Meet Neruda: A Birth Story

It took me a while to find the words to describe Neruda’s birth. Luckily, the photos and video from @ashfabhawaii speak for themselves. So instead of a chronological account of the day I’m leaving you with some highlights reminiscent of VH1’s Pop Up Video. Think of the notes below as an Easter egg hunt of fun facts–layering in tidbits from all of my births because the parallels were simply magical. Here. We. Go! Ps. The video below will only play from a computer. If you’re on a mobile device you can view it via IGTV.

Neruda was born to Mac Miller’s Circles album on repeat. You could say it was the soundtrack of my pregnancy. During my second trimester we adopted one of its tracks–Surf–as Neruda’s song. It’s even featured here in her birth video. The rhythm, the melody, even the lyrics were spot on for the vibe of the day: “I dream of this moment, will it come true? The whole world, they know it, they just waiting for me and you.” Learn more about how each of our keiki has their own song here.

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Neruda was born after a beautifully peaceful day of laboring, just like Kahlo. While her brother’s delivery ultimately concluded as an emergency transport to the hospital, her birthday reminded me so much of that first labor–slow and soulful. There was yoga and laughter, playtime and plenty of tea drinking. The energy of the day was brilliantly light, it was almost as if I was floating through a daydream. I happily savored every minute of it.

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Neruda was born out of perfect synchronicity between Daniel and I, just like Tamayo. Her brother’s labor was so very quick that it was literally just the two of us. Her labor was well attended and yet it often felt as if we were the only ones there–somehow on our very own plane of time and space. Daniel intuitively took care of all my needs and wants in perfect timing throughout the day, from refilling my tea cup to running ice cubes along my skin. More importantly, he held my hand when it mattered the most.

Neruda was born on a blustery day, just like Melibea. The winds howled something fierce from our sunrise stroll to our sunset snuggles. There was magic in the way it danced through my hair that morning. And the gusts were powerful yet graceful as they wrapped around my belly, my entire body. The elements were moving and grooving around us, with us, through us. Even the backyard bananas and palms swayed together in the afternoon showers.

Neruda was born on a Thursday, our craziest day of the week. After breakfast we decided to have our keiki carry on with their normal activities. Melibea went to preschool, Tamayo went to soccer practice, and Kahlo went to breakdancing. The beauty of this was two-fold. First, it eventually left Daniel and I to deliver the babe on our own. Second, it offered each of our keiki the unique opportunity to meet their baby sister solo.

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Neruda was born in a tub surrounded by backyard flowers. Sometime during the morning Daniel snuck out and collected a bowl full of orchids and plumerias. When I eventually made it into the birth tub he was beyond excited to shower me with them. This was his subtle ode to Lebron James and Michael Jordan, his preparation for the final quarter. One simple gesture transformed the inflatable tub into a birthing oasis, and it was one of the sweetest surprises of the day.

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Neruda was almost born next to the birth tub instead of in the water. When labor starts to become actual work I know it’s time to move into the tub. Everyone but Kahlo was born in the water within 30 minutes and Neruda was no exception to this. However, 15 minutes after stepping into this tub I was adamant about making my way to the toilet to pee. Well, by the time I got back to the tub my contractions were quite strong and I barely made it back in before I was pushing then pulling Neruda up onto my chest.

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This is what love at first sight looks like. Welcome Earthside Baby Ru, we’re so glad you’re here.