Milk Bank Swindle

Shocking article on how companies are using “milk banking” as a cover to get breast milk for scientific studies instead of it going to babies in need.

http://justwestofcrunchy.com/2011/06/23/swindled-the-ugly-side-of-milk-donation/

Oceans away

I had dropped everyone off at school this morning and was getting ready, because dropping my kids off at school only requires the basest of preparations.

I was standing at my sink when I got a text, “want to come to a birth today?”

WHAT!? That came out of nowhere.

Well, hmmm, let me think.

A few quick calls to my husband to make sure he could pick the kids up from school and then a joyful “Yes!” was shot back.

A text came back, “mom is alone, husband is in Iraq”.

Wow, I can’t imagine being alone with my husband being thousands of miles away and bringing our first child into this world.

I gathered up all my “birth gear” and headed out the door to the birth center in New Braunfels.

I pulled up around 12 noon and walked in.

Mom was in the tub breathing through the contractions.

I quietly walked over and squatted down beside her.  I said, “my name is Erica, I am a doula and I am her to help”.

In birth you don’t seem to need a lot of words, often it is just simply being there that is enough.

I sat and encouraged gently reminding her that she was doing wonderfully and that she was making great progress.

After a while she got out of the tub and moved to the bed.

She seemed quite content in the bed.

As labor progressed she moved to the pushing stage of labor.

After some time pushing we got out the labor link rope and started pulling to try to get the baby to move down some.

While mom held one end, I held the other, and with each contraction we both pulled and the team offered encouragement.

Just as the baby started crowning, the mom’s phone started ringing.

The mom’s sister in-law had arrived shortly before and ran to get the phone.

She announced “its your husband!”

They answered the phone.

It was magical.

The mother was able to tell him that their baby was about to be born.

With each contraction the team was reporting in on what was going on.

With the final push, their baby was born, loudly crying out and his father was there listening in to hear his son be born.

It was amazing.

I don’t get terribly emotional at births, but this one did it.

I had a giant lump in my throat and tears running down my cheeks.

It went so fast and was blessed by the father being able to be there in spirit and via phone to witness the birth of his first son.

This was the first birth I had ever attended were the partner wasn’t there, I was blessed to be a part.

“This one is smaller”

My sweet friend Lindsay and her husband Scott were due with their second baby and very much ready to see him.

Their first baby had been a planned homebirth and because his little (actually BIG) noggin didn’t come down the right way, and after a  long labor and 4 hours of pushing, she ended up having a cesarean.

This time she was ready and educated about the possibilities of a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and ready to give this baby the same wonderful birth opportunity that she gave her first baby.

At 37 weeks, Lindsay began having pre-labor contractions off and on and would regularly call me with reports in about the state of her body.  As things go for women desperately wishing for an early labor and birth, the early labor just wouldn’t turn into active labor.  It would just peek in and say “hey guys” and head right out after getting everyone all excited.

Thursday January 20th, (38 weeeks along) Lindsay had a follow-up appointment with her OB. 

The appointment went wonderfully.  Dr. Beth Reid checked Lindsay and confirmed that her body was indeed doing something with all those pre-labor contractions and that she was approximately 1-2 centimeters.  During the exam Dr. Reid decided to help Lindsay along by stripping her membranes. 

Lindsay went home and waited some more.  She had just arrived at 38 weeks was really hoping that the pre-labor stuff would take a turn for the real deal.

Friday came and went without a peep from her body about when it would decide to begin its precious work.

At 6:20 a.m. Saturday the 22nd I got a text from Lindsay saying that she thought that this was really it this time.  She was having contractions every 7 – 9 minutes and they were lasting about a minute and she had started having some mild contractions around 5 that morning.

Yay!  Finally.  The. Day. Was. Here!

I had gotten up about 20 minutes later knowing that I probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep and that there was a lot to do before I left this morning.

I got up, got my daughter bathed, dressed and fed right about the time my boys came down crying that they were starving and needed food as well.   

After feeding the whole brood, I decided I probably had a little bit of time before Lindsay would call to have me come over, so I jumped on the treadmill and started walking. 

About 10 minutes into the walk, at 8:20, I got a call from Lindsay saying that the contractions were getting closer together and stronger and she thought she was ready for me to come over.

So I jumped off the treadmill, hit the shower and was out the door in 25 minutes, fully dressed with hair and face done and bags in tow.  Not too shabby if you ask me.

I was heading out the door when I realized that I was going to have to take Robin’s truck, which, had a 15 foot trailer attached to the back of it!  Hmmmm. 

We didn’t have a lock for the hitch so I had to take the trailer with me. 

Off I went with a 15 foot trailer attached to the back of the truck.  That is a first for me and hopefully a last!

I made it to Scott and Lindsay’s, but I wasn’t quite brave enough to pull the trailer into their very steep driveway.  Thankfully Scott came out and got the job done.  Scott and his dad took the trailer off of the truck and got it parked in their driveway.

I got there about 9:10 and she was definitely in early labor.  Scott was getting things together and ready to go.  Scott’s parents were there taking care of their son. 

You could feel the excitement in the air.  Everyone was ready to meet this new little boy!

They decided they wanted to wait just a little bit longer before heading to the hospital.

We listened to the baby’s heartbeat with the doppler and all sounded great, his heart was beating right along at a happy 144!

10 o’clock rolled around and Lindsay said she was ready to go to the hospital.

We loaded up and I followed them to the hospital. 

I always “strongly dislike” the drive to the hospital when I am not in the car with the woman in labor. 

I have a million thoughts going through my mind and they are all about her and how she is doing and if she needs my help and so on and so forth.

We got to the hospital and got settled into the room about 10:20 a.m.

Lindsay was in active labor and doing great.

They got her changed into her luxurious hospital gown with the specially designed full access back panel. 

After getting settled in the nurse checked her to see how far along Lindsay was. 

She had dilated to 3 – 4 centimeters by 10:30 a.m.

We were told that contrary to what Lindsay’s OB had told her, that she could not use the birthing tub because this was her first VBAC and they needed to monitor her more closely. 

(excuse me for a moment………GAG!) 

ok., I am back.

Lindsay was very disappointed to say the least, but she pulled up her boot straps and made a commitment to birth this baby regardless of what was available to her.

The doctor on call that day was Dr. Kunda.    We had been at the hospital laboring for about 45 minutes when Dr. Kunda walked in with a big sweet smile. 

As soon as Lindsay was ready he checked to see what kind of progress she was making.  She had dilated to 5 – 6 centimeters!! 

That was only 45 minutes later.

Dr. Kunda asked her about her previous cesarean and how big she thought this baby was.  She responded “oh, this one is smaller, we have pictures of me with my last baby and I was bigger”.    To which Dr. Kunda replied, “well, the mother knows best”.

Lindsay was already beginning to want to push, but she managed it great by deep breathing and making low noises through each contraction.

Lindsay did wonderfully at changing positions regularly.  She stood, sat in a chair, sat on a birth ball, got on her hands and knees and leaned on the birth ball and squatted.  I really believe that movement and changing positions like she did helped so much in getting her baby boy in the best position for being born.

11:30 came around and Lindsay needed to make a pit stop in the ladies room.  She liked making the “pit stop” so well, that we had a very hard time convincing her to come back into the room.

Around noon Lindsay was still feeling like pushing and asked Dr. Kunda to check her again.  Waa Laa….she was now at 8 – 9 centimeters. 

Then, Dr. Kunda said she had a swollen anterior lip on her cervix.  This is when the door to the baby’s home has a hinge on the door that is out of whack.  So, he suggested continuing to change positions like she had been doing to try to help that.

In my “homebirth” programmed brain, I started running through all of the things that I had heard midwives doing at home births to help with this scenario. 

Unfortunately, I don’t know that any of them would have been an option in a hospital.  To “un-medical” and all.

But after praying and changing positions, Dr. Kunda came back 30 minutes later and told Lindsay that he thought the anterior lip of her cervix could be pushed back and that she was fully dilated.

Lindsay started pushing at 12:30 p.m.

We cheered and coached and breathed and pushed with her. 

Lindsay’s mom arrived from Columbus at about 1 p.m.

She joined in with us just like she had been there the whole time.

At about the time Lindsay’s mother arrived Dr. Kunda told Lindsay that they only let VBAC moms push for an hour and then they would start considering a cesarean. 

I think that was one of the only times I wanted to open my mouth and protest!  I had pushed 3 hours with my first VBAC and I knew that others had too. 

But the truth of the matter is, when you choose a hospital, you choose to abide by their rules.  You can make requests, but ultimately it comes down to their rules that dictate how the game is played.  At home, you make your own rules because it is your home.  So, when you choose a hospital, be fully informed as to what they will and will not allow.

Lindsay pushed with all of her might and did a wonderful job. 

Their baby boy was making his entrance one push at a time.

At 1:32 he arrived in this world at a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces, 20.5 inches long!

Welcome Copeland

Exactly 1 hour and two minutes of pushing for a first time vaginal birth with a chunk of a baby!

By the way, her last baby boy was 9 pounds 5 ounces, so much for “this one is smaller” 

It was beautiful!

Scott was an amazing coach and support to Lindsay through the whole labor.

 

Big brother meeting little brother

It was my pleasure as always to be there to welcome new life into this world.

 I am so happy for and proud of Lindsay for making this a beautifully successful VBAC.

Sweet Success

Stephanie and Frank were expecting their fourth baby.

Stephanie had 3 cesareans leading up to this birth, each birth with its own set of plans as to how things would go.

This time Stephanie decided she wanted something different and set about to educate herself on how to do it all differently.

I always encourage people to educate themselves and to do the research so that they feel they are fully informed themselves and not just being partially informed by someone else.

It is so empowering to me and to others to see someone take a situation by the horns and tell it how it will be.

That is exactly what Frank and Stephanie did.

Stephanie told me that she wasn’t one to “skim” through a book, and she didn’t.  Everything she got her hands on, she read and processed.

Along that road, as there always is, women process their feelings, their thoughts, their fears about this birth and how it may or may not go.

As a doula it is so important to me to be real and not sugar coat things, because the reality is, all things don’t work out perfectly and there is a chance that things can go wrong.  So, when you have a client who has done the research themselves, there are lots of questions and a need to just talk it out.

“what if the baby comes quickly”

“what if we have to go to the hospital?”

“what is the actual risk of uterine rupture?”

So many feelings that are legitimate and  tough.  There is no final exact answer, which is what so many of us fear.

There is a fear that controls us so much, it causes us to choose something we dislike just to possibly “protect” us from our worst fears.

When women educate themselves, they immediately have the upper hand.  They can then make a choice not just on what someone has told them, but what they know to be studied and true.

Then, they begin to have the answers to these “scary” questions and the fear begins to leave.

When truth is put into a situation it disarms fear and women can birth the way they were created to.

To say that you choose a vbac after three cesareans is a huge step in the first place, but to say you are going to have a vbac AND have your baby at home is a whole notha level.

It takes tremendous courage and faith in your body.  It takes speaking the truth about your body even when your brain says…”what on earth!”

So, this is what they chose.

I met Stephanie for, what was hoped to be, her final ultrasound, just to confirm that the baby was well and that he wasn’t “butt first” (breech).

We went together and chatted about the birth and the baby and anything else that came up.

The ultrasound confirmed a healthy little boy with his head planted down and ready.

Stephanie said she had been having some contractions, but nothing major.

She dropped me off at 4:30 that afternoon.

My mother had our kids that night and so Robin and I went out on a date and had a very nice time.

We got home and had some cookies and ice cream just before I got the first text from Stephanie at 9pm.

She said “so, I am contracting every 3-4 minutes for about a minute for the last hour. You think this could be getting serious?”

to which I replied “Yes ma’am.  Just let me know when you would like my company :0)”

So, I waited for about an hour when I received the next text.

10pm – “I’m getting in the shower.  Walking around doing stuff makes it worse!  If you want to come over soon that would be nice.  it’s getting a little painful over here.”

So, I grabbed my bags and was out the door about five minutes later.

I got to their house about 10:15 and Frank answered the door, very much trying to be calm, but you could just feel the excitement radiating off of him.  He offered me tea and I went and checked on Stephanie.

She was handling the contractions beautifully and chatting with me between contractions.

About an hour later things really picked up pace.  I realized we had turned a corner when I told Stephanie a funny story about a women in labor and she didn’t bat an eye.  That is when I thought to myself “oh good, here is solid active labor”.

Within about a half an hour the contractions were steadily coming every 2 minutes and lasting about a full minute.

I told them that this would be a good time to call the midwife.

Stephanie called Christy Tashjian her midwife at about 12 midnight.

Stephanie decided she was ready to get back into the tub and labor there.

She labored so well and when transition arrived, Frank was sitting right beside her being an amazing support.

Christy arrived at 1:20 and checked the baby and Stephanie.

We sat and labored with her and then we heard the wonderful sound of pushing.  It was simple and faint, but a slight catching of the breath was all that was needed to know that it had arrived.

She began pushing at approximately 1:50am, twenty six minutes later she birthed her beautiful baby boy in her bathtub.

Samuel Lucas Rue

It was so fast and amazing.

We welcomed little Samuel Lucas Rue into this world a week overdue, on December 23rd, 2010.  He weighed in at 8 lb. 8 oz..

I hope this is an encouragement to all women out there pursuing a VBAC.  It can be done!

Midwife Christy

Birth #33 42 weeks and..counting

A lap around the block with the crazy doula

Births are wonderful!  This one was one of my favorites.  

I always love attending births, but when you get moments like these captured on film, it just can’t be beat. 

Elizabeth was 42 weeks and two days.  Desperation had arrived banging at her door. 

If you have ever been pregnant you know the feeling.  

You thought for sure that you were going to have this baby early….and then…..to your despair, the little one decides they need to cook a little longer. 

Well, for this lovely family there had to be a line drawn, and it was drawn with….castor oil, a friend to many an overdue woman. 

Elizabeth called me that morning and said she had called the midwife and discussed a plan to take the castor oil and would call me as soon as anything changed. 

 

Agreed.

 

Well,  by the time 2pm rolled around and nothing was changing, my doula radar kicked in and I knew that it was time to go “visit”.

 

I packed my bags and headed over.

 

I arrived just behind Tabitha (friend and photographer for the family).

call list

 

I walked in and much to my dismay, Elizabeth was sitting comfy on the couch talking.

 

We discussed what her status was and what we could try to get things “moving”.

 

I suggested that going for a walk, using the breast pump and maybe another dose of castor oil. 

 

So, we went for a walk.

 

It was a beautiful day and the walk was great.  Several new stronger contractions were coming along.

 

When we got back big sister and little sister were sent off to be with family and friends for the rest of the evening.

 

That was when the change started.

She took another good dose of the oh so yummy slimy orange juice with castor oil concoction and attached the pump.

Things were looking like they were moving along, but not at a rapid pace.

 

As the sun began to set our bellies started crying out for sustenance.   So, Craig O’s calzone it was…..and oh was it yummy.

The contractions kept coming along, but they were taking their time.

So we settled in to pizza a movie (Trapped in Paradise) and a little intermittent pumping to keep things rolling. 

The contractions were dragging their feet and we all were so cozy from eating and watching the movie that we decided it was time to try to sleep until things picked up.

Elizabeth and Cliff headed back to their room and Tabitha and I made our selves comfy on the couch and floor.

About an hour later, after achieving no sleep on either side, Elizabeth emerged from her room.

relaxing through a contraction

It was about 10:15 p.m. and things seemed to be turning a corner.

You could see it on her face that these contractions were picking up steam.

We timed the contractions for another 45 minutes and it seemed that with each contraction they were getting stronger.

At 11pm I looked at Cliff and said, “so, I think it is time to pack our bags and head to the birth center”.  Everyone was in agreement.

Poor Elizabeth had met the steep hill of labor just in time to jump in the car and have to ride semi still for 20 minutes.

That has to be one of the more frustrating times in a womans labor.

We made it to The Family Birth Center in New Braunfels and her midwives met us there.

We immediately started filling up the birth pool and getting it ready.

just before the pool was ready

Elizabeth was in active labor and handling things great.

She was finally able to get into the pool and relax a bit.

After laboring for a while, the midwives were concerned that the temperature of the water would be too cool for the baby and decided that getting into the bathtub would be a better option.

Unfortunately Elizabeth had already started feeling the urge to push at this point.

So, with support on both sides, we helped her out of the pool.   We started the journey to the bathtub, wich was only about 20 feet, but to her seemed like a mile.  

We got about half way to the tub when Elizabeth stopped for a contraction, which turned into a push. 

At that point we all realized that this little boy was ready to arrive and wasn’t going to wait for us to get to the water.

With support all around and a couple of pushes later, Elizabeth gave birth to a beautiful chubby big baby boy.

It was a beautiful moment. 

This is when birth happens just the way it needs to happen aside from all our planning and thoughts about how it “should” go.

Elizabeth was amazing.  She showed amazing strength and a committment to birthing the way she felt was best for her and her baby.

Quincy Forrest was born at 12:34  a.m.  on November 24th,    16 days after his due date.   He was 9lbs and 14oz.

 It was such a beautiful birth and I was blessed to be a part.

 

Tabitha and Quincy

Erica and Quincy

Birth #32 Sisters by heart

 

I am always anticipating being at a birth, but even more so when there is a heart connection.

I met Mel and Chad 3 years ago when they first came to our church.

They are amazing people.  Sincere, kind and incredibly funny.

They mean what that say and they say what they mean……well…usually.

Never the less, they are wonderful people who we have been so blessed to have in our lives.

Mel called me shortly after finding out she was expecting and asked if I would be her doula.

I am begining to realize that I don’t know why my good friends do this.

They should just say…”You need to put my due date on your calendar; be there”.

I am thankful for their politeness, but I can’t imagine missing it for the world!

On the day before this baby’s birth day I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to get my kids ready for school, only to find a TEXT on my phone that Mel’s water had broken at 1:30 that morning!

I promptly sent her a text back letting her know that this was a “no no” in doula land and that if she needed me, she should call me. 

So, a few minutes later I got a call. 

MEL: “Hey. Your awake”

ME: “Yep, I am getting ready to get the kids ready, how’s it going?”

MEL: “well, not much is happening.  I talked to Sam and she said to get some rest.”

ME: “Are the contractions getting stronger, longer or closer together?”

MEL:  “not much”

ME:  “you should definitely rest another hour at least and then call if things are changing”

MEL: “o.k.”

ME: “o.k.”

MEL: “alright,  I will call later”

ME: “o.k.”

MEL: “o.k.”

ME: “talk to you later”

MEL: “o.k., bye”

ME: “bye”

So…the day wore on and ON and ONNNNN.  No calls.

So.. at the expense of being obnoxious, I called after lunch.

Things were just kind of putting along.

She said she would call later.

Finally that evening I had had more than I could take waiting on the other side of the fence.

I called and found out that everyone was there…BUT ME. 

So, I said in a pituful voice, do you think I could come over and visit for a while??

Of course!

So, off I went.

I got to the house about 6:30 p.m. and hung out and talked while everyone milled aroud passing time.

Mel was having contractions and they were making her work, but not at the pace she was hoping.

We spent a lot of time sitting and talking and watching The Office, which was a very welcome distraction.

Mel’s mom Shellie and her sister Lacey, got in the kitchen and whipped up a huge bowl of delicious chicken salad that was gone by the morning.

We all wished Chad a happy birthday at midnight on Friday.

After many herbs and pumping sessions Mel finally surrendered to the need for rest at about 2 a.m Friday.

She decided to take a shower and go to bed to get some rest.

The rest of us tried to find a spot on the couches and get some sleep.

I got about an hour and a serious crick in my neck, thank you very much mean couches!

Mel walked in and woke us up about 3:15 saying she felt like she might be getting a little “pushy” at the middle of each contraction.

Sam said she should check her progress and then we would go from there.

Yay! Mel was 8 cm and progressing!

 

She climbed into the birth pool and used the water to relax while the next two centimeters melted away.

She labored great and hardly made a sound.

Chad climbed in the pool with her and supported her during all the hard work.

At 4:40 a.m. the pushing stage rolled in.

It was undeniable that the baby was immanent.

Mel and Chad made an amazing team.

She only pushed for a brief 33 minutes before baby Sutton was born into warm waters.

They pulled him up and held him close; with the familiar sounds of happiness and tears of joy.

 

It was a beautiful birth. 

He took his time getting here, so I am wondering if this will be a sign of a slow easy going kind of nature.

Thank you for letting me be a part

 

 

 

 

 

 

A big thank you to Laura Wootan for all of the amazing photography in this blog.

Birth #27 & very close to my heart

To say that I had been anticipating this birth would be an understatement.

Tabitha and I have been friends now for almost 4 years and I couldn’t have been blessed with a better best friend.

She is a wonderful friend, mother, wife and an incredible example of selflessness in all she does.

Her children are wonderful and sweet, and her husband is an honorable and kind man.

I had just become friends with the Krauss’ the year she became pregnant with their third girl.

I was blessed to be at the birth of that baby which came into the world 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital.

This pregnancy (her fourth) was very much anticipated because this was their first boy.

I worked on Tabitha from the moment she had her 3rd baby to convince her that it was crazy for her to rush to a hospital to  have her baby with no medications, when a midwife would offer better care and she wouldn’t even have to leave  the comfort of her home.

It worked!

When they found out they were expecting their fourth baby she interviewed Illysa Foster, CPM.

After their first meeting with Illysa they didn’t see any need to look further, they were sure it was a good match.

This pregnancy went by without any complications and the overwhelming joy of the news that they would be having a boy this time.

Tabitha had been having “warm up labor” for a couple of weeks before Maverick decided to make his entry into the world.

All of their other children had been early, but it seemed that he was just going to do it his own way.

I got the call early Friday morning at 3:37 a.m.

Tabitha was on the other end and said she thought her water broke but there weren’t any contractions yet.

I told her to go ahead and call Illysa in case her contractions picked up quickly.

At that point sleep was not an option for me.

I had been waiting so long for this call that I could hardly stand the silence of my phone.

She called me back at 4:30 a.m. and said that Illysa was on her way, she was having some contractions and that I could come whenever I was ready.

“Whenever I was ready!!??” HELLO…I was flying out the door as soon as “you can come whenever” was out of her mouth.

I got to their house at 5 a.m. right at the same time the second midwife was arriving.

Illysa was already there and Will was setting up the birth pool.

Tabitha was doing well with the contractions

it appeared that from the smile on her face that this was early labor.

Illysa examined her about 5:30 a.m. and she was about 4 cm.

I felt so bad for Tabitha.  I could just see it on her face…”SERIOUSLY! all this and I am only 4 cm…come on!”

We listened to Mavericks heart tones regularly and tried to leave Tabitha and Will alone to labor together in their bedroom.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, the family was gathering.   Both Will’s and Tabitha’s mother had arrived along with Will’s sister Maya (their third daughters namesake).

Family had come to pick up their youngest daughter and the older two were up making signs to welcome their new baby brother and helping to make breakfast for everyone.

making breakfast for the birth crew

7 a.m. rolled around quickly and it was very obvious that Tabitha had entered active labor and that things were moving quickly.

More hot water was added to the birth pool and there was a buzz of anticipation around the house.

Tabitha got into the pool about 7:30 a.m.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Will said a prayer for her and Maverick.

During that prayer Maverick decided it would be a great time to make his entrance.

Tabitha began pushing and his head was born.

However, due to his shoulders being “sticky” as they say in midwifery, Tabitha had to stand up out of the pool.

As soon as she did that, Maverick slipped into Illysa and Will’s hands at 8:16 a.m. Friday, September 12th.

Tabitha immediately sat back down into the pool to bond with her newest gift from God.

The midwives gave Maverick a couple of puffs of oxygen to pink him up quickly.

It was a beautiful birth.

He was so sweet and perfect.

Maverick was “singing” from the moment he was born.

There was some concern that he was having trouble breathing, but they found out he just has a small larynx.

They are happy and doing well adjusting to life as a family of 6.

Me & Maverick

Birth #26

I got the call at 6 a.m. as I was getting kennady ready for the bus.

Illysa called me and said that she had been at a birth since yesterday evening and her other assistant couldn’t return.

So I gladly accepted and packed up my bags.

I got to the parent’s home around 7 a.m.

Mom was in early labor still and had been laboring since 5 p.m. the evening before.

I got the job of timing contractions to check for any increase in strength or length.

The contractions stayed about the same for several hours.

Midday Illysa checked the mama and found her to be at about 4 cm and the baby was poorly positioned.

The mother and father decided to try the Rebozo technique.

After the Rebozo technique we monitored the baby for 2 full minutes with the doppler to make sure there were not any changes in the heart tones.

About lunch time mom had still not had any significant change in her labor pattern.

Illysa felt strongly that mama needed to labor alone for a while to be able to get past this point.

We packed up a few essentials and went to do a 3 day postpartum visit.

We returned about 2 hours late to find mama had progressed.  Her contractions seemed to be getting a little closer together.

The husband turned on some music and we all danced.  I have to say that it was my first dance at a birth and it was great for lifting everyone’s spirit.

By 6 p.m. the mama had progressed to 6 cm.  YAY!

There was a renewed sense of hope and expectation of a baby being born this day.

After 5 more hours and lots and lots of hard work by mama and father and a very short amount of pushing

the new baby girl was born into the water and into her parents arms at 11:24 p.m.

The new baby girl had done a lot of work to get here along with her mama and needed a few rescue breaths to get her going, but did perfect after that.

It was a birth that was the perfect example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

This labor would have ended up in a c-section in a hospital, but given time and encouragement and careful monitoring of mama and baby, she was born at home in the arms of her parents with no interventions.

I left their home at 12:24 a.m. and gratefully crawled into bed at 1:30 a.m.  with a lot of joy in my heart.

Birth #25

I had been anticipating this birth for a while.

This was a friend and family member.

This was also her 5th baby.

I had been there for two other births and was looking forward to this one.

The mom is always a great birther and seems to take it all in very easily.

I got the call at 5:30 a.m. June 18th.

Robin was literally about to walk out the door.

I went and told him that it was time for me to go.

He said “couldn’t she have called 30 minutes earlier”. Then he wouldn’t have gotten up and gotten dressed.

I kissed my husband goodbye and he crawled back in bed.

On the way to the birth I was hungry and I was sure that the birth wouldn’t go that fast..so I decided to make a stop at Starbucks on the way.

I pulled in and picked up a soy chai latte and a bran muffin….yumm.

The drive takes about an hour so I had plenty of time to finish my snack before arriving.

I got about 20 minutes from their house when I got a call from their husband asking where I was.

Immediately I got anxious.

My mind began racing….”oh great…I pulled over for 6 minutes and now I am going to miss my second birth”.

Dad said that she was getting pretty “transitional”, but he thought my timing would be perfect.

I put the pedal to the metal and got there in about 15 minutes.

I walked upstairs and found mom in the shower gently swaying with each contraction.

They had just checked her and she was 8 cm.

Yay.

She stayed in the shower for about half an hour longer.

Then she began feeling some beginning urges to push.

She went to the birth ball and sat on it while myself and other ladies took turns massaging her back.

After another half hour she was feeling a strong urge to push.

She got into her bed and began pushing with each contraction.

Her daughter, 8 years old, watched in amazement.

There was a brief moment when she was nervous about the sounds her mother was making, but after some reassurance that all was well, she was back to observing in amazement.

The baby came quickly.

It was a girl!

The oldest in the family was a girl followed by three boys and now, the end to the sandwich, a girl.

Everyone was elated.

Mom had had some concerns about this baby being very big since her last baby was 12 lb 2 oz; but thankfully she modified her diet and this beautiful baby girl weighed in at 9 lb 14 oz.

After the birth the ladies that had attended the birth began preparing a wonderful breakfast for the entire family and friends.

It was a beautiful birth that I was blessed to be a part of.

Birth #24

It has taken me way to long to post this, but here it goes.

The birth I missed.

I have been a doula now for 8 years and I have only missed one birth and this is the one.

I got the call from my friend about 8:30 a.m. that things were really progressing.

She had already been admitted to the hospital because she had a high risk pregnancy due to high blood pressure.

They had started using cervadil the night before to get things ready for the next day.

They started the pitocin that morning and “bam” just like that things were going way faster than anyone anticipated.

I called Robin and told him to come home asap.

I had a gut feeling that I needed to leave then, but I just told myself that I was just anxious to get there.

As soon as Robin got home I jumped in the car and raced to the hospital (which was 45 minutes away).

I rushed up to the 3rd floor and as soon as I got to the door, I heard the sweet cry of a new baby.

I walked in to see the new family admiring their beautiful baby girl.

I was so happy for them.

I have to be honest that I was disappointed to have not been there to support them and witness them bringing life into this world, but I could not have been more proud of them.

Mom was a champ and refused all other unnecessary medication and Dad was a wonderful support.

It was a great feeling to know that all had gone so well.