I was lucky to present enough in the last moments of pregnancy, to hold my baby inside me and remember to remember.  The birth was peaceful in a way I have never experienced, leaving me to have memories of the day that are is vivid and clear, rather than muffled and filled with pain.  Joyful though they all have been, something about this last birth was so settling, so smooth and serene, that I cannot help but close my eyes in order to hold back tears when thinking about it.  I sat in the water on my knees, hands placed on my belly, with so much knowledge that in this life, I will not feel this sensation again.  But now, I have this deep memory.  This big moment that is now part my every fiber.  Moments later I took a long drink of black cohosh, and before I could even swallow it all, I was in the throes of the ends of labor; Meeting her only three contractions later.  In the dark of the new moon, I held our baby girl in the first blissful moments of her life.  Thin bowed legs relaxed under water, kitten eyes still sealed shut, sweet little lips licking at the warm moist air for the first time.

Willow Patricia Moon 

born at home September 29, 2016

7 pounds 4 ounces

under the care of the most amazing midwife and assistants

and of course surrounded by the love of her three brothers and amazing daddy