The Other Side of the World

Now where to?

Two degrees, two babies and two continents later and here we are.

The lovely daddy is outside soaking in the autumn rain as he plays elaborate games of Tetris with our surprisingly many belongings (we came with four suitcases he says half chagrin, half wonderment) and a ramp-less truck.

and we’re off.

to a little valley
living as a little family in a little grey house
one where every so often I leave (not too far or too long)
to do some midwifery*

Here we are, on the edge of another beginning.

Because life does that – that part where, just as you come to know you have a good place

Things shift.

*I’ll be working at a small rural service hospital staffed by ~2 midwives and an on-call obstetrician. When we transfer, we do it by helicopter!

sort of unbelieveable.

the sheer number of intense hours – brain-stuffed, lip-chewed, fingers slippery with anxiety, heart tripping from rending exhilaration to agonizing dances with patience.

the babies – mostly-fat, always hot. Squelching in their other-worldiness. Holding my breath with theirs as they dangled on the perineal precipe of life.

the teacher-midwives – the ones with faces of faith (when I burst not one, but two mid-semester pregnancies into their carefully planned schedules), of calm, of passion. The ones I cried to and cried with through every strange hour of the night. The ones that stood behind and held me forward – guiding my hands, needle, heart with their steadiness.

my friends – who showered me with every imaginable provision of love and care. For nodding encouragement into my dream-whispers at the very beginning and the very end. For holding me in a vast and beautiful web of love – feeding me, housing me, loving my children. For the countless hours and travel-miles and even breastmilk they shared willingly and easily.

my family – who overcame their skepticism (what’s a midwife?), mostly bank-rolled the operation and always made sure I knew they cared.

my babies – for showing me the unfathomable depths of richness in life. Who knew you could just make beautiful little people?

the lovely daddy – for not knowing what he was getting into, but getting in anyway – whole heartedly, without reserve and with seeming preternatural calmness.

and, of course -

the women – for being infinitely generous in letting me learn to be with them.

this is for all of you.

 thank you