it was new years day, eve. the moon was full. earlier in the evening we went for a drive, despite the heavy cloud cover, i found the moon, low, large, and a deep orange. i thought to myself "if any moon could make a baby come, this is it." but alas, i felt nothing.
that night, everyone went to bed, save myself. i decided to spend another night knitting until my eyes were about to fall out. and knit i did.
right as i began to see the end of my project, i started feeling very mild, yet consistent, rushes. so with that, i went to sleep.
sleep, thinking that once more, this would be nothing. but at 6 am i woke with a slightly different feeling. now i was having consistent surges of pain in my hips. i lay in bed for a bit, changing positions, to see if they would subside. they didnt, so i decided to get up, have a drink, and walk around. this proved to only make them more noticeable, so i decided it was time to wake the boy and "get things ready".
we came downstairs and he began to fill the pool (with air). the pump was making a really... goofy? noise, which inevitably woke my sister, who was quite confused as to why we were up so early, pumping the pool up. it wasnt long before dorothy woke up as well. now there was no one else to wake up, just a baby to meet.
i sat on my yoga ball, while brian rushed around getting everything in its place. or something. eventually, he began to fill the pool with water. naturally dorothy wanted in, but i had decided thatd be best saved for post emergence.
as soon as there was warm water in the pool, i joined it. my rushes were enough to require a substantial amount of concentration at this point.
brian rushed around, boiling water on the stove, heating it in the electric tea kettle, draining the hot water heater. checking the waters temp with a candy thermometer. while i sat in the mini ocean that would never be deep enough. waiting. sort of patiently.
at some point i gave up conversing. not long after that i was "singing" my way through each rush. and using every cell within me to relax in between.
the pressure, i had never experienced pressure like this. it was so strong, so forceful on my hips, my back, my pelvic floor. like a truck was trying to drive through me.
once the pool was full brian came in to rub my back. i just really needed some sort of pressure to fight off the pressure from within. and finally, i felt a gush. my membranes. ahhh, the pressure had by no means disappeared, but it certainly changed its face enough to keep my interest.
and not long after that i started to work in conjunction with my uterus. at first meager pushes, mostly to give me somewhere to put all of this energy that would surge through me. with each consecutive rush, stronger and stronger, id focus more energy, until i was using it all. my body would hand me a huge rush of energy and power, and just as soon, id return it, to move the tiny baby along.
then she was crowning. the "ring of fire", and i had to wait, wait for another wave of energy, as she sat, preparing to emerge. then came her head. the worst was over, for the long minute or so while i waited to move her body, i could feel her head, its hair. my others came out all at once, so this was new to me. i waited, and more energy came, and she was out, just before 8am, in brians arms. almost instantly she cried. and cried. loud and proud. i held her close and invited dorothy to join us. i offered the breast as dorothy played with vernix.
my sister got to experience magic. as did the rest of us there that day.
she was later dubbed "veda-lou calidonia".
