Sunday, October 22, 2006

Babies, barefoot, and Berkeley

As I was driving over the Bay Bridge, my sister-in-law, Annmarie, called with some news: She's pregnant! Annmarie is quoted in my book, looking into the future, saying that she would prefer a scheduled c-section whenever the time came. But after she read my book, she said she had reconsidered. It will be interesting to see what happens. Regardless, I'm so excited for her and my brother, Jake. The phone call came as I was heading to see my OTHER sister-in-law, Amanda Bower, who just had her second gorgeous baby boy, Callum Flint. He was born by scheduled c-section, just like the first, who was breech. Amanda vascilated between a VBAC and another section, but the 10-page liability waiver her OB gave her pushed her over the edge, and into the OR. In the end, it was a good thing, because the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and had a true knot in it. I was expecting to hear many more dramatic stories tonight at The Birth Tour, here in Berkeley. And indeed, I did.
The gathering, in a yoga studio, involved people sitting barefoot on pillows and sharing stories of how they were born, as well as how they gave birth. The gathering was the final stop on a nation-wide tour put on by Thin Air Media, which has collected many such tales on tape, to be played on NPR next year.

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