a birth story

11 years ago today i had, in the middle of the night, given birth to a 9 lb. 14 oz. boy child. this was done all in the comfort of my own home, but he took FOREVER to be born. we finally figured out when he was crowning, why. he had his hand on his forehead! OUCH! the whole birth part ended up being a bit scary....he immediately had to go to the midwife in the corner for oxygen in his face...he was a bit blue. for the 2 minutes (that felt like an hour) he was with her, i was a bit panicked! but, after some extra air, he was fine. i spent three weeks laying down. that boy tore me up. it's one of my favorite memories, though. my mom stayed with us, david was not working a job (the job he had was seasonal and it was the dead of winter), my friends kept us fed. we sat around, watched movies, bad tv shows and talked ALOT. lovely time.

i know life moves along at a fairly fast clip, but COME ON! i feel that it is speeding past me and i am doing all i can to keep up. in my exploration of traditional chinese medicine, i just read that the time after birth is called the golden month. for a month, the new mother is supposed to rest. family is there to take care of her while she heals. it is believed that even old health issues can be healed during this time...and new ones can arise if she is not cared for properly. i guess it helps that the chinese have the one child law...there aren't a bunch of other kids to worry about! anyway, i was just thinking about the speed of our culture. families are separated, older folks are relegated to nursing homes, new mothers are left to figure it all out on their own. in reading about this ancient tradition and process, it left me longing for something calmer. a quieter more meditative life. is it attainable? i truly hope so.