Third World Diaries: Birthing Our Third Baby Off The Grid
A brief update and glimpse into our current life flow.
My husband and I are navigating our third postpartum phase together, now with our two children ~a wildly active four-year-old boy and an outspoken eight-year-old girl~ cycling through this newborn cycle with us.
The family witnessed me primally birth this third baby ~ and I’m so excited to share the crazy alignment and spontaneity of this birth, especially doing so in an off-grid, low-infrastructure setting in rural Jamaica. This creation is being worked on. I try to share with an organic flow, not forcing what doesn’t want to come, right away, and honoring what does ~ all while navigating the limitations of not having instantaneous access to recharge our gadgets or use Wi-Fi/data.
What I want to highlight real quick, as the train of thought streams and I experience it in this moment I type, is the sacred work of partnership ~ and how relationship and family-building is impacted by the socioeconomic and governmental aspects of life.
Living off the grid ~starting from scratch by necessity~ has truly opened our eyes to the foundational necessities for a sustainable life. I speak on this in various blogs and share much within the Jamaican socioeconomic landscape, so feel free to explore that.
What’s standing out to me especially is how the lack of water in many developing rural areas has been a source of constant stress for so many. Water ~ something that should be a basic human right, whether you’re rich or poor ~ is not easily accessible for so many in developing countries, unless you live near a natural source.
In these last few days of postpartum, my husband has been the lead home-keeper ~ a role he has gradually been prepared for, with my guidance, and shifted into over the past few months as we prepared for this postpartum time, when I would need to move very slowly.
My core is weak, the afterpains of birth and my uterus contracting are still very strong, and I’m so grateful my partner is embracing his maternal mode. This should be a natural aspect of cultivating balanced unions, especially when you’re procreating.
And yet, as I reflect, I notice how so many systemic issues have made these primal processes ~which are quite natural and intuitive~ so unnecessarily difficult. We blame people for poverty, but truly, what creates poverty isn’t just a lack of money. It’s a lack of organization and sustainable systems of maintenance within families, communities, and societies.
The ones who struggle most to maintain are those on the lowest levels of the socioeconomic ladder ~the ones who are lacking basic resources and are codependent on underpaying wage systems.
The ones who do develop some type of sustainable system to build families amidst long-term socioeconomic and infrastructural challenges ~rooted in political and governmental neglect and intergenerational poverty ~ are warriors. They bravely choose not only to procreate and birth with the hope of more healed and loving lineages, but also to take responsibility and find solutions to keep going on that path. To keep cleaning, cooking, nurturing, smiling, living ~ being human and doing the basic daily tasks that allow us to show up in our greatness.
I have much more to say, and these words do not fully capture the breadth of my heart on these topics ~but I thank you for receiving what I have to give for this moment.
As always, a call for reciprocal support as I grow my virtual village ~ sharing from the heart with those who align.
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