Hey there! I’m Abi! I love to sing and watch things grow. I had the privilege of marrying my high school sweetheart three and a half years ago and together we run our own business buying sad houses and making them happy (some people call that “flipping”). I also take classes on the side to finish my Buisness Degree. Mostly, though, I spend my days hanging out with the coolest two-year-old the world has ever known, my Issac Sherman, and our sweet, little lady, Daisy Selah. Her story is the one that I am thrilled to share with you today.
I don’t know if it often happens that a child is like her birth, but my Daisy Selah is just as genuine and full of peace as her entrance into this world was. I woke up around dawn on August 27th with what felt like more than just Braxton Hicks. I went to the bathroom (this is a given-we’re all going to the bathroom every other minute at 39 weeks pregnant, right?) and tucked myself back into bed with the excited thought that today was most likely the day. Maybe I was just being hopeful- I was really tired of being pregnant. But when I actually got up that morning, there was mucus plug coming. Hooray!! I let my birth help know that things had started. Then I started paying attention. One minute, light contractions every five minutes. For the next ten hours or so. But that was okay- I needed to mop my floor and cook everything under the sun and organize my whole house…you get the picture. Every five minutes, my bustling would stop and I would sway through another contraction. It was such a perfect summer day, the whole process was like a dance. I had such an inner calm about it. My only concern was that I would end up going in and calling in my help too early. I wanted to labor at home- I had to keep moving and getting to enjoy the outdoors and spend my last day with my two-year-old as an “only” was so sweet. I took a tiny nap, a hot bath, and drank some wine. More mopping. By about five pm I was getting frustrated with the slowness of the whole thing. I went out for a walk by myself. I named my fear of going in too early and asked God for discernment. With that fear (I knew it was a silly fear, but naming it really helped!) out of the way and the focus of just walking and laboring, things began to speed up. A random neighbor asked me “when I was going to have that baby?”. I named that too. “Right now, Ashton, right now!!” He had no clue that I was in labor for real and was quite amused the next day when my husband told him I’d actually had the baby! I went back inside and told my husband and Maya that I needed a birth pool. Hot shower, snacks packed and out the door. “The next time I step over this threshold, Baby will be here too.” The forty-five minute drive to Brookhaven was not cool because I couldn’t walk- but at the same time it was sweet with anticipation. The full moon was blessing the coming night sky. The whole world was beautiful. It was dark as we pulled into the parking lot and the lights at the door looked so pleased to welcome us. I had the strongest of contractions as I went to get out of the car. Things were definitely getting serious. Maya and Zazi were so cheerful at the possibility of staying up all night to help me through- they’re precious. The birth pool was just what I’d needed. It gave me the ability to focus. Then came the poo and the puke- I even had one overwhelmingly strong contraction where I puked and had my water break all in one. It did not feel amusing, but I had to laugh on the inside. I wanted to push. But surely, I’d just gotten here, it couldn’t be time yet. Okay, forget that, it was definitely time. I had a goal not to tear this time, and my friend who was there to help would quietly remind me “just let your body do it, don’t help, you’re doing well.” I believed her. And I reminded myself over and over about Ina May Gaskin’s “sphincter law”- relax your lips and your voice and your birthing muscles will also relax. I felt the ring of fire. And that was the baby’s head!!!!!! I could do anything now!!!! And so Daisy Selah came in her peaceful way, by the light of a full summer moon. I didn’t tear and she was born only an hour and a half after we got there. “Daisy” means “light” and “Selah” means “rest, peace.” Birth is such a rich, real experience- I’m so grateful to have gotten to be a Mama all over again and in such a sweet way.
.svg){kind=icon}
