Home Birth Community Rocks.

So having a home birth comes with getting to be a part of an amazing community of women. I love the women in the group. Stephanie has provided such a great place for us to all support each other and learn. I love the Bellies meetings every other week and I love the facebook group online. So at 37 weeks they do a frame ceremony for the mother at the bellies meeting. I love mine! Before the group starts talking about the subject for that week mothers that are 37 or more weeks at the time tell a little about them and their pregnancy and what they hope for the birth. Then everyone in the group gets to pass around a wooden frame and write on it with a sharpie a word, picture or phrase about what they hope for, or wish for or just as a support to the mother in her labor. It means so much they things people wrote on my frame. They know the drama that has happened with my family with my past pregnancies and the stuff I have gone through with that. They said things like peace, let go and let god, darkness to dawn, smooth. There is something about having people all come together and give you love and support that makes you feel really special and like you can handle anything.

Another thing I love about the home birth community is the tradition of having blessingways. A blessingway is like a baby shower but different haha. Instead of focusing on the new baby coming and getting gifts and getting ready for when baby is here, a blessingway is about the mother and honoring her and getting her ready for labor. My lovely friend Jessica let me have it at her house two weeks ago. I had 8 friends come. It was such a great night with great conversation. I had each friend bring a bead that represented us as a friends, or them or what they hoped for me in my labor and I got to string in on a necklace for me to wear while I'm in labor. That way I can remember the people who love a support me. I also picked out a bead for my mom, dad and my three sisters to string on there, Noah picked out two beads later for him and Rebekah and I have had a few friends that couldn't make it to the party give me beads to string on there as well. I'm so excited to wear it! I also had them write uplifting things on papers for me to put in a cute jar I bought that day for me to read after I have Abigail. Its purpose is for when I'm having a tough day with having a new baby and 3 other children to care for that I can read them and remember the love I have and also just feel good about myself. My favorite thing we did was I got a henna tattoo on my belly! It turned out beautifully. And the best part is all my friends got to get a small one on their hand :) It was so fun to spend time with friends and just celebrate me having a new baby soon.

So my favorite tradition with having a home birth and being in the amazing community I am in because of it is the candle. Stephanie gave me a beautiful candle holder and candle that I get to light while I'm in labor and then its is passed on to other women in the group to use for the same purpose. It is something that unites us all and reminds us of the amazing community we are apart of. The candle holder is three elephants. The story behind the elephants is that while elephants are in labor all the other women in the herd surround the mother the entire labor in a circle to protect her from the wild and give her support. Someone in the group years before I joined made a comment that the women in the group were her elephants and how grateful she is for them. Then it became something that everyone said. We are each others elephants. 

I am in love with home birth and the wonderful women I have met because of the group :) Even after I have Abigail I am going to continue to go to the Bellies meetings and keep my ties with the group. Afterall I'm going to be having lots more babies anyway and you can never get too much love and support :)