06/28/2026
“Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labor will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born.”
Recently I have seen the sentiment circulating online that there are only women and their children living on this planet. It’s true. All of us came from a woman’s womb. And it’s a paradox. Birth is essential and universal, while also miraculous and individual. No two stories of a mother and child are the same. Here is my side of our story.
Ten months of full moons had come and gone, each one I had grown more and more round, just like a luna llena. And now it was time to open for her to cross the threshold into earth side existence. At 41 weeks and one day, I downed a spoonful of castor oil after breakfast and several hours later, midway through Bridesmaids, shortly after their own bathroom scene, the castor oil kicked in and labor was on. The contractions came in fierce intense waves.
Every 5 minutes, throwing up everything in me. All. Night. Long. I had intense back labor, only the warm water could touch it. My partner, steadfast alongside me, would gently grab my face, asking me to open my eyes, “Baby, are you ok?” “I’m in the zone.” I was in a hypnotic trance, calming yoga music, breath, and my body, wave after wave. Our midwives arrived in the evening and held vigil, while my body rhythmically opened.
The sun rose bright over the mountains, a sea of pink in the sky, flooding our bedroom with light. One of our providers suggested it was time to change up the music and shift the energy. The slow, rhythmic yoga music that had rocked me through the night needed to adjust to a pulse that could support pushing. We used Spotify shuffle to search for drums and rhythm, and the first words of a random song, without ever having heard this song before, was the name we had already given our daughter. It felt miraculous, like the universe was calling her earthside, her name echoing through the room with the rhythm of the drums.
My full birth story is up on the blog. Link in bio! Or head to my website at caitklein.com.