Editing birth stories in my spare time.

Since I'm not on Facebook, and I'm not blogging very much, and I'm not tweeting hardly ever, and I haven't checked my phone messages in a week, I thought I'd let you know what we've been up to.

Zu is doing all his Zu stuff (cooking, cleaning, working full-time, putting out - being a good housewife), Tiyo is doing a lot of hammering and has learned a new word (starts with 'n', ends with 'o', www.thetuesdayphoto.wordpress.com), and I'm still seeing clients and doing my backlog of schoolwork editing birth stories. Yes, I think I have found my life's calling. I am a born birth-story editor. I love love love love it.

I've been working for January at Birth Without Fear, which is pretty much the best birth blog you'll ever lay eyes on (it even won an award!) and publishes several birth stories a week, usually on a daily basis. The idea is to build a repository of real birth experiences and a community of birth/health advocates, to bring some balance to the strange misconceptions our society has about birth, women's bodies, pregnancy, and how it should all be done lying down.

Lithotomy Position from The Business of Being Born doc

My job is to read women's stories, edit them for clarity and grammar, and insert the beautiful pictures that have been sent in. It's simple but it feels good, and it fits in well with the chaos of daily life around here. It's a job that can be done in fits and spurts, and I can leave it and pick up where I left off. Often, it makes me cry.

Here are some of the stories I've worked on:

• A Fast, Natural Hospital Birth, 
• AROM and OB's First Vaginal Birth With a Prolapsed Cord!, 
• Fast and Calm UC (Unassisted Childbirth) Water Birth, and 
• Peaceful Home Water Birth in Small Town Ohio (Must Read!). 

I am consistently blown away by the strength of the women writing these stories, their love for their babies, and the commitment they have, often in the face of institutional disregard, to the birth process. Some have natural births, some have cesareans; some birth their babies alone in a tub of water and others invite their whole families. There is a range of possibilities for birth, but it always has the possibility of being a profound, spiritual experience. I haven't written up Sweet Baby James' birth story, but I'd better do it sometime in the next six months...

I've also been writing articles for Birth Without Fear, about the fear-mongering and faulty logic in anti-bed-sharing campaigns, the need to look after postpartum mothers, and the controversial Quebecois 'Moi Aussi, J'allaite' breastfeeding campaign.


Oh, and I starred in this independent film.