I stumbled upon this lovely post from We Live Young about a month ago. As with any first time mama, (and blogger addict) I’ve been loving reading birth stories, seeing photos of little babies and looking for unique ways to document my baby once he’s here.
When I’m looking for artists and photographs to share on my bi-weekly Inspired by… feature, I tend to choose images that make me pause, or take my breath away or make me ache inside to look at them because they are so beautiful. Anyways. When I first saw these images, my breath left me and I felt at once calm, excited, nervous and oh so happy. I suddenly couldn’t wait to meet my baby boy. So I needed to share.
“on the morning of the 23rd of january i decided i felt ready. my mother and sister were here, the birth pool was set up, candles placed all around, incense ready to be burned, alba’s clothes freshly washed and a box full of everything i would need for labour. i asked m to let alba know she could come today. he held his palms over my heavy belly (marked with mother lines) and softly said ‘you can come today alba’.
i didn’t really think she would come then, i thought i would surely go over my due date and time would continue to drag on. but maybe she heard us. we spent the entire day nesting. the house was piles of unsorted things being sorted. my belly would tighten as i moved about, but it had for weeks so i didn’t think a lot of it.”
“the morning sun began to flood in through the glass doors. the contractions started to feel different. slowly the pushing urges came and i welcomed them. pushing felt good. the midwife listened to alba’s strong heartbeat, and to know she was calm helped me carry on. my other midwife came now, but i didn’t notice her arrive.
i told m to come into the pool and he sat behind me, tracing my spine. it was all close now. i could feel alba there between my bones. i could feel her moving down with every push. they took all of my strength, more than i could have ever imagined having. i was a warrior, fierce and powerful in those few hours of pushing.”
“she was born into the water at 10:05am on the 24th of january and me and m caught her. i brought her up to my chest and i was overcome with so much love. i was too overwhelmed to cry, i just said ‘oh, baby’ and ‘i love you’ over and over in a shaky, awestruck way. m cried and kissed her with the same enormous love welling up in his heart. ‘you were worth all of it’ i told her.
remembering the moment i first met alba will always make me teary and warm. she gave a few short, beautiful cries and then settled herself, gently watching us with wide eyes. it was as if she knew us, as if she loved us already.”
“we spend so many hours just staring at alba. tracing her features, kissing her soft cheeks. she sleeps mostly. little dreamer. when she’s awake she’s so gentle, with wise eyes like she has already lived.
seeing the way m is with alba, the way he talks to her and cuddles her, makes me realise i am not alone in my overwhelming love for her. it hurts to love someone so much. every little cry makes your heart ache.”
All above quotes and images are via We Live Young.
I really wanted to share every single image and all the words from this lovely post. But I didn’t. To read more about this beautiful birth and more lovely photos please check out We Live Young: The Homebirth of Alba Joy Firebrance
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