questions

do you ever feel like you've been invited to a party that everyone can't stop talking about but no one gave you the directions on how to get there?

I'm sort of feeling that way today.

This reminds me of how I felt at the very beginning of my pregnancy. A little alone, a little unsure. I've started reading a new book and it shall remain nameless until I get a few more chapters under my belt but so far it's pretty good. This sums it up nicely:

"Through soul searching
and listening more deeply
to the women I was working with,
I finally understood that women
have to prepare for birth
in their heart and soul,
not their head.
And that giving birth is something a woman does
in her body,
not in her head."

I also like this quote:
"If you bring forth that which is within you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you,
what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
-Gospel of St. Thomas

So I am asking for your help. I want to create (and share) a virtual birth quilt.
Send me your birth stories (whatever that means to you) and then we can all share them and look at what a pretty collection of accomplishments they make.

Here's one of my favorites from my new book. This is the story of Fina, a family maid in the 50's and 60's.

"When her first two children were born, she lived in a rural area in central Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais. She worked in the fields and went into labor while picking and harvesting, but went right on working because she knew she would have the labor pains anyway, so she might as well work until the water broke. When her water broke, she walked home and gave birth."

This one makes me smile because it takes all of the mystery and the secrecy out of having a baby and boils it down to the simple idea of giving birth. No decisions to be made about what drugs to use or avoid, no doctors trying to sway you one way or another. No know-it-all outsiders trying to prove that they did it best. Just the basics. There was a woman, she had a baby in her belly. The baby decided it was time to come out. The End.

So send me your stories and then we can all sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy them together.

xo