babi snowden – the arrival

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I woke up about my usual time on Saturday – 7am, but this time I felt antsy – as if I couldn’t keep still. I felt compelled to “get movin”. So, I packed the diaper bag, packed my wife’s bag and then shaved my her yoni. Since being prego, it’s been hard to reach down there, I needed to get it done so that we didn’t have to worry about it and of course I simply enjoy doing so :)

Her friends were in town to spend some time with her and were on their way to our home to pick her up for brunch.

My wife jumped in the shower, got cleaned up and proceeded to lay back down to rest. I suggested she tell her friends to just come over and hang out so that she wouldn’t have to be out and about.

She agreed.

I then got up and started cleaning the inside of the washing machine. WTF?! Even me, the super clean freak, was astonished by this. I mean, who “cleans” the inside of a washing machine?

During my cleaning shenanigan, my wife stated that her braxton hicks contractions were becoming a bit more intense and then she says – “um, I think my water broke”.

To which I reply the dumb reply, “what do you mean?” Clearly I said this to buy myself some male processing time.

I popped out from the bathroom and got her a towel – the time was 11:23am.

I immediately took my handy dandy $375 Chicco “Travel System” and attempted to strap it in the jeep. With a brisk pace, I egotistically thought a trite idiot could put a car seat in for the first time under 10 mins…

Clearly, I was sadly mistaken. Since my goal was to ignore the beautifully stickered and obvious instructions, I resorted to primal forms of self-communication while trying to get the car seat sorted out. My record time for “car seat idiocy” was 36 minutes. Smooth move ex-lax.

Her friends arrive to our home shortly after that.

Without even saying a word to my wife, our energies synergistically understood and agreed that today was the day. I left to go get the rare herbs and and enamel pot my wife needed for the post birth bath.

As I’m driving in the soggy, rainy day – I remember this song mi padre bought, sent and dedicated to me. I played it over and over…

I get to Chinatown and realize in all my haste that I’ve left both my driver’s license AND card at home on the mesita de noche. So I vigorously scoured the jeep’s arm rest in search of cash! $13 and $5 in quarters – whew! Good thing I keep “lotto ticket money” around!

Her friends text me and let me know they are heading to the birth center.

After purchasing the herbs I rush home to get my card so I can then grab the pot, get to the birth center and comfort my wife. With card in hand, I head to Target and find that all of the pots are either stainless steel with an aluminum core or aluminum with teflon coating EXCEPT this one ceramic and enamel pot for $40! Ouch! I grab the expensive ass pot, a few PF Changs frozen entrees, apple sauce and fruit snacks.

I now head to the birth center playing over and over my fathers will smith dedication song. I remember thinking – is this real?

With herbs, a pot, food and the diaper bag I head inside at about 2:25pm.

I get to the “blue room” where my wife lays calmly breathing through the pre labor contractions with her bindi and lotus flower henna on her belly.

I sent her friends to start making the herbal brew as I put on our “baby birthday playlist”. This list consisted of the confidence building music by beyonce, india arie and maria carey, but yet, this wasn’t the mood for that. I put on sounds of dolphins and whales – perfect!

As I rub her temples, and rub her, we hear this woman next door screaming, “get it out!”. “This freaking hurts.” “Ouch!” My wife and looked at each other like is this woman talking about birth or removing hot shrapnel from her leg? WTH?! It’s amazing how clinicalized” and “painful” birth has become…geesh.

My wife and I spent a LOT of time speaking through how we would conduct our energy and how to eliminate “pain” and “hurt” from our conditioned psyche.

This preparation paid off! She calmly breathed through the intensifying contractions barely even grimacing. We moved to the Jacuzzi to provide more comfort to her being. It was beautiful – just her and I, the dolphins playing and splashing with soft candle light.

I was VERY intentional on making sure the room ALWAYS stayed dimly lit with natural light (candle light) only.

Finally she felt it was time to push. It’s amazing that all of the “biological instructions” that are needed for birth are encoded within the mother and baby – each knows EXACTLY what to do and when to do it with precise synchronicity.

I got the squatting stool and got it ready. She didn’t want the stool though… she wanted to squat between my legs and for me to hold her up.

With her arms hanging over my legs, she pushes. With each push I felt the deep tender rumble of her uterus conjure up all the earth’s energy. It felt like being in the center of an electromagnetic cloud. Our energies were one and WE were birthing out baby. Feeling THAT much energy move through my body was AMAZING and sent deep transcending chills through my core – “wow” is an understatement.

The head was crowing. We both reached down and felt our baby’s warm soft head full of hair. After a just a few calm, relaxed pushes, our baby was born! I kissed and held my wife’s head as I welled with tears.

My wife told the room that *I* get to announce the gender. I struggled to see as the umbilical cord was in the way, and after it was moved, I still had a hard time telling as all baby gentiles are swollen upon birth! After what seemed like a 15 minute study, I announced with partial confidence it was a girl! 

With her holding baby, I moved her to the bed and we watched the baby do the breast crawl (video coming soon).

As I watched baby doing the breast crawl, a million thoughts whisked in and out of my mind:

- This is taking longer than I thought, perhaps I should help the baby…

- Day zero of a truly new life

- How will I know what to do?

- Who can help me?

- Having a baby somehow affirmed that I have to get old and die now. Before now my mortality was that of Buzz Light Year, “to infinity and beyond!”

- Why am I so reluctant to die?

- Why am I still scared of death?

- Wow a girl?! This must be my time of karmic retribution for being a man-whore for the first half of my life.

- My wife and the power of women is that of infinite proportions and to think we have the nerve to call god a “he”… give me a break!

I digress…

Baby Snowden was born 9.2.12 @ 9:30pm. 5 pounds, 13 ounces and 19.5 inches long.

babi snowden

babi snowden: born 9.2.12 @ 9:30pm. 5 pounds, 13 ounces and 19.5 inches long.

We will wait 8 days before we name her to ensure we capture her entire essence within her name.

Funny thing is, on Friday, the 31st as I dozed to sleep I had a vision our baby would come Labor Day weekend opposed to the forecasted September 10th. I also knew we were pregnant before my wife did.

Being in tune is lovely!

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