Thursday, June 26, 2008

Women Are Strong


Do you know what it is like having experienced three births in a year? Well, not my own, but my own. And one more to come.
I can think of few things that measure up to this experience, the great miracle of this life cycle. How could she have been inside and now outside? How? Watching Katy early this morning was like watching a dance. She calmly knocks on our door at 2:30 am and said it was time, contractions coming 5 minutes apart. I panic and quickly get dressed and find her quietly sitting in the car waiting for Ryan and me. "Deja vu," I said to Ryan, thinking back on the rush to have Pearl born, me in the back seat, Ryan driving.

In the birthing center, Katy walked up and down the hall, letting gravity be her friend. Back and forth she went. I started walking with her. "You can go sit down, Mom." "Don't you want me to walk with you?" I knew before I asked I was intruding on her private journey. "You are making me nervous."

I retreat to the "family" area to watch the news with Claudette, Kurt and Ryan. But I am the mother and keep checking on her, asking how far apart the contractions are and how she is handling the pain. The midwife checks her and the water breaks. Good news! Now back to walking the halls.

Then I see her slip in the back room, water running for the underwater birth, four woman, quietly getting ready for a most amazing experience. Each woman knows their task and just join in the dance like it all had been rehearsed for months. I love the way they NEVER leave her side. It is all about Katy, all about her strength and ability to have a baby without anything but her body to tell her what to do. I found this quote: "We have a secret in our culture, and it's not that birth is painful. It's that women are strong." (Laura Stavoe Harm) Women are strong. Katy is strong. Only 30 minutes from the time her water broke and she has this baby girl on her breast. The midwife doesn't announce the gender but gives the parents the privilege of this discovery. We all wait patiently. I go out in the hall and Claudette asks "So what is it?" "I don't know. They haven't looked." Ryan patiently waits for Katy as she first wants to just be, to just be there in the moment, to realize what just happened, to just be not pregnant anymore, to just be Katy.

Can you believe five girls? Five. Yes, five girls in a row, and what a row that will make! Five more strong women. Five more very strong women. Lucky world.

10 comments:

Jordan said...

You made me cry. I wish I could have been there to peek in on the dance with you. Because you are the mother and I am the sister.

Unknown said...

Dearest Becky, I'm sitting here weeping at the beauty of your description of this amazing creative event: Generations of strong women willing to bear and rear children. What a great blessing from the Lord.
Thanks for sharing! Love, Lynn

Unknown said...

That was beautiful.
Thanks.
Love,
Laura

The Baker's Goods said...

I'm so glad you get to be present for all 4 births this year! We will miss you while your gone and hope you won't miss forth coming births.

Ann said...

Thank you for your example of a strong woman. I think we owe our strength to having you as our mother.

Rebecca said...

thanks ann.

Carol said...

Lucky world indeed.

Jennifer said...

Hi Rebecca,
I'm Katy's friend, Jennifer. We met Katy and Ryan when they were just Katy and Ryan and we love them. I have been eagerly checking your blogs hoping to glean details of the birth (I am an impatient girl) of baby #5 and I have not been disappointed.

This is a heartwarming post that brought tears to my eyes, not only because I love Katy but because I love mothers and daughters and I loved how you described that birth.

And that photograph!

That quote from Laura S. Harm is marvelous! I recognized us right away! I shall pass on the secret- but with discernment.

Please keep writing as you can. I will keep checking. In the meantime, a big hooray and a big kiss for Katy. I CAN'T WAIT to hear her version.

CP said...

I have printed off several of your blogs and read them every day as I prepare for the birth of our little one. Thanks for sharing these personal moments in such a beautiful way. I am excited to do the same.

CP said...

I am due tomorrow, July 1st. We will find out what this little Bennett is when it arrives. I was actually pregnant the day I came to visit you in October, but I didn't know at the time. Thanks for your inquiry and for checking out our blog. much love!