Monday, February 8, 2010- Second birth of the week
Ok, the following story will be the second baby born in the Boom Week. This one will be short, but quite a doosie! I'll wait for ya while you get out your popcorn and a comfy seat. Ready? Here we go...
I got a phone call from a client's husband at 7pm stating that his wife was having contractions that were about 9 mins apart. I told him to time them for an hour and call me back. In the meantime I got in the shower, got dressed and readied myself for an impending birth. About 40 mins later I called them and got no answer. I assumed that she was having a contraction and he couldn't come to the phone. He called me back about 10-15 mins later and told me that the contractions were coming much faster.
They decided to birth at the birth center and so I told them to go ahead and head to the clinic and I would meet them there. I was one hour and 15 mins away and they were almost an hour away. I was driving very fast, about 90, to the clinic and I had only been on the road for a few mins when he called back and said that her water broke. I asked them if they thought they would make it to the clinic and he asked his wife and she said yes. So we all continued on with our plan.
About 10-15 mins later he called me back and this time I could hear the panic in his voice and he said they were not going to make it to the clinic. I was instructing her to breathe and not push and that they are to go to the nearest hospital and go right in through the ER. She started screaming and hung up on me.
Talk about panic!!! Meanwhile I'm still doing 90 down the highway. I was out in a rural part of the state and my cell phone reception was very spotty. I called my back up partner to stay on the phone with them until they get to the hospital. I realized at this point that I was going to miss the birth and so I slowed down. I was still an hour away from the hospital and unless I wanted to be a patient I needed to calm down.
Next phone call that I receive is another client in labor. Really Universe?? Really? ::deep breath:: Ok, I kept telling myself, you can do this. At one point I just had to start laughing because it was laugh or cry. I called my back up and told her the good news and she was going to go with the newest mom in labor and I was staying on my course to meet up with the clients that were at the hospital.
I arrived at the hospital about 9:30pm and walked into their room and there they were. Oh and I should mention that I had never seen this client before. She was a late transfer to our care and had only had 2 appts with us. It was very awkward to walk into her room and be like, Hi- How are you, stranger?
Come to find out that the baby had been born in the car before they could even get to the hospital. Yes, you read that correctly. Born.in.the.car. Ahhhh, it takes me back to my days in Hell Paso where that was not an uncommon occurrence, but I digress. Should I mention that it is early February and it had been snowing and ice on the roads. Not exactly the perfect conditions for a car birth.
Thank God everyone was OK and the parents did an amazing job. It is further confirmation that birth happens and waits for no one. They were healthy and baby was perfect. They were discharged the next night. Whew!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Great Baby Boom of February 2010
Ok, so I've been slacking on my blogabilities. I got a nice swift kick from some girlfriends and here I am, back at it!
Oh my goodness we had quite the baby week. I am going to try to capture all of it, it was such an amazing experience.
Friday, February 5th- First birth of the week
I got a phone call about 11 am from a first time mom calling to say that she was having contractions. I told her to time them for an hour and call me back. We chatted again later and they were pretty far apart and she was sleepy. I told her to take a nap and call me later when the contractions picked up and got a little stronger.
The next phone call that I got was from her husband saying that things had picked up and it would be a good time for me to come over. I happened to be out and about and I was ready to hit the baby trail. Off I went up the interstate on my way to witness another miracle. I always feel this need to hurry even when I know it's still early in the labor, this job never gets old.
I arrived at her house around 6pm and when I walked in he told me that she was moving along really quickly and the contractions were every 2-3 mins and lasting for a minute. I thought ok, we are going to have a baby really soon! I checked her and she was still kind of early, but her mood was great and our spirits were high. She had her family there with her and it was nice to see them all working together.
I was immediately taken back to "in the wild", my favorite time, and I pictured how birth must have taken place back then. It seems like all of the women in the village would get together and rally around the birthing woman. I picture all the men being together and doing some kind of man thing. Anyway, this was the image I was getting as I saw my client and her family huddled in the living room.
She continued to labor on for hours and hours, the time went rather quickly for me...I'm sure it didn't go as fast for her. I was amazed at her strength as each surge rushed through her body, she closed her eyes and focused on the task at hand. She would gently moan and take deep breaths to get through each one. She walked around the house to ease the pain and she got into deep squats and sat on a birth ball, it was all done in a labor dance.
Pain, pain, pain....breathe, breathe, breathe....squat, squat, squat...breathe, breathe, breathe...walk, walk, walk...pain, pain, pain...breathe, breathe, breathe...
Finally the time arrived that her body was completely open and it was ready to push her baby out. I told her to get into whatever position she wanted and she chose hands and knees on the floor by the bed. I was behind her with a flashlight, gloves on, olive oil ready and napkins to clean up whatever might squirt out at me. Her water broke and we knew baby was on her way! She pushed in that position for awhile and then I encouraged her to try another position. Her legs were pretty tired so she thought getting in the bed sounded goood.
As she laid in the bed pushing I started to see some of the baby's hair. It was so exciting for everyone to see little tufts of hair peeking out mom's body. The family started off in the hallway and taking turns sticking their heads into the bedroom; then slowly one by one they started to come into the room. It was like we were on stage in the most important roles of our lives. I really enjoyed having the family close by. Their excitement really helped to keep up the momentum in the room. It was getting into the wee hours of the night and her mother-in-law and I had a bet going on about the birth time.
