The birth before this one: Donavyn Josephine *with video*

My mother’s two best friends flew out for my daughter Donavyn’s birth. My mother had died earlier that year. This is my Throwback Thursday.

This birth.
This birth started to heal my grief.
This birth brought my mother to me, one last time.
This birth showed me who I am and could become.
This birth was so much more than contraction, sensation, effort.
This birth was the ultimate release.

We didn’t know the sex of this baby (and of course it doesn’t matter) and we’d planned to name them after my mother regardless of what parts they came out with, but there was something so deeply moving, so special to see my daughter emerge,
as if she, my mother, had just been born again, through me.
Or rather, my journey of healing was born through her.

My daughter has become her own person, unique and completely herself.
But this birth.
I’d do it 100 times.

We’ve watched this video as a family many times, more often lately as we get the kids ready. We’re hoping things go well.
Every birth is different.
This next one will be its own brand of magic.