When Exhaustion Turns to Enjoyment

What happens when 5 families bring new life into the world at the same time?

Well, a lot. There’s a lot that happens. For one – Exhaustion. The mamas who labored so hard and so well are exhausted after giving birth to their precious little ones. The Midwives and their assistants who were up, day after day, hour after hour, delivering babies back to back without much more than a wink of sleep.

But what about the aftermath? The weeks following these beautiful births? Well, while exhaustion persists, simply from having a newborn who needs you every 5 minutes (and maybe other little ones running around hungry for attention), there is a new feeling that makes itself known. Enjoyment. Yes, days can be long, and your own personal sleep can be short (or nonexistent), but the enjoyment and delight of having a new life – that you grew! – present and in front of you, is a marvelous thing.

It’s the Journey…

Being in the birth world, I see a lot of things. But one of the best things, is getting to see those mamas and babies at their postpartum appointments. The relationships that myself and the midwives build with each mama as they come through our center is an extraordinary thing and getting to watch that little baby grow and make it’s way into the world, just brings so much joy. The fruition of all that mama had gone through – and now they are here.

I mentioned at the very beginning that there were 5 families who brought their babies into the world at the same time. This post is about them. Now, they didn’t deliver at the exact same time, but they did all deliver over a 3 day period. Two mamas delivered on the 20th, two on the 21st, and one on the 22nd. Each of our Midwives had mamas in labor during this crazy 72 hours! These were long days, everyone was exhausted, and by the end of it we *all* needed a week just to recover from the births.

Final Postpartum Visit

Fast forward 6 weeks, and it just so happens that I ended up scheduling 4 of these 5 families on the same day at, or around, the same time for their final postpartum check ups. And what a happy accident it was. We got to see 4 of those 5 babies, while their mamas and papas got to see each other, talk about their birth experiences, their postpartum journeys, their adventures into fatherhood, and a whole heap more. The birth center lobby turned into a hangout for those 4 families, their midwives, and those who helped bring their little ones into the world. By the end of it, I think we all stood their talking, laughing, and ogling babies for 2 hours. It was such a special time for everyone.

As I stood their watching the memories that were being created before my eyes, I took a few pictures and just thought about how wonderful and *needed* this is for our Birth Arlington families. (Unfortunately, I didn’t think about taking pictures until after one of the mamas had already left)

We are a Community. We are a Family.

In that moment, the Midwives and I had the same thougtht: What if BWCA held an event (a few times a year?) where current and past client mamas could come and hang out, eat food, and informally talk about their journeys in pregnancy and postpartum with each other. Just gather and chill in a safe space for moms to get advice from other moms, or share the story of their birth, or make new friends. And while the moms are getting to meet other moms who may have had or do have the same midwife as them, the dads could be outside BBQing, talking about what its like to be a new dad, or getting advice from dads who have been dad-ing for a while.

Community is where it’s at. And Community is a fundamental part of Birth & Wellness Center of Arlington. We don’t want to just be a place you deliver your baby, we want you to come through our doors and walk out with a community of people around you who support and lift you up. We want to be a place of refuge for you when you need it. So to all the mamas and papas out there who need to make some mom-friend and dad-friend connections, just know your Birth Arlington family is working on something special to create some of those opportunities for you.