
Malachi's birth story
by Jill
The moon was full and the night calm as the rushes slowly came. I awoke around 2 am and began to walk. The next hour I made some tea, bounced on the birth ball and walked up and down the stairs as the contractions got closer and closer. Four o’clock came and I continued writing down the minutes in excitement, joy and
anticipation. I knew they were closer without even counting. The time was here and my uterus was pushing my baby down.
As they became sharper and faster, I closed my eyes and practiced one of my relaxations. Breathe and blow, sweet, and low, I repeated as I had practiced and as I had taught my body and mind to enter a state of gentle, calm and focused relaxation. I woke my husband and said, “You’re not going to work today… we’re having a baby.” I called my birth center and readied the camera and birth bag. My husband awoke and together we spent the next few hours getting ready; making breakfast, calling out of work, taking a shower, and coming to the realization that in a matter of hours there would be a
child in our arms.
Then, at rush hour, we finally got into the car and headed for the birth center.
I entered the center as if in a dream. Looking at the room I thought about the scents and sounds I sensed, knowing my baby would sense them too… soon, very soon. My husband put the radio on to some classical Christmas songs and I tried to sing as I felt another contraction rising and falling. Like an angry ocean in a storm, they continued. I pictured the tiny head of my precious son dropping down the birth canal.
We sat in the tub for a while, letting the powerful jets massage away the pain of my body getting ready for birth. From the tub I went to the ball and bounced a bit, allowing gravity to give us a hand. I looked at the lavender candle I had lit and concentrated on the flame, the scent, the warmth. I began my visualizations, as a warm glow that filled my womb and worked its way out of my birth canal, and lower and lower with each breath.
Desiring water again, I headed to the shower and as I squatted under the cascading waterfall, I felt that head I had pictured really pushing for the exit now. I knew it was time.
Amid the tearing and burning, there was excitement and so much joy that I couldn’t tell if the tears were from pain, or pure awe and anticipation. My son was almost in my arms. I would be looking into his eyes in a matter of moments!
‘Push’ my midwife said, as I bent down my head and squatted on the bed. I felt fullness and warmth, pressure and power… he was emerging.
I felt an ocean within me, a wave breaking strong and hard on the shore, and then a flood of warmth and space as he slipped out and was passed to me under my belly. My body relaxed, calmness filled the air, and my baby was in my arms.
by Jill
The moon was full and the night calm as the rushes slowly came. I awoke around 2 am and began to walk. The next hour I made some tea, bounced on the birth ball and walked up and down the stairs as the contractions got closer and closer. Four o’clock came and I continued writing down the minutes in excitement, joy and
anticipation. I knew they were closer without even counting. The time was here and my uterus was pushing my baby down.
As they became sharper and faster, I closed my eyes and practiced one of my relaxations. Breathe and blow, sweet, and low, I repeated as I had practiced and as I had taught my body and mind to enter a state of gentle, calm and focused relaxation. I woke my husband and said, “You’re not going to work today… we’re having a baby.” I called my birth center and readied the camera and birth bag. My husband awoke and together we spent the next few hours getting ready; making breakfast, calling out of work, taking a shower, and coming to the realization that in a matter of hours there would be a
child in our arms.
Then, at rush hour, we finally got into the car and headed for the birth center.
I entered the center as if in a dream. Looking at the room I thought about the scents and sounds I sensed, knowing my baby would sense them too… soon, very soon. My husband put the radio on to some classical Christmas songs and I tried to sing as I felt another contraction rising and falling. Like an angry ocean in a storm, they continued. I pictured the tiny head of my precious son dropping down the birth canal.
We sat in the tub for a while, letting the powerful jets massage away the pain of my body getting ready for birth. From the tub I went to the ball and bounced a bit, allowing gravity to give us a hand. I looked at the lavender candle I had lit and concentrated on the flame, the scent, the warmth. I began my visualizations, as a warm glow that filled my womb and worked its way out of my birth canal, and lower and lower with each breath.
Desiring water again, I headed to the shower and as I squatted under the cascading waterfall, I felt that head I had pictured really pushing for the exit now. I knew it was time.
Amid the tearing and burning, there was excitement and so much joy that I couldn’t tell if the tears were from pain, or pure awe and anticipation. My son was almost in my arms. I would be looking into his eyes in a matter of moments!
‘Push’ my midwife said, as I bent down my head and squatted on the bed. I felt fullness and warmth, pressure and power… he was emerging.
I felt an ocean within me, a wave breaking strong and hard on the shore, and then a flood of warmth and space as he slipped out and was passed to me under my belly. My body relaxed, calmness filled the air, and my baby was in my arms.