It just doesn't get any better than this!

4:30 AM Tuesday morning my cell phone rings.  Dad is calling to let me know his wife has been having contx since around 1:00 AM.  They are about 10 minutes apart, definitely getting stronger and lasting nearly a minute.  They didn’t want me to come yet; generally first time moms have long labors.  I said, call me back when there is ANY change because I had a little over an hours drive. 

I laid there in bed wide awake for about 30 minutes, listening to a whisper that said, this won’t be a long labor, you should get up and get ready. 

5:15 AM I get up and take a quick shower, get things ready for the day, and 6:00 AM dad calls again.  Contx are 4-5 minutes apart and she would like my support there now.  I was already ready, so I headed out the door.  I called my partner to let her know, she would be heading out as well.

7:30 AM We arrive at moms house to find her VERY much in labor, working VERY hard and relaxing perfectly during her contx.  Baby has a happy healthy heart rate, and mom can feel her baby move down into the birth canal as she contx.

8:30 AM Mom wants to move to the birthing tub.  Contx are every 1-2 minutes and even stronger than before.  The tub feels so good to her; she says she is able to relax much easier in the warm water.

9:00 AM I check mom to make sure she is complete because she is feeling a strong urge to push, but not making much progress.  She is completely dilated and effaced; we can have a baby any time now.  Baby’s heart rate sounds GREAT.  Dad is making sure his sweetheart has sips of juice and keeps Chap Stick on her lips.  He was so sweet to put towels between the tub and the walls because the noise was interfering with mom’s concentration.  ANYTHING she wanted, he was all over it, usually before she even spoke it.

10:30 AM Mom is pushing, but very gently, and not through the whole contx.  This was perfect, because she was bringing her baby down through the birth canal, but not wearing herself out.  Contx are still VERY strong, but had back off just a bit so now they were only every 7-8 minuets.  I suggested she get out of the tub and walk to the bathroom, it had been a while since she had emptied her bladder, and walking would be VERY helpful in moving her baby down.

11:00 AM Mom was back in the tub, moving back and forth from hands and knees to semi reclining.  Her hands and knees felt best, but they needed a rest in between contx, and mom was able to even fall asleep during that resting time.  Contx continued to be every 7-8 minutes, so she often would get a long rest.  Baby appears to still be very happy and healthy, as I listen to its heart rate I can hear good variability.  This means when baby moves the heart rate goes up just a bit, and when mom has a contx the heart rate lowers a bit, but comes immediately back up.  If I were to chart it out, I would want to see a horizontal zigzag pattern.  For example, 152-157-158-150-148-150-154 etc. is a good variability hear rate.  By now, mom is pretty tired; she says she doesn’t know if she can do this much longer.   I am glad when we get to this point, because that means we don’t have much longer to wait.  I can say about 99% of moms get to this point, and voice it.  We encourage her by saying, “it won’t be much longer”, and “you can do this”.  I always let mom know she just has to do one contx at a time, and never the same contx twice. 

11:50 AM We are seeing lots of dark hair.  Mom took her time and gave slow gentle pushes, being in the water, we can’t do oil or ginger compresses to help avoid tearing, but slow gentle, controlled pushes really helps.

11:56 AM The head finally comes all the way out.  It is fully under water, and I remind mom and dad to breath, because baby doesn’t take it’s first breath until it reaches air.  This baby has lots of dark curly hair just like it’s mom and dad.

11:59 AM With tears in our eyes we welcome the cutest baby girl on the block!  She weighs in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and she’s 21 inches long.

A few hours later, mom and babe have had a nice relaxing herb bath; they are happily tucked in bed with full tummies.  The laundry is done; the tub is emptied and outside to dry.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE butter births like this one, it’s 4:00 PM, and we are off to our next prenatal already scheduled.  This mom had her baby on the day we were already going to be seeing her for a prenatal and it was during day, no missed sleep, and no rearranging prenatal appointments.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.

