This post is different to my usual posts as it is not about colour or Aura-Soma – it is about the latest arrival into my family. On Saturday (27/2/2010) Elena gave birth to a boy! They are both doing really well and came home from the hospital that evening. He is very big, 4.6kg (10lb 6oz) strong and healthy.
Baby boy
The birth process
It was a great birth process. As with Daniel his older brother I was with Elena throughout the birth process – in this case from 5.30am through to 12.30 when he (we have not found his name yet) emerged. It is a privilege for me to be part of the birth process. It is such an intense and “being present” process where minutes seem like hours, but then every so often you realise another hour has passed and you wonder how much longer there can be to go …
Handling the pain
What I especially want to write about is how Elena handled the pain. Firstly we had no idea the baby was that big so we entered the process without fear. Early in the process I massaged the B20 Equilibrium bottle into Elena’s back. As the process went on, along with simply being there, holding, breathing etc., I also did many Reiki attunements to Elena and the process. However each contraction was still quite something to endure for Elena and the nurse did offer us (drug) pain relief. Some thing Elena and I did not want to use if we could possibly avoid it.
Help was at hand
After a few hours Elena went to her suitcase and pulled out a small cloth covered in prickly plastic discs (see the picture) which she had brought to the hospital on an intuition. It came from her uncle – an osteopath in Russia who had given it to her some time ago to help with her back pain (not connected to the pregnancy or birth). She asked me to hold it to her lower back as she knelt over the bed. As the contractions came she asked me to press the cloth into her lower back. This process went on for more than an hour. It was amazing. It was very deep and meditative. We were not talking much. With each contraction she was able to move her pelvis and she later told me that she was feeling the baby’s process. The relief provided by these discs enabled her to be with and support the birthing process.
the plastic discs that helped
There did come a point though where she felt she had no more energy and the discs became less relevant. For the last 45 minutes Elena was pushing and getting tired but the baby though we could see the head, was not coming out. It was a difficult time. Finally the baby came, first the head and then with a couple more pushes the whole body. Throughout his heart beat had been stable. And now that he emerged we could see he was a big healthy baby who immediately went pink and looked fantastic.
In retrospect those last 45 minutes though very difficult at the time were probably very helpful, because not only did Elena have no pain relief, she also had no need for stitches.
Elena after the birth
Home together
It was a great birth process and now we have a great baby. And now as I write this in our garden it seems Spring too has come. The sun is shining and the birds are singing. It is a good beginning.
baby and older brother Daniel
