Still Waiting....

This little boy sure is cozy in there.  After the inauguration yesterday, I feel a certain sense of relief.  Now it seems the world is more of a sane, compassionate, hopeful, intelligent place to be born into.  What a good way to start the new year, to start a new life.  

I've been trying to walk a lot to get this baby moving.  Lately my favorite walking music is Leo Kotke & Mike Gordon. It was pretty chilly today but I went to the farm to walk anyway.  (Of course I would have much rather walked to the farm, but alas our road between the house and farm is still flooded.  There is a chance it may be frozen now, but it wasn't as of last week.) I was pretty chilled so when I got back to the farm I warmed up in the sunny greenhouse and got a nice dose of vitamin D.  It was even warm enough to get some sun on my belly.  

Bea's just come in from helping Dan make dinner with a snack of red peppers and endive.  Time for supper....

Hello Baby... book, not peanut

No our little peanut hasn't arrived early, rather Hello Baby is the title of a wonderful book depicting a wintery homebirth. There couldn't be a more perfect way to introduce Bea to what actually could happen on the day peanut comes out into the world.  The mom takes a walk in the woods, the midwife arrives with her gear, the soon to be big brother helps his dad bring in fire wood for the cold wintery night.... even one of the big sisters is named Bea.  The illustrations are beautiful and convey so much love.  The mom walks around the house during labor with the dad holding her during contractions. The three older children get to see their little brother being born and even get to check out the placenta.  In the evening the whole family camps out in front of the fire.  I first read the book to Bea soon after it arrived in the mail. She was engrossed and I couldn't hold back my tears.  Later that evening Bea was showing Dan the book at the dinner table, he started reading and started crying.  He really hadn't expected to be so touched.  I think this was an "aha" moment for him when he was reminded of the emotions of  birth  and the reality that we are all going to be back at that special place soon. It was so funny. We were both crying, laughing and trying to explain to Bea the strange phenomenon of crying when you are happy.  On Bea's request we are now reading Hello Baby at least once a day.  

Bea is very excited to be a big sister and is becoming very interested about the birth.  "How is the baby going to come out of your vagina?"  If every thing goes according to plan, she will get to find out!  

New Info for Moms

I've come across a few things lately that I thought I would share. First there is a pretty interesting website & blog called Spinning Babies.  It is by a midwife in Minnesota about the importance of fetal positioning for an easier birth.  The blog has interesting entries about midwifery, doulas, etc. 

Whenever I see previews for films about birth I tend to get very emotional and even teary.  There is a new film coming out about fathers and their experiences in the birth process called The Other Side of the Glass.  Looks very eye opening, especially for first time dads.  The mission of this film is to empower fathers to be an involved participant and protector during the birth of their children. Check out the preview here.

 The Massachussettes Friends of Midwives has started monthly Birth Circles at the NOAH Center in Great Barrington.  The next is on November 2cnd at from 7 to 9.  Come to share info on prengancy, midwifery, parenting,  & hear positive birth stories in a supportive environment. 

For more info contact Sarah at www.berkshiredoulas.com.

At a Loss for Words

About 8 hours after I wrote my last post I noticed the signs of an impending miscarriage. Dan came down with the flu. Needless to say we had a terrible week. Yet, farm life goes on - animals need to be fed, the cow needs to be milked. While it is a kind of hell to be milking the cow with a fever in an ice storm, the farm actually offers a certain grounding. Through years of working with life and death on the farm - with the animals, plants and seasons- we can feel comforted that we are just a part of these cycles as well. It turns out that Patches was not bred and will not be giving birth this fall either. Yet, Lulu, who we did not intend to breed is about the lamb any day now. So you see life is full of little surprises. As we often say to ourselves... "Good luck, bad luck.... hard tellin'."

So now a week and a half later we are all recovered and doing well again. I'm off for a little R & R this weekend in one of our favorite places, Santa Fe. Yes, I do have the best husband ever. When I get back it will be like New Year's all over again. I'm looking forward to a fresh start and the new spring season.

Farm Family News

Big news for the family...Beatrice is going to be a big sister! In September. Most of our friends sarcastically say, "Oh, good timing!" But compared to Bea's birthday in July, September looks great. We will have a great crew of apprentices and workers who will be old timers with farm work by the time September rolls around. By some divine miracle, Patches was bred in late December. This means we'll dry her off (stop milking) in August so she gets a 2 month break before she calves in October. We couldn't ask for better timing. A break from milking before & after the baby comes will be like a little gift of time. We'll probably be suffering from dairy withdrawl but we'll have to deal with that when it comes.

Over the course of the next year, besides pregnancy, I'll probably also be mentionning homebirth quite a bit. We had a really wonderful homebirth with Bea with a midwife and doula. We had a water birth and it was a blessing to be able to labor in the tub. (Not in our bath tub. We used a new stock tank from Agway - the kind for watering cows & horses or in our case washing vegetables.) After I got in I couldn't imagine getting out. I won't launch into her birth story now but I will say it confirmed by belief that home was the best place for me to have my baby. And so we're getting ready for our next one! We've already met with our midwife Elayne and are really excited.

If you are interested in homebirth there are some great resources out there. Mothering Magazine and their website is a great place to start (see sidebar link). Ina May Gaskin the great & inspiring midwife has written several books including Spritual Midwifery and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.
Also there is a new film out called The Business of Being Born. It will be showing at the Triplex in Great Barrington this month on Sunday February 24th at 11 am. This is sure to be a powerful film about the medicalization of birth in this country and the alternatives. Check out the trailer on their website! Just the trailer is moving!