I am thrilled to share that I’ve given birth to a beautiful baby girl. I’m honoring this time to recover and bond with our child so Jon will be guest writing the newsletter this week. Much love!

Hi SheFiers,

I’m Maggie’s husband, Jon. When she told me she wanted me to write this guest post, I hesitated. How could I – someone who wasn’t directly involved in giving birth – faithfully represent any part of a birth?

But I realized men have a role in telling the story labor too. I’m now shocked to recall the time before having my own child and how few birth stories I’d heard, and fewer labor stories!

Like everyone else I’ve gotten the nice birth messages of course – ”Introducing the baby! Born at such and such time at such and such weight and mother and baby are happy” – with a beautiful skin to skin photo of the two of them.

Everyone wants to see that! A picture of baby, perfectly Instagrammable and swaddled up in onesie, laughing and sucking on a hand.

But nothing about the gruesome imagery of delivery or the grueling story of the labor. Nothing about the laboring mother, the portal for new life to come into this world.

As far as I can tell, labor is an ugly, beautiful surrender. It’s like a cry you can’t hold in, and the more you try to stiffen your upper lip, the more it wants to get out of you.

It’s shameless, animalistic, and psychedelic. It’s naked, bald, and exposed.

One night about two weeks ago, I was woken at 3am by Maggie closing the door. I turned groggily and asked her what she was doing. “Go back to bed, I’m not sure this is it yet.”

Narrator: that was definitely it. I made coffee, packed my go bag, and started texting our doula and some friends.

Our friend Lyndsey texted me later that morning as Maggie went into proper labor:

“She’ll have every crutch taken from her one at a time.”

I wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but I learned soon enough. Labor takes a sledgehammer to the load-bearing psychological pillars we’ve painstakingly developed to cope with our lives.

We each develop those pillars through life–techniques to soldier on through physical and emotional duress.

For example, when Maggie and I go on runs, she does a beautiful practice of thanking her limbs out loud. This is typically around the ⅔ mark of the run when things are starting to get really hard but we’re not close to the finish line yet. My instinct is usually to grit my teeth, close my eyes and push through, but Maggie’s is to go slowly in a bottoms-up body scan:

“Thank you toes. Thank you heels. Thank you ankles.” And so on.

Each sore working part of our bodies, groaning to propel us forward, gets its little moment of gratitude.

This uh, doesn’t work for labor. There is no time to thank anyone or anything. At some point, there’s barely consciousness at all.

To an external observer there is mostly breathing into the building tension, vocalizing your way through it, breathing into the come-down, and a whole lot of deathgripping along the way. Yet coping with labor isn’t gritty. You can’t “grind” your way through labor because you don’t have to do very much.

Labor is done to you.

On a run you always have to pick up one foot and put it in front of the other. The default state is non-motion and you have to urge yourself into motion. The psychological battle is therefore “I must take another step.” You don’t ever have to run, after all.

In labor, on the other hand, the contractions come to you. At first haphazardly and then like clockwork, the ripples build to waves and all you can do is stand on the shore, face the coming wall of water and say something like, “Oh well.” Or “Yikes.” Or “Eek!”

Or better yet, “Yes!”

Better yet, bring it on! Yes to opening. Yes to surrender. Yes to aaaaahhhhhhh. Yes to AHHHHHHHHH! Yes to meeting my baby.

In all of Maggie’s labor she only said “no” one time. It was about halfway through her transition – the toughest and most intense part of the labor. She was measuring almost exactly 3 minutes between the start of each contraction. I knew if I saw the clock ending in a multiple of 3 she was likely gearing up.

:03, :06, :09, :12, :15…

And by this time I also knew that around the 45 second mark of a minute she’d begin anticipating (“It’s coming…”), she’d then go into 45 seconds of blinding intensity, and then catch a few breaths of a come-down. Then 2 minutes later, she’d start all over again. But she didn’t know the stopwatch-precise timing of her own contractions.

To her it was one big blur of a mortal struggle.

Already lying in a heap against the hospital bed, and a good half dozen contractions in, she finally let out a whimper.

“No…”

That was the first acknowledgement she made that she might be at her breaking point. That instead of welcoming it in, she needed a rest from the rushing of the coming tide.

But the moment she was ready to resist, she let out a giant sigh:

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss.” It was in that moment that she exited the transition. Shortly thereafter she pushed out our new child.

It still moves me to think of those small whimpers during the rest periods in between the titanic battles of contraction. To remember seeing someone – someone I love dearly – put up a massive effort, let out room shaking screams, crush my fist to dust, then just as quickly transform into a tender animal.

I felt terror and excitement and pity and helplessness and…and love.

It reminds me of a line from Mary Oliver, our favorite poet:

Labor is the soft animal of a body loving what it loves. To labor is to bring a new thing into existence, to meet your work, and to have no choice but to do so.

Maggie brought the same intense surrender to her labor that she does to the rest of her life. She lives with what she does so fully that she has no choice but to bear its birth from inside her body into the world.

To my soulmate Maggie, welcome to the rest of our lives.