Decisions, Decisions!

A few months ago I received a phone call from a mom in another state.  She was seeing midwives where she was living, but at 36 weeks her family would be moving to AZ.  We discussed her options, like hospital, birth center or home birth; she decided she wanted a home birth.  Her other three children were born in a birth center, and she really wanted a home birth this time, so I agreed to take her on.  She called me when they started their trek across the country and checked in when they arrived in town. 

Wednesday I did her first prenatal and all seemed well, except there was a glitch in her insurance.  They would pay 100% where they came from, but here in AZ they wouldn’t pay hardly anything.  (I just don’t understand insurance companies some time, actually most of the time).

She and her husband talked about the new insurance discovery, and decided to go to the hospital this time because of the finances.  That night after making that decision, she was in GREAT turmoil, she didn’t sleep, she was on edge, and overall just couldn’t picture herself in the hospital.

The next afternoon (Saturday), she phoned me to see if I would still take her, she told me about her experience the night before, and just felt like she was supposed to have this baby at home.  I agreed to take her.  She said she had the best night sleep that night than she had had her whole pregnancy. 

Monday around 3:15 PM she phoned and said she thought she was in labor.  She was having contx, she hadn’t really been paying attention to how far apart they were, but she thought they were only about 20-30 minutes apart.  She was just letting me know there was change, because I tell my clients when there is change call me.  I told her to pay attention in the next hour to how close they really were, and if they were getting stronger, and call me back in one hour.   I wanted time to call my birth team, and they had a ways to drive. 

3:30 PM only 15 minutes later mom calls to say, “these are much closer than I thought, they were more like 4-5 minutes apart, and definitely stronger”.  She has 3 other small children, and didn’t know anyone here in town as they have only been here a week, so I waited until Whitney (my daughter) got home from work, and brought her along with me to help with the other children.  I called my birth team, and told them to be on their way, things were moving along quickly.

4:00 PM Mom is working very hard through these contx, she has a warm rice sock under her belly, this helps her relax through the with the contx.  Every couple of minute’s mom bends over the bed, stops talking, and puts all her concentration and focus inward during a contx. 

5:00 PM Mom decides to get in the tub to rinse off a bit and relax.  She wasn’t quiet as comfortable in the tub as she was out walking around with her rice sock, so she got out after about 20 minutes, and that movement was definitely what she needed to get baby moving down.  I listen to baby’s heart rate, and everything sounds GREAT!  Mom is feeling lots of pressure; we can tell it won’t be much longer.

6:00 PM Mom’s water broke, and it was clear.  I always check what color the amniotic fluid is because this gives a good indication of how baby is doing.  When the water is stained, this means the baby has been stressed and pooped in utero.  I listen to baby’s heart again to make sure it is still a happy baby, and the heart rate sounds GREAT!  Mom is on her hands and knees on the bedroom floor, and has a strong urge to push.  She gives a couple of slow gentle pushes and we soon see baby’s head.  Dad is up by mom’s head encouraging her, and helping her focus.  I put a little bit of helichrysm essential oil on mom’s perineum, to help lubricate, and keep the circulation going so she doesn’t tear.  It is also good for bruising and swelling, if some gets on baby’s head, all the better, because of the molding that happens as baby comes down through the birth canal.

6:10 PM We welcome a sweet baby boy into this family of girls!  He weighed in at 7 pounds even and 20 inches long.  Mom and dad were both so happy to have their baby here, three weeks early, but evidently it was perfect timing for him.  They were especially glad to have this little one gently born in their home.

 

Ryan - my HERO!

Ryan and Kayla went to Myrtle Beach with some friends over the weekend.

Friends run marathons, but wife wasn't up to this one even though she had registered already.

Husband talked Ryan into running with him.

Ryan has NEVER run a MARATHON,

he hasn't trained for a MARATHON,

he is pretty buff, and fit, but a MARATHON???

Thats 26.2 MILES!!!

