Birthstory of Vandana

I first discovered the Goa birthing center when I was pregnant with my first child, but it turned out that we stayed in New York, and had a wonderful home birth with a local midwife. However, for the second baby, we had shifted our residence to Cochin, India and there were no local midwives with which to do another homebirth. Although putting everything on hold and leaving for a month was not the most convenient option, it was the best one we had since I wanted to avoid the hospital and give birth in a natural setting.

So we found ourselves in Goa, and got settled into a house by the beach and had our first visit with Corinna in which she gave us confidence that we had made the right choice to come. Less than two weeks after we arrived, We had taken two long walks on the beach on the 16th, and when we returned, I felt like the baby had dropped really low and would be coming soon. I had a night with not much sleep and some light contractions now and then. The next day things slowed down more and we (Dileep, me and Nivedita) took a group nap in the afternoon which we all needed. That night I felt like the contractions were getting a little stronger and although not too often, enough to take notice.

As I had been warned that the second baby could come rather fast, I alerted Corinna that although I didn’t think it would come tonight, I was having some contractions. Soon after, I felt like the contractions were getting stronger, and although they were not so long or close together, I felt like they were effective, and that tonight would be the night. At 10:30pm, I called Corinna to tell her that we would be coming over, and we took the bumpy 15 minute taxi ride to the birthing center, which relieved any pain from the contractions.

Upon arrival I was welcomed with blankets and a hot water bottle which provided a great relief since I had started feeling chilled. Corinna skilfully coached me to breathe deeply, and to make sounds which helped immensely to work with the contractions. At some point, maybe after an hour and a half, I moved to the water, which provided a wonderful environment to work with the more intense sensations. Although by no means easy, pushing came more naturally, and at 1:41am, we were welcoming another baby girl into the world. Naveena was also present during the lst stage, and was able to take some photos. Nivedita also happened to wake up just after the baby was pushed out into the water and watched Daddy cut the cord.

We hung out at the center for a couple more hours eating (the new baby too) and then took the short ride back to our house to catch up on sleep and enjoy our expanded family. We spent the next few weeks relaxing and adjusting to the new 24 hour schedule, although this one eats less at night than our first child, and makes much less noise too! We also took some time to choose the name and settled on Vandana, which means prayer, and Grace as the middle name. On March 7th, it was time to return to Cochin, and as we adjust again to our new schedule and surroundings, we are reflecting back on a beautiful birthing experience enhanced by Corinna’s skill and the center’s peaceful energy and vibe.