I'm on my babymoon, so thank you all for writing this post for me.

Thanks to Amy for the photo, to Mikko for assisting the midwives in their measurements, & to Alrik for the terrifically large belly!

I'm so glad I made this the mandatory question on my giveaway of Ina May Gaskin's newest book (which ends in 2 days!):

Tell me something you like about midwives.

It's been a midwifery love-fest, and I'll share a selection of the responses with you here. You can also check out my post of the "Top 10 reasons to choose midwifery care" for my own take on the topic.

[Note: I'll be crediting the entrants according to how they have identified themselves. If anyone wants to be taken out of this list or anonymized further, let me know! The emphases are added by me for funkiness.]

I love midwives because they trust women's bodies! They know that birth is a natural process and they are there to facilitate that natural process, not to interfere with needless interventions! — cates

I love that my midwives took the time to sit down and talk with me. I also LOVED that they came to my house to do the first few post-natal visits! — Hippie Housewife

My homebirth was made possible (and amazing) by my midwives Amanda and Jamie. They were so calm and that made me calm. They were so supportive and we just let my body do the work! I am so blessed by the experience-- and a healthy baby boy (now 9 months!) I love Ina May -- have her two Guides and would love this one! Her stories inspire and let us know that birth, just, is. — Amy

What I love about midwives is that they LISTEN to both what the mother is saying and what her body is feeling. We need more OBs to have this approach, that women in labor are WOMEN and not just patients. — Julisuz

What's not to like about a midwife? I love that my midwife spends as much time with me as I need at each appointment, I love that she trusts my body, I love that during my daughter's birth she left me alone with my partner to birth in privacy the way I needed to until it was time for me to push and her to catch my daughter and encouraging me the whole time, I loved that my midwife never checked my progress to see how dilated or what not I was during labor. I could keep going... — Carrie V

I love that midwives view birth as a normal event and not a medical emergency waiting to happen. — Staci

I'm the proud mama of a 19-month-old boy who was born at home, with a midwife and a doula. The thing I love most about midwives is the time they invest in you! In this day and age of rushed medical appointments, it was a luxury and a joy to spend an hour or more at each midwife visit. Sometimes I had lots of questions or we had important things to discuss, sometimes we just talked. It was wonderful! — allana

Okay so I have to say just ONE thing I love about midwives?! I love that midwives trust the mother's ability to bring her baby into the world and understand the most basics of mammals birthing their babies. They know that mothers need cool, quiet places where they feel protected and loved. They know that birth isn't just a physical event but an emotional and mental and spiritual journey! — Joy@WhenDoesDaddyComeHome

What do I love about midwives - well EVERYTHING! The one on one care during my pregnancy was priceless. — Justine

Random cute picture of my lap hog

This is my attempt to use Dragon dictation period Apparently you're not supposed to say period .The benefits of random space after the period I mean before it .¹

This is my nursing and keyboard solution to blog posting .Nursing at keyboard .

Here's the problem with a baby room ... Baby moon ...That's better . Your mind doesn't shut off . So as it turns out it's really really boring . But every time I teddy do something productive I get frustrated . "Teddy" seriously ? Try .

Like vista be really frustrating if I were trying to get this done properly .

This would be ... Not Vista be.

And now I've woken up my baby. Silly dictation.²

During my babymoon, posts and responses will be sporadic as we enjoy our transition into a family of four. Putting up this post during the normally peaceable Alrik's witching hour, for instance, has been an exercise in frustration. I feel like a bad Wordless Wednesday host not to be visiting everyone back, but I hope you understand. Yea for lying around all day with a sweet baby in my lap!

Alrik

May 21, 2011
2:25 a.m.

8 lbs, 8 oz
21 inches

After about a week of warm-ups, I started into what I figured was real-live contractions on Friday afternoon. Alrik was born, after about 10 hours of labor, unexpectedly and joyously, into the water, into his father's and my arms, about 8 minutes before the midwives arrived.

As Sam put it: Last time we called them too early. This time, we called them too late. At least our average is good!

