I received a surprise gift this weekend. I got to be with my friend Michelle as she gave birth to her son, Colton. I have been at births before: I have two sons, I witnessed the (2) births of my (3) nieces and nephews, I have helped other babies breastfeed straight out of the womb. Every time is pure magic. I cry every time. This time was unexpected.
Michelle is my neighbor. She is new to the neighborhood, so I’ve only known her for about a month. But she is an amazing, open, loving person and we bonded. Mostly because it’s hard not to bond with a very beautiful, very pregnant woman. We chatted together around the bonfire and visited at the Breastfeeding group at Mom and Pop Place, and watched her due date come and go. It gives me such joy to see a pregnancy go to term and beyond. It goes to show that nature is a force to be reckoned with. So, like any other fellow mama, I told her “Let me know if there is anything I can do for you!”. We say things like that to friends all the time, assuming that they will probably not really need anything but will appreciate the gesture all the same. Lo-and-behold, a strange woman came running into my backyard on Sunday afternoon. “Are you Adria? Michelle wants you!” she sputtered. The strange woman was Michelle’s sister-in-law and she was helping Michelle in the middle parts of her labor. (Of course, the “middle parts” were entering their 18th hour….) Michelle was laboring at home and going through a part of labor that was getting harder for her to manage. She didn’t know it at the time, but she was doing an amazing job. She is strong and smart and beautiful. She had just forgotten for a little while. We all do that sometimes. So, I sat with her and pressed on her back and massaged her scalp and reminded her to put on Chapstick. We were soon joined by another sister-in-law and a best-friend-since-forever. Michelle is such an extrovert and she loved being surrounded by all these friends and mothers. So we all stayed. As labor progressed, we walked. All 5 of us walked laps around the neighborhood. One of us would walk in front to deflect the mosquitos, one would walk behind her to press on her tailbone when the contractions came, one would keep an eye on her watch, and one would wave at bewildered motorists as they drove past. We did so many laps that neighbors were asking for updates every time we came around. It was Sunday evening and everyone was outside. One neighbor took pictures to give to Michelle for her scrapbook. Another neighbor pulled over to congratulate her. There were even several rounds of applause as it became obvious what Michelle was doing. I was so moved, I could have cried. Here were 4 very different women, some of us strangers to each other, helping another woman become a mother. Here was a whole neighborhood helping to birth a baby.
Michelle went in to Theda Clark at about 9PM. Of course, we all went with her. She had labored to 7cm at home. She labored another 6 hours in the hospital. Colton Donovan was born at 3:30 AM on Monday June 22nd. Gorgeous, perfect baby. I said that about both my babies after they were born too, but I was blinded by love. (I know its true. I’ve seen pictures. Eeek.)
The final stage of Colton’s birth was not what Michelle had planned. No birth is ever as it was “planned”. But Michelle is healthy and Colton is perfect. He was awake and happy in mama’s arms and nursing ferociously when I left at 4:30 AM. I feel so lucky to have been part of such an amazing thing. Michelle kept thanking me, but I feel so thankful to her. It’s an honor to be part of the birth of a baby. She gave me such a gift. It’s a gift she gave to the whole neighborhood. It took a village to birth that baby!