Mama pushed for a couple of hours, not uncommon for a first time mom, and once we hit the two hour mark I advised her that she had another hour and then we would need to go to the hospital. Luckily for all of us the baby was doing great and her heartbeat stayed so strong. I like to keep the clients moving and changing positions frequently. Sometimes just the art of moving into another position can speed things up. I advised her that after a few more pushes I wanted her to try something else.
I suggested the toilet, it is a natural place to sit and push, well as soon as i said that the mom decided she DID NOT want to sit on the toilet and push. Next thing I knew the baby started to make some real progress and before I knew it the head was coming out. She got a little stuck coming out and I needed to pull just a bit. Swoosh!!! The baby plopped out and into my hands. I put her up on mom's chest and the whole room made such a fuss and there was not a dry eye in the room. I cry at every birth, partly because it is such a miracle, partly because everyone else is always crying and partly because I'm relieved that all is OK. It is slightly stressful to be a midwife.
After awhile I tucked them all into bed and we all took a nap, I was on the couch- not in their bed, we slept for about 2 hrs. The baby was born around 3:30am and we slept from 7-9. Then I woke up and went in to check on everyone. They were doing well and I had a meeting at work at 10am. I went off to the meeting, I was tired but rejuvenated at the same time.
Oh my goodness we had quite the baby week. I am going to try to capture all of it, it was such an amazing experience.
Friday, February 5th- First birth of the week
I got a phone call about 11 am from a first time mom calling to say that she was having contractions. I told her to time them for an hour and call me back. We chatted again later and they were pretty far apart and she was sleepy. I told her to take a nap and call me later when the contractions picked up and got a little stronger.
The next phone call that I got was from her husband saying that things had picked up and it would be a good time for me to come over. I happened to be out and about and I was ready to hit the baby trail. Off I went up the interstate on my way to witness another miracle. I always feel this need to hurry even when I know it's still early in the labor, this job never gets old.
I arrived at her house around 6pm and when I walked in he told me that she was moving along really quickly and the contractions were every 2-3 mins and lasting for a minute. I thought ok, we are going to have a baby really soon! I checked her and she was still kind of early, but her mood was great and our spirits were high. She had her family there with her and it was nice to see them all working together.
I was immediately taken back to "in the wild", my favorite time, and I pictured how birth must have taken place back then. It seems like all of the women in the village would get together and rally around the birthing woman. I picture all the men being together and doing some kind of man thing. Anyway, this was the image I was getting as I saw my client and her family huddled in the living room.
She continued to labor on for hours and hours, the time went rather quickly for me...I'm sure it didn't go as fast for her. I was amazed at her strength as each surge rushed through her body, she closed her eyes and focused on the task at hand. She would gently moan and take deep breaths to get through each one. She walked around the house to ease the pain and she got into deep squats and sat on a birth ball, it was all done in a labor dance.
Pain, pain, pain....breathe, breathe, breathe....squat, squat, squat...breathe, breathe, breathe...walk, walk, walk...pain, pain, pain...breathe, breathe, breathe...
Finally the time arrived that her body was completely open and it was ready to push her baby out. I told her to get into whatever position she wanted and she chose hands and knees on the floor by the bed. I was behind her with a flashlight, gloves on, olive oil ready and napkins to clean up whatever might squirt out at me. Her water broke and we knew baby was on her way! She pushed in that position for awhile and then I encouraged her to try another position. Her legs were pretty tired so she thought getting in the bed sounded goood.
As she laid in the bed pushing I started to see some of the baby's hair. It was so exciting for everyone to see little tufts of hair peeking out mom's body. The family started off in the hallway and taking turns sticking their heads into the bedroom; then slowly one by one they started to come into the room. It was like we were on stage in the most important roles of our lives. I really enjoyed having the family close by. Their excitement really helped to keep up the momentum in the room. It was getting into the wee hours of the night and her mother-in-law and I had a bet going on about the birth time.
Mama pushed for a couple of hours, not uncommon for a first time mom, and once we hit the two hour mark I advised her that she had another hour and then we would need to go to the hospital. Luckily for all of us the baby was doing great and her heartbeat stayed so strong. I like to keep the clients moving and changing positions frequently. Sometimes just the art of moving into another position can speed things up. I advised her that after a few more pushes I wanted her to try something else.
I suggested the toilet, it is a natural place to sit and push, well as soon as i said that the mom decided she DID NOT want to sit on the toilet and push. Next thing I knew the baby started to make some real progress and before I knew it the head was coming out. She got a little stuck coming out and I needed to pull just a bit. Swoosh!!! The baby plopped out and into my hands. I put her up on mom's chest and the whole room made such a fuss and there was not a dry eye in the room. I cry at every birth, partly because it is such a miracle, partly because everyone else is always crying and partly because I'm relieved that all is OK. It is slightly stressful to be a midwife.
After awhile I tucked them all into bed and we all took a nap, I was on the couch- not in their bed, we slept for about 2 hrs. The baby was born around 3:30am and we slept from 7-9. Then I woke up and went in to check on everyone. They were doing well and I had a meeting at work at 10am. I went off to the meeting, I was tired but rejuvenated at the same time.
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