Introducing ...

Nyx Amaunet Rheya Maurice
Born November 13th, 2006 at 2:51 am, weighing 8lbs,2oz and 20.5 inches long.


('Where'd you guys get those names? What do they mean??')

Nyx: "Originating in Greek Mythology,Nyx is the goddess and embodiment of the night. According to Hesiod in his Theogony (11.116-138), 'From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night Nyx; of Night were born Aether being the bright upper atmosphere and Day Hemera, whom she conceived and bore from union with Erebus her brother". Also from the Theogony (11. 211-225); "And Night bore hateful Doom Moros and black Fate and Death Thanatos, and she bore Sleep Hypnos and the tribe of Dreams. And again the goddess murky Night, though she lay with none, bare Blame and painful Woe, and the Hesperides who guard the rich golden apples and the trees bearing fruit beyond glorious Ocean. Also she bore the Destinies and ruthless avenging Fates who were regarded as old women occupied in spinning, Clotho the Spinner of the thread of life and Lachesis the Disposer of Lots, she who allots every man his destiny and Atropos She Who Cannot Be Turned, who finally cuts the thread of life who give men at their birth both evil and good to have, and they pursue the transgressions of men and of gods, and these goddesses never cease from their dread anger until they punish the sinner with a sore penalty. Also deadly Night bore Nemesis Indignation to afflict mortal men, and after her, Deceit Apate and Friendship and hateful Age and hard-hearted Strife.'
From that great work we find that Nyx produced a host of offspring. Other sources give Charon who ferried the dead over the rivers of the infernal region as being the son of Erebus and Nyx, although according to the Theogony he was born from Chaos. Also according to Aristophanes, Birds 693 ff, "in the infinite bosom of Erebus, Night with black wings first produced an egg without a seed. From it, in the course of the seasons, Eros was born--the desired, whose back sparkled with golden wings, Eros like swift whirlwinds". ---from the Encyclopedia Mythica.

Amaunet:"An Egyptian mother goddess, called the "Hidden One". She is the personification of the life-bringing northern wind. She belongs to the Ogdoad of Hermopolis. Within this group of gods her consort is the god Amun. She is referred to as 'the mother who is father' and in this capacity she needs no husband. Amaunet was regarded as a tutelary deity of the Egyptian pharaohs and had a prominent part in their accession ceremonies. She is portrayed as a snake or a snake-head on which the crown of Lower Egypt rests."---from the Encyclopedia Mythica.

Rheya(we used a russian spelling of the name that we found in an etymology book.):"In Greek mythology, Rhea is the mother of the gods, daughter of Uranus and Gaia. She is married to her brother Cronus and is the mother of Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon and Zeus. Cronus, jealous of the future power of his children and to secure his dominion, ate his own children but Rhea managed to rescue one son, Zeus. She hid him in the Dictean Cave in Crete and gave Cronus a stone wrapped in the clothes of the infant, which he swallowed. Thus Rhea succeeded in making him believe that he had killed all of his children. When Zeus reached maturity he overpowered and dethroned his father and made Cronus disgorge his siblings.

Rhea is identified with mother goddess Cybele from Asia Minor and is also known as Rhea Cybele and Magna Mater ("great mother"). She was worshipped with orgiastic rites. Rhea is depicted between two lions or on a chariot pulled by lions."---from the Encyclopedia Mythica.

All right, hope that satisfies everyone's curiousity. Now on to her birth story...

Nyx's journey began on November 11th, around 2 am when my water broke. I labored at home for six hours until the midwife decided it was time for Josh and I to come into the Birth Center and get checked to see how far along my contractions had brought her. When I arrived at the birth center, it was discovered that my cervix had only dilated to 2 centimeters after 6 hours of difficult back labor. Back Labor occurs when the baby's head is facing the front of its mother's pelvis as opposed to the back; with every contraction my lower back would bulge and the back of her skull pressed against my tailbone. If she had managed to come out that way, she would've been face-up.


I continued laboring at the Birth Center for for about 36 more hours; after only progressing to 4 centimeters dilation in all that time, with my membranes completely ruptured and contractions coming irregularly due to Nyx's position and my own exhaustion, it was decided by the midwife that a transfer to the hospital was in order.
At the hospital I was given pitocin to strengthen and regulate my contractions; for six hours I refused to have any pain medication and then was forced to accept an epidural as that the contractions were so strong that they were causing me to black out and to hold my body completly rigid, inhibiting cervical dilation and putting me at risk for cardiac arrest. I attempted to deliver for 6 more hours with an epidural and pitocin but my cervix would still not dilate; at that point the OB reccomended a c-section, due to the risk of infection from my membranes having been ruptured for so long. Josh and I agreed.

Nyx was born at 2:51 am with the cord wrapped 4 times around her body with a 'true knot' in it. She cried loudly and immediately; Josh was the first person she saw and he accompanied her to the nursery while the doctors stitched me up and took me to recovery. He did a great job making sure that our wishes for minimal newborn testing/procedures were followed and he and Nyx came to visit me in recovery not long after they were done checking her vital signs.






We spent the next couple of days in the hospital recouperating; Nyx was allowed to 'room-in' with us and so she was rarely out of our sight.




We got to know our daughter very well despite being trapped in such an institutional surrounding, much to our suprise and pleasure.

































We arrived home yesterday afternoon; we will update this blog often with news of Nyx and ourselves; visit as little or as much you like for new stories and pictures,and let us know if you have any additional requests, leave a comment!