So far, all is peaceful on this babymoon — Alrik's got a tremendous latch. Maybe because of his gentle entrance, he's been sleeping up to 6-hour stretches and just generally being an easygoing sort. As Sam and I were saying to each other, just imagine, if we'd had him first, how smug we would be about how easy babies are — and imagine how many more kids we might have by now…

Mikko is doing fabulously so far, considering this major shift. He slept through the birth, downstairs on the sleep sofa with his aunt. (I take it this was a rare cosleeping experience for her — she marveled at how our little wiggle worm was able to turn a full 360 degrees over the course of the night. Raw talent.) He gave the baby his gift and received one in turn from Alrik – quite skeptically, it should be pointed out, because how could Alrik have driven to the store? As Mikko put it, "He no have a steering wheel in his car seat." Both boys have taken to tandem nursing, and I have no doubt my milk will be in in no time.

Alrik looks a lot like Mikko — only so much smaller, like Mikko Lite. Sam and I just keep staring at him — the visible ribcage and spine, the lack of caterpillar segments in his arms, his long, skinny fingers, and saying, "He's so leeetle." He's swimming in his small-size diaper covers, since I didn't bother to stock up on newborn sizes. I'm sure he'll plump up soon, anyhow.

The labor was fast and intense — at least, transition and pushing were. I kept not being sure that's really what that was … until a baby came out!

It's hard to type one handed, as I now remember. I'll have to write the full birth story soon, but for now, here are some pictures.

After complaining so hard last week about the suckiness that is third-trimester home renovations, I thought I'd present the flip side this week. Things are looking up.


We have a floor again! And it's so, so pretty! It makes everything else look like crap. But in a good way.


It's hard to get the full effect of how white my hair, clothes, and glasses were in a photo, making me look something like the Abominable Pregnant Snowwoman, but suffice it to say my days of sanding the drywall compound on the ceiling are thankfully over. Our bathroom is currently in the midst of painting, and we might even have a toilet tomorrow! Progress! Our kitchen is put back together and functional for, say, cooking. Imagine!


This will be impressive to no one else, but in the room we affectionately refer to as "the crap room" (theoretically one day the kids' room), there is floor visible. Floor! And room for a little bed!


We had lots of help labeling (and filling) our boxes for storage and to go to the office — and everything's (kind of) in its place now. (I say good enough.)

This is Part 2 of Mikko's birth story. Part 1 is here: "Labor at home."

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{Where we left off} ALL THOSE CAREFULLY COLLECTED BIRTHING TOWELS LEFT ABANDONED AND UNNEEDED

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2007

Once we’d decided to transfer, we had some time to get ready to go. Since it wasn’t an emergency transfer, we were able to get there in a leisurely manner. M was able to call her hospital of choice and the nurse-midwife she trusted to preside over the birth. Once we transferred, our midwives would no longer have any authority at the hospital, but M & L would drive with us to act as doulas, or birth support. K went home to get some needed sleep before another birth the next morning. Many of their clients were due right around the same time.

The midwives graciously began to clean up, washing dishes, putting away supplies. I wasn’t sure how long this lasted, but now it was time to get our things packed up and go. I had just been continuing to labor as activity whirled around me, and I was feeling more and more intensity. The contractions were now right on top of each other; I kept waiting for the breaks I had gotten used to between contractions so that I could pull on my skirt, pack up some extra undies, make sure we had my Hypnobabies CDs and iPod — but the breaks were gone. I felt like I had become whiny and unhelpful, that I was just stalling. At the same time, I could barely stand up, and I was seriously considering just burying my head in the pillows and refusing to leave. They would have to let me give birth in my room if I refused to leave, right? Finally, I was able to direct Sam and the midwives to pack everything up I needed, from my perch on the bed. Weeks before, I had packed up a half-hearted hospital transfer diaper bag, but I purposely neglected to put any of my own clothes or belongings in it. I had wanted to stay confident that I wouldn’t need it. Now I had to point to items I needed and try to remember where things had ended up. Eventually, they gathered clothes, baby clothes and diapers in newborn size (not the most practical size, as it turns out), and my car keys so that L could move the installed baby car seat from the back seat to the front so that I would have room to stretch out in the back. They made sure to tuck my birthing rock in a front pocket of the diaper bag.

{Is anyone thinking with me, "If only I had stalled longer…"? Clearly I was in transition, despite lack of visible progress. This is why my plan for this home birth is indeed of the bury-my-head-in-a-pillow-and-refuse-to-leave variety.}