April's Blessingway Weekend

11 August 2008

This weekend just passed my family packed ourselves up and went to stay in April's hometown to celebrate her pregnancy and the home-stretch to her first home birth. April is a friend of mine who I met through Australia's homebirth network; Joyous Birth. She is also the first woman I have had the honour of serving as a pregnancy and birth doula.

Friday night our two families ate dinner together at their place, and after dinner we made a plaster cast of April's beautiful thirty-eight week pregnant belly. This was my first belly cast and it was a blast! Despite the instructions saying "don't make the pregnant woman laugh" there were many laughs as our partners took photos of me smothering April's body in wet plaster.

Saturday afternoon we had April's blessingway. A circle of her friends gave her beads to make a necklace to wear at birth, then we took it in turns to decorate her belly in henna (including April's eldest son, who signed his name on mama's bump). There was lots of fantastic food and conversation all day long.

Jet signs April's bump

This is April's blessingway stash, the purple candle was from me, and was originally given to me by a friend who couldn't make it to my blessingway, it arrived in the mail while I was in labour and receiving and opening my special package was exciting and rejuvinating. I didn't end up lighting the candle, so thought I'd pass it on to April in the hope that it might bring some rejuvination to her should she need it. I also gave her the booby earrings and two boob beads to bless the way forward for her breastfeeding relationship with bubs.

The completed henna art

On Sunday April and I made woolen bracelets for her friends to wear until her baby is born. It was something we were planning on doing at the blessingway, but we got distracted with all the talking and eating. Woolen bracelets made this weekend's festivities uniquely April because she is an avid and talented knitter.

We also enjoyed being entertained by the little people in our families, a three year old, an almost-two-year-old and a six month old, made for some most adorable and amusing moments. It was a terrific weekend. I only hope April enjoyed as much as I did.