To my first daughter Summer Jeanne Love-Wu, welcome to the world.

Love,

Jon

Missed Season 13? Join Us for Season 14 💘 

It’s finally happening:

We hard launched Season 14.

Beginning in early July, this will be one of our most exciting cohorts yet.

Remember, with SheFi, you’re getting…

🎓 Live, interactive classes to master Web3 fundamentals + access to the recordings
🔗 Hands-on blockchain experience through real-world activities
🤝 Mentorship and networking with inspiring women and industry leaders
🚀 Career-ready skills to excel in crypto and beyond
🫂 Access to our exclusive community hub
🎉 And more!

If you’ve been contemplating joining, don’t hesitate. Whether you’ve been in the industry for 5 months or 5 years, now’s the time to take the next step.

You can do it – with SheFi!

What Are People Saying About SheFi? 🗣️ 

As Season 13 came to a close, we heard countless testimonials from members who highly recommend the experience. Take a look…

💝 “One of the most empowering spaces to dive into crypto & DeFi as a woman and non-binary. 8 weeks of top-tier Web3 education, community, and confidence-building. Don’t sleep on this — apply to SheFi if you haven’t yet!” – Loli

💭 “If you’re a woman navigating blockchain (or thinking about it), I cannot recommend SheFi enough… it’s an absolute must.” – Ann Marie

🙏 “If you’re thinking about joining SheFi - GO FOR IT! Getting accepted as a Season 13 scholar was a dream come true. The energy of the community is unmatched and I’m proud to be part of it.” – Brittnee

🌏️ “Through SheFi, I’ve met so many amazing ladies from online to offline, connecting with brilliant minds from Hong Kong, Taipei to Shanghai. The inspiration and support within this community is truly powerful. Every session and conversation made me realize the impact women can make in Web3.” – Stacy

And this is just scratching the surface.

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for Season 14 today. 💫 

SheFi’s Crypto News Roundup 🏇 

Information is power! Here are some news updates from the past few weeks:

• TOKEN2049 Kicks Off. Set for April 30–May 1 at Dubai's Madinat Jumeirah, TOKEN2049 Dubai 2025 is poised to host over 15,000 attendees and 200+ speakers, featuring discussions on decentralized AI, institutional crypto adoption, and immersive experiences beyond traditional conferences.

• SoFi CEO is Bringing Back Crypto Investing. SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said the fintech bank will bring back cryptocurrency investing this year after a “fundamental shift” in the regulatory landscape.

• Nike Faces $5M Lawsuit Over Alleged NFT 'Rug Pull.’ Nike is being sued by investors who claim the company abruptly shut down its RTFKT NFT platform, leaving them with worthless assets.

• Altcoins Show Promise Amid Market Optimism. Altcoins like BNB, Kaspa, and AAVE are gaining attention due to upcoming network upgrades and bullish market sentiment.

• White House Advocates for AI Education. A new executive order emphasizes integrating AI education into schools to prepare a future-ready workforce.

👉️ Share your wins so we can celebrate them 👈️

SheFi & Crypto Events 🌎

Going to ETHCC, Token2049 or Devcon? Join our Global Events Telegram Chat: https://t.me/shefisummit

SheFi events:

• 5/2 Virtual: Yield Farming Roundtable - Passive farming opportunities: Members only

• 5/2 Mexico: SheFinds Web3: RSVP here

• 6/16 Berlin: SheFi X Berlin Blockchain Week: RSVP here

Other events:

• 2/12-4/30 Virtual: Hack The Grid: RSVP here

• 4/30 NYC: Cocktails & Beer with Predicate and Celo: RSVP here

• 4/30-5/1 Dubai: TOKEN 2049: RSVP here

• 5/1 Dubai: The Mogul Premiere by MoviePass and Sui: RSVP here

• 5/2 NYC: BuildHer Brunch NYC: RSVP here

• 5/2 NYC: net gala pre: RSVP here

• 5/2 Dubai: Suisterhood Connect @ Sui Basecamp 2025: RSVP here

• 5/2 Dubai: Community Sundown Session: RSVP here

• 5/2 Dubai: Fierce Females Unite Alumni Meetup RSVP here

• 5/3 Dubai: Fasset & Own Invest & Connect Breakfast RSVP here

• 5/4 NYC: Yoga & Oyster Social: RSVP here

• 5/6 Berlin: Reflections & Connections: May 2025: RSVP here

• 5/6-9 Bermuda: Bermuda Digital Finance Forum: SheFi members get 50% off

• 5/9 Istanbul: DeFi Meets Istanbul: RSVP here

• 5/13 Toronto: ETHWomen Toronto: RSVP here

• 5/20-22 London: Avalanche Summit London: RSVP here

• 5/22 San Diego: 5th Annual Global Pizza Party: RSVP here

• 6/16 Berlin: DappCon VC Day 2025: RSVP here

• 6/25 Washington: 2025 Bitcoin Policy Summit: RSVP here

• Komorebi is looking to bring on a new core member to lead community and operational support - Please reach out to us if interested

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