Our Birth Story (3rd time is a charm)

7/28/12 Aptos, CA Ethan Jacob Azrael Kamakawiwo’ole, born 7/23/12, 9lbs, at 10:45am in Aptos, CA Birth Story I went to bed Sunday night, 7/22/12 thinking Ethan wasn’t coming for another week. I heard an adult male voice say, “I’ll see you Thursday morning.” I knew this was Ethan. I couldn’t fall asleep that night, didn’t fall asleep till probably about 3am. I woke up between 4:30 and 5:30am with contractions, I remember being in a deep sleep, not sure if I was having contractions or not, but as I came to, I realized I was. I got up around 5:30 and the contractions continued. I wondered about filling the pool, or calling the midwife, but waited. The contractions eventually got stronger and I texted Sushine at 5:36am. I tried to sleep, lay down for the next couple of hours, but the contractions were getting stronger overall, they would subside a little bit, and then get stronger again, I was laboring on the toilet a lot, and prepping baby and birth items in the room, but was waiting to fill the pool. Around 8:30am I decided to fill the pool. In between contractions on the toilet, I would check the pool temp. and continued to put baby items out, to make sure all our supplies were at hand. By around 8:30-9:30 I couldn’t get to the phone to call, in between filling the pool and getting ready while having contractions every minute or two, I couldn’t even get to the phone to call Sunshine, the contractions were lasting longer, were much stronger, and I could feel that Sunshine knew anyway, and was coming at some point. By the time I got to the phone to text her, she said Mireille (the other midwife) was on her way, and by the time she got to the house, and I walked to open the door, the contractions were totally stopping me in my tracks. My water hadn’t broken, but it felt like it would at any moment. I continued to labor on the toilet for a little longer, Mireille said I could get in the tub, I really wasn’t sure I was ready to get in the tub, and couldn’t really move myself from the toilet, so I stayed there for a few more contractions. I finally got in the pool, and had a few more contractions, I finally pushed with one, and was very hesitant to do so because I wasn’t sure it was time yet, so Mireille checked and my cervix was open. So with the next contraction I pushed a little, and with the next one, I pushed more. The head really descended in my uterus, I knew that if I pushed again the head was going to be close to crowning, so I held back for a couple more contractions. Then Sunshine arrived in the middle of a contraction. I pushed with the next contraction and could feel the head was right there, but I wasn’t sure so they checked, and yes, he was there. So, with the next contraction I knew I’d probably be close to pushing him out, but I was still hesitant to go there, luckily the body just takes over and does its thing. I pushed the head to just about out with the next contraction, and then relaxed. Then on the next contraction out came his head. About 10-20 seconds passed and then I pushed out his shoulders with the next contraction. All of this labor was about a half hour, it was incredibly fast and easy overall, much quicker than my first two births. Mireille caught him and I pulled him up to me. I checked his gender to be sure, and yes, he was a boy! He had a full coat of vernix and I held him in the pool for a while waiting for the placenta to come. After the placenta was delivered, we got out of the pool and we laid down to nurse. He was very active with his hands and mouth, but he wasn’t very coordinated with the breast for the first hour or so. Then he eventually latched on well in the second or third hour. The midwives checked us, made sure all was well, they cleaned up and several hours later, Jacob and I were at home in bed alone, again. This birth was amazing! Fast, easy, simple, and a much easier recovery than with my first two. I love home birth. I love my midwives. I love birthing in water. So happy my babies and I had these blessed simple, peaceful births. I love not having to go anywhere, and just staying in the energy of birth without interruption. It is by far one of the most empowering experiences a woman can have. I had this wall of fear around pushing him out and the sensations I’d feel, all the unknowns of how long labor would be, if it would be hard, etc. And this was the fastest and easiest one, way more than I ever expected. I had many visions of animals during this labor, and Spirit guides. Bast, Polar Bear and Whale made a strong appearance. Some close healer friends showed their faces, I knew I was tapping into a power source much stronger than my physical body. The recovery this week has also been much better than before, a mix of diet and energy healing. I have bled way less, and my bum has felt 10 times better than with my other two births. Overall, this third birth was way easier than ever before. I’m taking placenta capsules that my midwife made, they’re very helpful, I feel they are strengthening me, putting me back to my normal energy levels more quickly. In general the difference in diet, having been a raw vegan at about 80% during pregnancy, with fish on the side, has been a very healing diet for me. I can tell the way I eat this time is making the recovery faster and easier. I bled way less this post partum, I’m much less sore, and my body is more relaxed. Birth is such a normal, healthy, simple process, hence why it's important to share these birth stories. So many of us fear the natural process of birth and death. In a birth, both occurs, we die (the old part of us) and a new self is born, along with the baby. The emotional process following birth is a shedding and letting go of old parts of the Self, while allowing the new Self and Infant to anchor in this physical reality. It's a sacred portal, a time of empowerment for the divine feminine, a time which all women need to honor for themselves. In this birth, I was way more of an observer, noting that primarily towards the most intense part of labor, that I was watching the fear, calling it out, and walking through the veil. There was a point at which my body and soul commanded control of the situation, pushing past all fear and doubt. It was an involuntary process really. Though it was one that needed to be surrendered to. It's amazing what happens when you say, "Yes, okay, I'll go there." In this post partum period, especially the four days after the birth, I noticed my psychic awareness was at its highest level ever. I was open to everything. People often have noticed this about me in the past, but this past week was beyond heightened awareness. It was so intense that I asked it to settle down around day 3 because there was too much energy and activity happening in my room and I couldn't sleep. Since my last two boys were born, I forgot how thirsty and hungry you get when breastfeeding. I'm still adjusting my water and food intake to cope with the amount of energy output in breastfeeding. I've also had to remove dairy, eggs and chocolate for the baby's sake. So I am missing the mood lift of eating chocolate. I'm looking at this as a new level of cleansing, and less attachment to things I want. Plus forgoing those items is much better than losing sleep and listening to baby cry from an upset tummy. I learned all of this the hard way with my first child. It took me so long with my first child to realize that almost everything I ate bothered him, milk, egg, soy, legumes, chocolate, caffeine, citrus, etc. God bless those first babies who come out as guinea pigs. The third child definitely gets to benefit from a lot of lessons learned. My telepathic communication is very strong with this child, I can hear his adult male soul voice just as I always have, even before he incarnated. I'm very grateful for that. And on that note, he's waking up again to nurse. Love and blessings,