Shea's Birth Story

Shea was born at home, with just us, and it was perfect. She came so quickly we forgot to call Michelle on time. The morning was like any other morning. Aurora was doing her on-line school and I was cleaning up breakfast and loading dishes in the dishwasher. I felt the surges consistently and rhythmically, but they were mild. I was watching the clock. They were coming very precisely and closer together but still with little intensity. Once Sean got home and Ro was done with school, that’s when time ceased to exist for me. We entered a moment where everything aligned and made space for Shea to come into this world with us. When the time actually came for her birth, it was more divine than I can express with words. 

As we were eating lunch and watching a storm develop outside, there was a major shift. I started going to the bathroom frequently and each trip advanced the progress. Sean was preparing the tub and quietly watching over me from a distance. He instinctively felt that I needed to be left alone and stayed outside the bathroom door as I screamed and thrashed about. Later, he lovingly described the sounds as reminiscent of a she-hulk. It was during one of the trips from the bed to the toilet that it dawned on us that we didn’t call Michelle after the initial morning text. By the time Sean reached out, we were in the very thick of it all. I began to feel like we were in over our heads. The sounds of labor were getting louder and louder. Sean checked in again with Michelle and we all realized that there wasn’t enough time for her to make it! With everything rapidly unfolding, surprisingly, there was no panic in the house. We were more in a state of disbelief that the baby could actually come this fast. In the last few contractions, I screamed at a decibel only reachable during childbirth. As Aurora became increasingly overwhelmed, Sean instantly prepared the bed and with the next surge announced he saw a baby’s head. And without even the slightest push, Shea slid out into his arms. Aurora ran into the bedroom with pure joy. 

For twenty minutes, as a family of four, we basked in the glow of fresh life and in total awe of what we experienced. Michelle joined us full of love and grace. This is her gift and her raison d’etre. She felt our bliss and found a way to seamlessly be part of it. There was nothing that could have interfered with the energy we created that day for ourselves. Somehow as we were casually going about our daily business, we witnessed the most precious act of Nature. After all the routine checks were done, the midwives left, and we were eating pizza and watching Jeopardy on the couch. And just like that, Shea became a part of us.

- Anastasiya

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