Empowered Birth Week!

Happy Labor Day!  And Happy Empowered Birth Week!

Having a baby is something more amazing, transcending, connecting and magical than anyone can imagine before they've have a baby.  When I hold that squirmy, wet little bundle I marvel at how exactly that came out of me!  And the wonder does not wear off!  Every time I'm privileged to attend a birth, I'm always in awe afterwards!  How exactly did she do that?  And how exactly did God do that?  How did all of that perfection come from imperfection?  How did that whole separate person grow from a sperm and an egg?

It's something out of a fairy tale, I'm sure. And I say that with the utmost respect for fairy tales.

"The things I believed most then, the things I believe most now, are the things called fairy tales.  They seem to me to be entirely reasonable things.  They are not fantasies: compared with them other things are fantastic.  Compared with them religion and rationalism are both abnormal, though religion is abnormally right and rationalism abnormally wrong.  Fairyland is nothing by the sunny country of common sense.  It is not earth that judges heaven, but heaven that judges earth....Modern minor poets are naturalists, and talk about the bush or the brook; but the singers of the old epics and fables were supernaturalists, and talk about the gods of brook and bush.  That is what the modern means when they say that the ancients did not 'appreciate nature,' because they said that Nature was divine.  Old nurses do not tell children about the grass, but about the fairies that dance on the grass; and the old Greeks could not see the trees for the dryads."  --GK Chesterton

As I marvel about pregnancy and birth and call it something greater than natural--that is supernatural, I do not ignore the arduous physical process of carrying a child and giving birth.  It's intense to be sure, but it's less scientific than it is magnificent.  It's less medical than it is magical.  Even if you took medication or had a surgical birth.  Still your body grew that child, sustained that child and brought that child into the world.

So..........in honor of Empowered Birth Week, let's have a little blog carnival.  Link up with your birth story or pictures.  It can be a new post or an old one.  It can be about your natural, home, earthy-crunchy birth or about your hysterical situation of birthing in the car on the way to the hospital!  You can link up about your c-section or your uphill battle to birth vaginally.  Don't allow anyone to steal the joy from your experience or invalidate it by comparing it to other pregnancy and birth stories.

If you don't have a blog but want to share a picture or story, email it to me (mrsgombojav@gmail.com) and I will post it for you!  (How's that for a deal?!)

For every link-up I will enter you to win a prize.  I'm not exactly sure what yet, because it depends on who wins!  If you are in your child-bearing years it might be something for your pregnancy or birth.  If you are one of those wise older ladies, it may be an inspiring book or something to pamper yourself.  All I promise is that it will be something I consider totally cool.  You'd expect nothing less, right?  :-)

You have one week.  I will close the contest Sunday night at 11:59.  So, get crackin'!