suki's birth story

tomorrow is suki's second birthday! it is hard to believe that this was me two years ago- still with my tiny baby girl inside that giant belly, and only days later she was in my arms. even though i know pregnancy was not the most comfortable experience for me, i somehow only remember it with fondness. suki's birth was hard, but that is mostly because of how long it was. other than that i only remember it being the most magical time in my life. i wish i could remember more details about those days but unfortunately it is now a bit of a blur. since adam recalls more of the night than i can, he wrote out suki's story for her to have, and to share with you. read it below...

your mom began having regular contractions on wednesday night, several days past your due date. 

they were about 20 minutes apart around 1:30 am, and soon moved to 10 minutes apart. we sent out an email, asking our friends to pray that everything would go well and that g-d would give us strength and peace. the contractions continued at a regular pace all throughout the next day, as we began making preparations. your dad made a special birthday cake in the morning, and we started to make some phone calls to let friends and family know that you were on the way. your mom did some housecleaning in the midst of somewhat painful contractions, which were getting to be less than 10 minutes apart. we were a little tired from not sleeping the night before, but the excitement and adrenaline were keeping us going. thursday night we called over our midwife, laura s., and our friends who agreed to serve as attendants. susan came. laura m. came. sarah came with her four year old daughter, eleanor. everyone was so happy to be there, even though it was the middle of the night. laura m. helped get some snacks ready for us. she made ants on a log with cashew butter and set out some wasa crackers with sheese, which was mailed to us from san francisco by lynn. eleanor had a bowl of cereal. your dad went on the porch, gathered some wood, and started a fire. we were listening to a mix-tape your mom made especially for the birth. it has lots of her favorite songs on it and it helped her to be relaxed and happy. friends took turns applying counter pressure to her back during contractions and giving her some massage. she also spent some time crawling around the kitchen table and bouncing on the pink exercise ball. at one point, your mom did some yoga with eleanor on mats that we rolled out. we kept the fire burning and listened to another tape with some relaxation music that your dad downloaded from crystal vibrations. we were enjoying each others’ company and doing our best to keep your mom comfortable. she was drinking some cold lemongrass tea throughout the night. 

laura s. went back home to get some sleep, because she knew it would still be a while before you arrived. your mom spent some time in a warm bath, because it really made her feel better. while she was in the bathtub, we listened to some belle and sebastian and then yo la tengo’s “and then nothing turned itself inside-out.” your dad took a short nap during the chaos of cherry chapstick. in the morning, you still weren’t here, so our friends went home to get a little rest and freshen up. it wasn’t until mid-day on friday that things started to progress to the next stage. the contractions got to be a lot more intense, and your mom was very tired, not having slept the past two nights. laura s. came back over around 2 pm and massaged your mom a little while she took a bit of a nap. we knew that she needed to rest and prepare for the final stages of your birth. the next few hours were super intense. your mom spent a little more time in the tub, and we were closely monitoring your progress in the birth canal. laura kept checking the cervix and where your head was, and she kept listening to your heart. she used her fingers to help stretch the cervix, as your mom began pushing. your mom had to leave the bathtub, because it was going too slow in there. so we set everything up on the futon in the guest room. your mom was doing such a great job pushing with the contractions. pushing and grunting and sweating and yelling and pushing. she was really hot, so we opened the windows. around 6:30 pm we finally saw your head, after your mom did some pushing while standing and holding on to your dad. this upright posture was the key to helping you come out. so we saw your head emerge, with dark hair, and it would go back in and then come out. finally at 6:40 pm, with only laura s. and your dad present, you arrived into our arms. your eyes were open almost right away, even before you started to cry or anything. (laura said that this is unusual). then we wrapped you in a blanket and gave you to your mom so you could begin breastfeeding. you latched on right away and ate as we marveled at you. so beautiful!

after a little while, we gave you a bath and put on your first outfit, after weighing and measuring you. you were here! we held you in our arms in the bed. your mom had a shower when sarah came back. we were also visited by matt and susan and juan and laura. they brought over some food from thai express, and we shared a beer from short’s brewery. we were so tired and drifted off to sleep.