Larken Gomes – A Birth Story

I’ve been thinking lately, childbirth feels like this strange invisible mythical creature that few people talk about on social media platforms. We go from darling pregnancy selfies to sleepy newborn photos, and leave out the most CRUCIAL PART. Some people might actually have no clue what is required of the female body to turn that baby bump into a chunky newborn. It’s become this “out of sight, out of mind” event, which is bull shit because it is also most epic event of all time. It’s messy, it’s painful, it’s primal, it’s ugly, and it’s the most empowering, beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.

And so, with that introduction, I hope you’ve got your box of tissues handy. Because this one’s a doozy.
It feels like just yesterday that I was in this same hospital wing for Lindsey’s first birth, 20 short months ago…

This woman. THIS WOMAN. She is a warrior goddess of motherhood. She has now brought not one, but TWO unmedicated babies into the world. I am so honored to have been invited into Trevor’s and her birth-space, and am blown away by the way she rode the waves of labor with such grace and fluidity. Right up to the moment she handed over the reigns to whom we fondly call “The Wild Animal”. Lindsey and I have had countless conversations about the phenomenon that happens during childbirth where you feel like you have left your body in the capable hands of your inner beast — the only being who can get you through the final and most painful phases of labor, the only being that can do what needs to be done to get that baby safely into your arms. And that is exactly what Lindsey did. She, along with the support and aid from her precious husband and inner Wild Animal brought a 9 lb. 7 oz. baby girl into the world, safe and sound.

I must warn you. If you have never seen a baby enter the world. Your mind is about to be blown.
THIS is the in-between reality that turns women into warriors, into mothers.
THIS is childbirth.