An Earthcoming

First, show and tell. My car is so boring that it really doesn't need a picture. It's a harvest gold Ford explorer. Yeah, you've probably seen a million of them. As some may remember, the only difference with mine is the faint smell of dead chicken. My birth family were always chevy buyers but marriage brought me into a Ford family, hence the Ford SUV. I love BB's show and tells this just wasn't one I got excited about. I've always thought of how nice a shiny red renault (do they still make those?) or a sporty citroen mazarati would look in my driveway. My favorite car that I've ever owned was a '91 Lincoln Town Car. It always made me feel luxurious.

As I near the anniversary of the birth of my firstborn, I always recall the particulars of his earthcoming and how it changed the life of TT and I forever. LC was born at home, which, at the time was a 40' travel trailer (no trailer trash jokes, please.) I've always had this real hatred of hospitals and I didn't feel much better about doctors. Fancying myself a nature woman, I decided to find a trusted soul to be a midwife. Although many found this a frivolous pursuit it lead to one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life, both times. My first pregnancy was fairly normal but without most of the modern frills like sonograms and prebirth gender accessing. My widwife was an herbolgist and I used several herbs religiously to smooth the birthing process. Evening primrose oil and raspberry tea, blue cohosh and verbena. The nine months were some of the most remembered I'll ever live and in retrospect they passed like a freight train, a little slow in coming but once it's past you wonder how it could have gone so fast. I gained 75 pounds!! That was not a good memory! I'm still carrying most of it around I think. On the fateful night I remember laying in bed, tossing and turning, never finding a comfortable spot for my belly. All of the sudden a warmth of unbelievable proportions came over me. I soon figured out it corresponded with a watery alarm of the imminent birth. Did I say imminent? Ha! This was just a threat. Thirty-six hours of many more threats were just beginning to occur. Most of the 36 hours were spent on the pottie, facing the tank, while TT put hot compresses on my back. Many have called me weird but I think the nine months of anticipating and the several hours of wondering how THIS birth will present itself, are some of the best parts of the maternal role, even along with the excrutiating changes, stretches and pains that accompany it. I especially remember how the midwife sent TT and I outside (it was cold) to walk during the 24th hour of labor. She insisted it would speed things along. 30 hours into the ordeal she left ("Where are you going, you can't leave NOW!") and instructed us to become intimate. "This will be the clincher", she said. It always brings things along faster. Well, from that point forward things did move along. Before we knew it TT was cutting the umbilical cord and LC was laying in our arms. I worried about his head, (funny shape,) and thought he must look like TT when he was born. Tired as we were, we spent hours just staring at him, thanking God it all came out the way He purposed for a child to enter the world, wondering about tomorrow, next year and the rest of his little life. Now he's 16, driving, a HS junior and would undoubtedly be embarrased if he read this.
Every year around this time I recount the details, adding more each year I think, to my son, as he ages one more year. It's a family tradition that my mom always kept. She would hold us in her arms and lovingly tell of her trials and joys of our particular birth. At the time, as the time for each sibling came around, we would cuddle in her bosom (knowing it somehow made her feel full and satisfied) and listen as she recalled some of the details of our earthcoming. We would all be present for the "ceremony" and giggle over the poor victim of moms loving embrace, all the while wishing in our hearts that we were the victim. My eyes always fill with warm drops as I recount to my children the wonderful moments before, during and after their birth as my prayers go with them that they too will experience the many joys of life, all the while learning from times of trial and benefitting from the privilege of loving family and friends. Somehow I know that Ma would be happy if she knew I kept this vigil of memories.