No one I know could wake up one day with no training, and say...

"hmm, I think I'll run a MARATHON today" 

except RYAN!

You are my HERO!

Ryan is NUMBER ONE!

He finished in 4 hours and 45 minutes, running the WHOLE  26.2 MILES!

He's gonna be sore tomorrow!

12 miles down, 14.2 to go!

Ryan getting ready for the BIG run!

I can't tell if he's posing for a picture, or really stretching!

You ROCK!!!

FLOWERS from Kayla and Ryan!

Thanx for your words of affirmation!

They are JUST what I needed!

Valentines Breakfast was a HIT!

VALENTINES BREAKFAST!

I plan it a whole year a head, I know, you're thinking what's the big deal.

But...the one time a year I cook breakfast for my family is VALENTINES!

CHOCOLATE waffles, (Paul added white chocolate peanut butter to his), strawberries,

whipped cream, pecans, chocolate shavings.

Home Cooking for 2009

This year, one of my goals is to be a healthy weight.  That means REALLY watching what I eat and paying attention to how it is prepared.  Friday night is "date night", it has been for almost 27 years!  Even when our girls were small, we always found a way to spend one night of the week out, alone together.  It usually involves dinner, and since we just have Whitney at home now, and she has a very busy social life, we end up going out a couple of times a week sometimes more, depending on our schedules.  Anyway....since I can't get to my healthy weight by going out to eat as often as we have in the past, we are enjoying home-cooked meals EVERY night.  Now for some of you this may be the norm, but it hasn't been for me.  So... as Friday night approaches, I'm having a hard time transitioning, and giving up my favorite restaurants.  We've never been movie buffs, but we may be loving more movies this year.

Blast from the Past!

My daughter has become best friends with one of her co-workers.  She has spent many hours in her home (she still lives at home with her family).  Her friend’s mom has taken Jamie in as another daughter.  When I talk to Jamie on the phone, she always has stories about being with her Danylle’s family.  I was so grateful Jamie had a friend that was of like mind, and raised with the same standards.  Jamie and Danylle have said over and over, our moms should meet, they would probably get along really well.

Danylle moved to Sierra Vista, and her mom was coming down to see her for the weekend.  Jamie called me to let me know if I had a “care package” to send her this would be a great opportunity, because Debera was coming to SV to see her daughter and she could bring it back with her.  I quickly put a package together and was glad Jamie was helping me keep my title “the best mom ever”!

Debera called me Friday night to introduce herself over the phone, and said she wanted to meet me and pick up something I might have for Jamie.  We visited on the phone for a bit, she said she felt like she already knew me, and I felt the same.  I was so grateful Jamie had another mom figure to watch over and be there for her and it was nice to finally meet her.  She commented over and over again how much she loves Jamie, and her friendship with her daughter.

Saturday morning Paul and I went for a walk, we were on our way home and Debera called to let me know she was on her way over.  She was waiting in the driveway when we walked up.  I was a little embarrassed, as she was all decked out looking very cute, and I was just up, no makeup, probably still bed hair, and sweaty from my walk.  Oh well, I’m not out to impress her I thought.

She came in the house; I grabbed a drink of water while she was looking at pictures on my family wall.  She turned to me as said, “What was your maiden name”?  I thought, “ well you won’t know me, but whatever...”, “it’s Bailey”,  She said, I’m Debera R…..”  I couldn’t believe it, we were both in shock!

We grew up together, we lived in the same neighborhood, we went to school and church together since kindergarten, we were good friends.  We both got married and went our separate ways, and I haven’t been in touch with her since graduation, though I have thought about her MANY times through out the years.

Who would guess that our daughters are best friends?  NOW I was embarrassed, your supposed to look cute when you reunite with a friend you grew up with.  We had the best 2 ½ hour visit, we caught up on each of our experiences that brought us to this point from the last 28 years, and laughed at the conversation the night before about feeling like we already know each other.  Talk about a Blast from the Past!