For all of you who have been wondering about our impending birth, we are pleased to announce that our beautiful girl Maya Hazel arrived on July 28 at 5:40 am! We had attended the Hillside Music Festival during the day, and in the end realized that we spent our initial "real" labouring time there amidst the crowds and music stages! No surprise that Maya danced out later that evening. She was born in our home just as the sun was rising, with the assistance of two wonderful midwives. The birth went as smoothly as we could have hoped and it was truly an amazing experience.
Maya is strong and healthy, weighed 6 lb 15 ounces and was 22 inches with long graceful arms, legs, fingers & toes. Mama, Papa and babe are all doing well and Maya is settling in to life on the "farm". She's spending time stretching her bare feet in the sun each day, supervising the harvest of tomatoes, beans & kale, and lingering in the herb garden to smell the flowers. She had her first trip to the farmer's market on Saturday and seemed to enjoy the bustle.
Maya means "winged messanger" and we thought of her as our little honeybee, a keystone element that is vital for our future in terms of pollination of food crops. Hazel is named for the hazelnut tree, native to this part of the country and valued as a prized tree in permaculture gardening. The hazel tree also happens to be the Celtic tree designated for the month of July - very fitting.
Some books on natural birthing that we found helpful during the pregnancy are:
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, by Ina May Gaskin
Spiritual Midwifery, by Ina May Gaskin
The Natural Pregnancy Book, by Aviva Jill Romm
The Birth Partner, by Peggy Simpkin
Hypnobirthing, by Marie Mongan
Birthing From Within
Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, by Susun Weed
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