This last weekend we headed back to the bay, back to the birth place of Keana and Maia, for a special reunion of sorts. Our home birth group, which we met when Sarah was pregnant with Keana, had our sixth birthday. None of us believed our instructor six years ago when she told us that many groups stay in touch long after the class ends, and some even vacation together. Low and behold, here we are, even separated by hundreds of miles now, still connected.
We drove down Saturday morning and spent the day in downtown Berkeley, checking out the wildlife, shopping, and eating ice cream. We were all pretty beat by dinner time, but we braved a new restaurant (which actually sucked), and headed back to the hotel for the nightly excitement of “how are we going to get the kids to sleep, and once we do, how long do they stay that way”. Surprisingly it wasn’t too difficult getting them to sleep, with the exception of Maia, who didn’t even protest as much as she could have. We splurged for a suite (which was only $30 more than double anyway) and it was definitely worth it. Throughout the night we rotated beds and children, but pretty much woke up refreshed and ready to go.
The home birth picnic-party started at 2 p.m. We had selected three different picnic areas to try in Tilden, and I thought it was going to be a nightmare syncing up with six other families, especially with no cell reception, but everything fell into place. We passed one other family on the road (our former neighbors actually) and followed each other to the nearest spot on our list. It happened to be free, even though it was a gorgeous Sunday in a very popular park. One by one, the other families found us and the festivities began.
The amazing thing about this group is that we’ve been through so much together, that no matter how long in between seeing each other, we just fall back in place. We’ve had first babies together, second, and thirds. We’ve all had our share of hospital scares, sick children, and even one death. Families have moved and grown and changed but our first-time-home-birth-parent bond has kept us together and strong over these last six years. The oldest kids just played and played together all afternoon and I think the socialization of school has really helped them to grow. Whereas some kids wouldn’t always find their place in the past, all six of them seemed to play well together all afternoon; some forming small groups and partnerships for a minute, then coming back together for a rambunctious group game of soccer/tag/fairies/warriors/wizards/whatever else.
The food was amazing as always and there was plenty of time for us all to catch up. The two families that were there first, ours and our former neighbors down the street, were the last to leave. As the sun set, we lingered a while after the cars were packed, the kids especially not wanting to say goodbye. The only thing that pushed us apart was our looming drive back to Fresno, and the warm thought that we would be reunited soon, and when we were, it would be as if no time had passed at all.