Welcome to the World Little Buddha: A Home Birth Story

 

It’s been three months to the day since I last wrote for this blog, and wow what an outrageously beautiful and earth-shattering time its been as a new mama.

To quote Charles Dickens, its been the best of times (think gorgeous snuggles, those first smiles and intense love) and the worst of times (poo-poo nappies, uncertainty about everything and what feels like one long and rolling sleepless day / night.) But I wouldn’t change any of it. It’s all been beautiful, the good the bad and the ugly.

In the last few months I’ve had little time or inclination to write due to my mushy-mama brain, but now the cogs are starting to turn once more and I am feeling the urge to express and create….

I wanted to share just a little of the story about Leo’s arrival and have managed to steal a few minutes today. As I write this little Buddha is playing with daddy indoors (its a hot 35 degrees today) and I am madly typing away with the whir of the air conditioner in the background.

So, thinking back to Leo’s birth, and the weeks leading up to it, I feel a sense of magic and wonder (wow did I really do that?)

I had been in Vipassana silent meditation retreat at home for a full 12 days before labour came which I have posted previously about here. I decided to do this to prepare my body and mind for the birth and it consisted of meditation 3 times a day, yoga for an hour each morning, organic green juices and smoothies and simple healthy meals. I had no phone, internet, or any verbal communication at all and only spoke to hubby through messages on a pad of paper! It was a little isolating from the world but it was a brilliant way to turn inwards, which is what I felt I needed to do in order to be ready.

I had a long start to labour, with little Buddha giving me signals from my belly and surges beginning a full 3 days before labour actually began. On the day it all finally happened I was 40+8 days pregnant!

When I close my eyes, it all comes back to me… it was a wintery day, but it was very toasty in our humble home. We had a beautiful warm birth pool set up in the lounge room which was so good for pain relief, a fire burning, soft relaxation music playing in the background, fresh flowers on the table and candles alight.

It was totally a dream come true to give birth at home. It wasn’t without some quirks and unexpected surprises of course, but I now understand that’s the nature of labour – it’s always unpredictable.

After a short second stage of labour which was very active (think squats, lunges and lots of yoga moves!) I gave birth to Leo by the fire place in our lounge room at 6.01pm on July the 22nd 2015.

Looking back – I know we managed to achieve this awesome feat of a home birth due to a huge amount of preparation and a whole lot of courage. It was super empowering.

There’s no way I could have done it without (1) the support of my man – he was incredible and literally physically supported me throughout the labour, (2) the emotional and spiritual guidance from our beautiful doula, and (3) a touch of medical help from our two wise experienced midwives.

After giving Leonardo the gift of a home birth, I was hoping to rest and recover at home but it was not to be. A short hospital admission (to make sure mama was well) was necessary. It wasn’t what I expected but luckily all of the emotional preparation prior to the labour meant that I could go with the flow without too much resistance to what unfolded (ok so maybe there was a tiny bit of resistance!) But I did my best at the time to look on the bright side and make the most of having some extra help from hospital staff. I did learn a lot about breast feeding which was great!

When we returned home again we all hibernated like bears in a cave for many weeks and we both felt a strong urge to protect our little cub from the winter weather. We kept the fire burning, had lots of beautiful skin-to-skin cuddles and bonding with our baby and I took some time to allow my own journey of healing to unfold organically. Such special times.

Leo is now almost 11 weeks old and we are totally smitten by this little snuggly boy. He looks a lot like his daddy which makes me feel so happy and proud, he is just beautiful. At the moment he has blue eyes which look like his mama’s eyes… but we still wonder whether these will eventually change to brown.

Leo is a very active boy, already learning to roll and prone prop. We have lots of active play which he loves as he is super alert.

At the moment I am still very much in the throes of motherhood which means lots of magical moments mixed with a whole lot of sleep deprivation! We are all learning so much, about life, about family, about each other. It’s an amazing gift this thing called parenthood and we are taking it with both hands and a big thank you to the Gods and the Universe.

I still find myself watching him breathe all the time… my heart swells and sometimes I cry with love. Every day with him is so special and I treat it like it could be our last. It helps to keep things in perspective when I’m so tired I can’t even see straight anymore! A newborn baby is a gorgeous reminder of how fragile and precious life truly is.