could prepare me for the actual experience itself (I realized in retrospect!), but one piece…