Divine Birthing!

PLAY SONG:

04 Track 04womb of the earth miracle of birth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the birth announcement email I sent out:

May 13, 2011

Beloved Friends and Family,

A beautiful Miracle happened and it’s about time I write about it!

Our hearts are open wide and overflowing with love as we send this message of good news out to you all…
Yes, indeed this miracle deserves a grand announcement, but an email and a few pictures will have to suffice!

So, let me share some of this magical story about the new little angel who has graced us with Her presence…and a little of what I have learned and been so blessed to experience through the journey!

We had a super fun time partying with wonderful friends til late on Saturday night/early Sunday morning, and then after getting home and having only a couple hours of sleep, woke up at 4:30am in intense active labour! (Surprise!) Guess I danced through early labour! Honestly though, I danced through it for nine months, believing birth to be a rite of passage and initiation, and so prepared myself mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically in every way I could. So, I was definitely ready!

Well, we went through the whole labour outside in the fresh morning air, witnessed only by the animals, birds and trees. It was only five hours later, on Sunday morning…Mother’s Day, how divine!….here at our peaceful home, outside in Nature, in the bathtub, that we welcomed Her into the world ! I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. (Extra special thanks to our extraordinary assistant Chrissy, who arrived just in the nick of time to help us gracefully receive Her! Also a big thank you to Callie, who came later to help us out in her lovely way, and to all our other amazing on-call doulas, whose support was physically not needed, but energetically received and appreciated none-the-less!)

It all felt like such a miracle, and indeed, birth certainly is, but to top it off, the sun broke through the cloudy morning’s sky and blasted its warm bright light, right as she was born! Simply glorious! (Not to mention that the big spring of rushing water returned that day and the last of the snow finally melted on the path to the outhouse! Baby and the long-forgotten season of Spring seemed to arrive on the same day! Her, within only 12 hours of due date; and Spring, well, FINALLY!)
It was a beautiful dream come true, and what a wonderful and symbolic gift for Mother’s day! To become a mother on Mother’s day…wow! It was the most perfect time for my own re-birth!

I have to say that it was not only empowering to have a completely natural and intervention-free birth experience, with each other in such a loving state here at home, but totally affirming to know that living our truth and following our heart’s guidance is always the best choice!
I definitely stand for all babies and mothers and fathers to have exactly the birth experience they feel is best for them, whether in hospital or at home or whatever that may be. It is the most unique and personal journey, something so sacred that if we really have faith and trust, no one can know better what is best for us and our babies than ourselves. Having the courage to not only listen to, but actually follow and act upon our deepest instincts, intuitions and desires is certainly challenging though! I have to admit that throughout my pregnancy, my greatest stress came in the form of learning to be accepting of and not take on other people’s/society’s conditioning, judgements and personal unresolved fears around birth, whether they came in the disguise of care and concern, criticism, or everything else that can come from media, books, medical profesionnals, friends and relatives. It was a wonderful gift to have the opportunity to practice staying clear in my own energy and the reality I knew we could create for ourselves. Birth really can be empowering and beautiful and good!!!  But I never could have had such a positive experience without doing a ton of personal work, having a deep foundation of belief in myself, and a rock-solid committed relationship in which Zach and I were fully aligned in our desires and belief in each other. I am so grateful for all the support and encouragement I received from so many beloveds to follow my own path and heart and trust what felt best in my deepest truth, beyond all the projections.

Ironically, with all the “what if’s” out there, I knew my greatest fears were not actually about my birthing experience, which I knew could be beautiful and empowering, but in dealing with the pressures and ‘shoulds’ I would have to face to do it the way everyone else thought was best. (Which as you can imagine is completely impossible anyway, when everyone has a different opinion!) My own biggest ‘what if’, was my fear playing out in the scenario of ‘what if I don’t follow my heart?’! I am so glad I did, because I was able to experience one of the most profoundly powerful, pure, beautiful and sacred experiences of my life. And nothing can ever take that away. It is the sweetest gift to honour each other’s individual lessons and paths in life. Going through this ( especially as a doula myself) has left me with even deeper reverence, respect and honour, not only for anyone and everyone’s personal choices in birth, but in life in general.

So, yes indeed, we felt beyond blessed to have such a perfect birthing experience, our perfect birthing experience, and are now taking some time to create our perfect experience of transitioning into being a new family. We three have been busy floating in the most sacred space together, full of love and peace and gentleness. We are savouring the afterglow/still glowing(!) as we gently rest, and bond with our precious little girl.
And for the curious, she was born sometime between 9:30-10am on Sunday May 8th, weighed 8lbs 8oz, was 21 inches, and thankfully did not have a head as big as Zach!!! We are still meditating on her name.

We are so grateful for all the love and support and blessings we have been receiving this week!
Although we turned our phone off from the get-go, and as you can imagine are so busy just sleeping and nursing and spending time being a new trio and getting to know our new baby, we have been grateful to hear your messages and get your emails! Apparently word spread quickly!!! We’ll probably keep the ringer off for a little while yet, as we are still in the quiet of “babymoon” time. 
I hope this email helps to spread some of the joy of our story and answer your many questions and meet your eager and welcoming celebratory hearts!

We look forward to sharing our joy and inviting visitors in the very near future (especially those who bake cheesecakes, bring freezer-friendly casseroles, give good massages and love doing dishes and laundry!!! hahaha…jk…I think we might actually be starting to catch up on things around here as Zach has been a great Mr. Mom lately!!!)

For those of you who would like to come for a visit, we would love to have you, but please let us know in advance when may be a good time for you. Anytime after this weekend will likely be ok. My only requests beyond rsvps is to honour our sensitivities right now…baby being so new and fresh to the world, and me feeling quite delicate and vulnerable in my healing and transitioning to all that is required of me to be the best mom for our new baby….So I don’t have my usual ton of extroverted energy, and being mindful of the quieter atmosphere is appreciated. I am hoping writing this story out saves me from having to tell it over and over and over again! Also, anyone who is sick or around someone who is, please wait a little for that to clear up, and anyone who smokes or is around cigarettes, please be sure to remove all smoke smell/refrain from smoking before arriving. I hope this isn’t too much to ask, it is just that I am/we are super sensitive right now and really don’t want to compromise our health. Thanks for understanding.
I really appreciate your honouring of these few requests and hope to see you and celebrate together in the near future!!!

We send blessings to all and look forward to sharing more of this magic with you soon!
In Loving, Grateful, Tired, Ecstatic Bliss,
Sasha, Zach, and Baby!

PS:
By the way, this coming Wednesday the 18th is my birthday, so perhaps it would be the perfect time to come out and celebrate and meet our new baby girl! Maybe an evening potluck gathering is in order!!! Yes, in fact, I think that’s a great idea!

PPS: Thank you for all your emails! Please understand that it is unlikely I get a chance to personally respond any time soon, but love receiving your messages none-the-less!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox