Welcome Baby A!

Thanksgiving 2011 was special this year. Not because I got to eat an entire meal cooked by my husband (pie included) but it also included a birth. And a VBAC, no less!

Starting around Midnight on Thanksgiving Eve, my client called to let me know her water broke and she was on the way to the hospital. A few hours later it was confirmed she was a centimeter dilated, and so I decided to rest as much as I could (and urged her to do the same) until active labor began. I arrived at the hospital around 10am and labor progressed with the help of a little Pitocin.

After several hours of labor and an epidural for comfort, Baby A was born! It was great to work with the midwives again, and see how supportive they are of a VBAC. The hospital worked very hard to get the baby turned so she could be birthed vaginally. What a wonderful Thanksgiving and so very much to be thankful for.

And yes, the hubs did a GREAT job on dinner. My plate of leftovers around 8:30pm hit the spot!

Always a joy!

Even though I'm not updating the blog very much, I'm still working! As both a doula and as a full-time stay-at-home mall to my kids this summer.

My last birth included several firsts for me - including laboring in the water. My clients have usually progressed too fast to get into the tub, but my client was able to get into the water right away, and even start her pushing while in the tub. She progressed very quickly, with help from me and her husband to apply back pressure during contractions. The only minus was getting OUT of the water later so we could change positions to work on the final lip of the cervix to get out of the way so the baby could move down. Another first, is it was my first birth I attended where we didn't know the sex of the baby.

And being it was a birth of firsts, it was also my first to attend at the University of Iowa Hospitals with the midwives. I did have another birth with the midwife service, but she wasn't able to get to the hospital in time, so the resident caught the baby. Based on this experience, I have nothing but great things to say about this midwife in particular. I actually found myself wondering why she was so keen on letting my client take so much time to labor down (wow, guess what doula, it's not on your time table!) as well as participate in giving back pressure and massage when she was closer to my client than I was during position changes. I was wowed by her care!

Right after sunrise a beautiful baby girl was born! Again I was amazed by the quick recovery and quiet alertness of the mother and baby with an intervention-free birth. After getting to help establish nursing, I was on my way just 9 hours after I arrived. And helping with some postpartum care it has been a JOY to watch Baby E grow!

Welcome Baby E!

On May 3, 2010 we welcomed Baby E! This birth was a very quick one. I'm lucky I listened to my 'doula instinct' and arrived as soon as I could to the hospital, as the first-time mom and dad insisted they would call me after getting 'checked'. After finding E's mother was full and complete during her initial check, we only had to wait a few minutes for the doctor to join us in birthing suite until it was time to push. I used a lot of back pressure, and E's mom and dad worked wonderfully together as a team to get her through each contraction. A dozen or so pushes later, sweet baby boy E was born, just a little over an hour after they arrived at the hospital!

Once again I'm blessed and overjoyed to share in a birth. Especially since E's Dad and I have been friends for nearly fifteen years. Happy Birthday, Baby E!

What an amazing day - Here comes baby M

I've joked to several clients that I'm a "speedy" doula. Most of my births have been around the 4 hour mark, give or take a few hours. However, I knew that a long one would happen, it was only a matter of time.

Baby M was my first overnighter. I arrived at the hospital at 6pm, about 6 hours after the induction began. The mom really didn't want pain medication, though we talked a lot about how pitocin is generally pretty darn painful. But since she wanted to wait, I didn't push - instead we worked through each contraction with positioning, massage and lots of encouragement. Progress was slow and around midnight she decided to get an epidural. And that's when things began to really progress. I'm so thankful for medication and what it can do! Also, when you decide to induce with medication, it's very hard not to need medication to get through it. And our ultimate goal was a VBAC - so again, we had to keep that in mind.

After we were settled, we rested through the night (the best you can in a hospital, anyway!) Around 7am she was complete! We waited to labor the baby down and do a little practice pushing. At 8:30am we noticed some odd swelling on the sides of mom's head. The doctors (and staff, and me!) were completely baffled - but decided to err on the side of caution. So, to help mom push without putting too much stress on her head (the swelling increased with pushing), they used a vacuum extractor. At 10:15 and after two strong pushes, baby girl M was born - gorgeous and hollering!

Dad was brilliant, holding her right away and singing her a beautiful melody. Mom did a great job and accomplished so much in those 24 hours of labor! Thankfully the swelling subsided as soon as labor was complete, nursing was established in record time and a few hours later I left the happy family on a crisp and snowy October 10th!

Happy birthday, baby M!

Welcome to the World, Baby S!

October 2-

On a misty Autumn day, beautiful baby girl S was born. Her mama was so strong - having to change her plan for a drug-free birth due to complications in her labor - this first time mama labored through like a master. The epidural saved the day and not only took away her pain, but also her complications! Thank God!

Just a few hours later, easily laboring down her sweet girl, her baby came into the world without a sound. Bright eyed, turning pinker by the second and completely quiet. Dad cut the cord and a family was born.

It's so amazing to enter a room of two and leave with three. I love my calling.

Happy Birthday, Baby G.

A beautiful girl was born at 5:00am August 18th. Her parents wished for a natural birth and it went as they desired. I arrived at the hospital at 1am, she went from 2-3.5 cm by 3:30, her bag of water broke at 4:30, checked again at 4:35 and was 5cm. We worked very hard on finding comfortable positions, and resting as much as possible between contractions. Lots of breath work and focusing. The tub was full - but her water broke before we could try it! Several strong contractions and the urge to push later she was 9.5cm at 4:58 and was complete and ready to push at 5:00. Baby G was born a few seconds after her first push!

Mama was a star and Dad was very sweet taking care of her. By 6am Baby G had nursed on both sides and was content wrapped up like a burrito, being held by Dad.

I also got to share this birth with my doula mentor and friend. I feel so blessed to be a part of these families' lives. What a beautiful morning!