Laya was born at 4:36, 5.5.2015 – Cinco de Mayo!

She was shepherded into the world by Kate Dimpfl, rockstar doula and birth guide extraordinaire; Mahrie Moore, one of the amazing midwives from OBGYN Associates; and the incredible (and funny!) nursing stuff at the Cayuga Birthplace. 

After a wonderful weekend with some of Anaar's most special people, the first signs of early labor came on Monday, May 4th. We decided to take what might be the last opportunity in a while to hike (and do a little foraging) in one of our favorite Ithaca spots (a beautiful lake in Danby, NY) and as a light spring rain started to fall, Anaar felt the first unmistakable contractions of labor coming on. Still early on, we headed back home, and spent a magical night taking brief rests in between "rushes" (as one of our favorite resources, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth would put it). We walked around the quiet streets of Fall Creek, Ithaca and cozied in at home with Kate's expert guidance and advice.

When the morning came, we went for a last walk around the block and it was clear that labor had progressed to the point that it was time to take a next step, but we still didn't know how far along labor was...or how much remained. Kate came by to check in first thing, and we talked over either heading to the clinic to just check in or heading to the hospital to get settled. After hearing about some of the details, Kate thought it might be worth heading to the hospital.

When we checked in, they found that Anaar was almost fully dilated! The next 8 hours were wonderful, intense, sometimes extremely challenging and full of fun and just a bit of magic. Toward the end we ran into a few (not out-of-the-ordinary) snags, and the midwife guided us through them wisely. It was hard, but it was amazing to use the tools and knowledge we'd learned through Kate's birth classes, Diane Fine's  Prenatal Yoga Classes and Couples Birth Preparation Workshop, conversations with amazing friends and some wonderful books (especially Ina May's books and Penny Simkin's The Birth Partner). Everyone's journey is entirely their own, but we were so thankful for all the amazing resources in Ithaca and in the empowered birth movement. We used it all.

We're excited to share this, and happy to talk more with anyone who'd like to. One thing that we felt throughout our birth preparation is that we simply don't talk enough about birth in our culture. Like passing away, the importance of birth is matched by the complexity and challenges around each instance. It is a beautiful, powerful and delicate subject, but one we believe that we are all better off talking about and experiencing collectively than keeping taboo and private.