A considerate Christmas baby

I had a client due December 24th, which in midwifery terms means "make no definite plans for Christmas". Even though my youngest daughter and her family did not come down to south Georgia this year, at least my older daughter did and my son already lives in the area, so I got to tentatively make plans to see them over the holiday.

We made plans to spend Friday (Christmas Eve) together and just hoped that the baby wouldn't choose to be born on its actual due date.

We ended up having a nice, uninterrupted day together complete with roast beef and all the trimmings. Got to celebrate Lucy's 1st Christmas with them and see her open our gifts to her. They are always fun to be around but getting to experience Christmas with little ones makes it extra special.

Then we had Christmas Day with my mom, aunt, sister, brother-in-law, two of my nieces and a great-niece and my own son! My husband had come down from Atlanta so I got to enjoy his company for quite a few days too.

I had called to check on my Christmas momma and she said her home was chaos at the moment but she was having the odd contraction all day. We both figured things might get going later in the day or perhaps that night.

I was right. Got a call around 3:45 AM. She didn't really feel like they were regular enough for me to come yet and said she would call me when they picked up. The experienced midwife in me went ahead and got up and took a shower and got ready to head her way. The weather was frigid and very windy with blowing frozen rain lightly dancing around. Even though she never called me back, I arrived on her doorstep just before 6 AM. When I checked her she was 8 cms. I'm glad I followed my intuition. We had a baby boy at 7:35 AM, 8 lbs 4 ozs. They named him Henry. He's a doll!

Thank you baby Henry for waiting on your midwife to get to have some family time before scheduling your arrival!

Now, a postpartum in 48 hours, four prenatals, including a couple of home visits out of town then I am heading back to Atlanta for New Years!

To Atlanta and back

Left lastTuesday to head to Atlanta. I arrived on one of the coldest days of the year so far only to learn that our house up there was experiencing some "issues" with the heat. Apparently, during the recent renovations by the owner, he replace all the gas appliances, water heater and furnace with all electric. They put in a 3 ton unit to service a 2600 sq ft house. Sadly inadequate.

The house stayed around 55 degrees in all the rooms that first night. I decided the next morning to purchase some more large space heaters but the house is also inadequate in the electrical capacity and if you run the heaters on anything but LOW, it pops the breakers, so they are not able to work at full capacity either.

OK, maybe we'll keep a roaring large fire going in the fireplace. At least that might keep the join adjoining living areas comfortable, right? Nada. The fireplace is aesthetically beautiful, in that it is open on two sides but that apparently renders it incapable of drawing very well so our fire did nothing but fill the house up with smoke. The owners must have realized that because they had installed an ancient gas burnings "fake" log system, however the house no longer has gas piping since it was all stolen when the house set vacant for a period of time and the gas log system is rusted and not usable any longer.

So everything we tried to compensate for the cold house was thwarted and I am quite frustrated. My office space is small and the space heater I purchased for that room will at least keep that area pretty comfortable. We put a small heater in the guest bathroom also, but the entire rest of the house is REALLY COLD! I have no idea what we are going to do about this situation. It's completely unacceptable.

Any ideas that don't cost a fortune or pop the breakers?

Long distance birth

Somehow I got talked into attending a birth that was 3 1/2 hours away. It was a 4th child for this mom so we discussed the fact that I very well might miss it.

I did.

Mom called at 4:30 AM and said she was achy, but had moved furniture that day (??) and thought maybe that was the explanation. She was going to drink water and soak in the tub and let me know if things didn't go away or if they got worse. Another call at 6:30 AM confirmed that it was indeed labor. I was on the road within the hour after canceling lunch plans with my daughter, emailing my pastor's wife that I would most likely not be bringing a veggie tray to the Christmas party that evening. Had to also drop my dog off at my mother's house who lives in a town along the path to this client.

About an hour and a half before my arrival, the doula texted me that the baby had arrived and was doing well. A phone call and speaker phone confirmed for me that things were fine and gave me a way to encourage baby's color to improve and the placenta to be born.

So, I arrived in time to do a thorough newborn exam, check out the mom (no tears) and go over postpartum instructions and make arrangements to come back for a postpartum check.

Made it back in town in time to bring the veggie tray!

Yet another move

I totally forgot to mention a life-altering event. When I got home late at night after being in Atlanta for a week, I found my little cottage had been broken into.

Wondered why the front porch light, which I had left on, was not shining its welcome light to me as I drove up around 10:45 PM. Did it burn out? Did someone turn it off in my absence? I opened the door and went to flip on the switch and realized it was already in the "on" position. Perhaps it had burned out? I had put one of those long lasting bulbs in it because it was so high and hard to reach.

Reach to turn on a little lamp that sits on the bookcase by the door and discover it won't turn on--had been unplugged. Then the biggest realization hits me. The TV that sits beside the lamp is gone and the cable is pulled out long and sitting on the floor. The only light is a dim one I left on in the bathroom. It is just enough light I can see the broken glass all over the carpet by the window.

All of the sudden the pieces are falling into place in my brain. I've been robbed and my home has been broken into in my absence. Then my brain realizes it is entirely possible I'm not alone and I back out of the cottage, locking the door as I go and make a run for my car, locking myself in.

Call my hubby and my first thoughts are where am I going to stay this late at night (besides the overwhelming need to pee which has been on my mind for the last hour of my trip home). I call one friend who is already in bed and doesn't answer. Others have a house full of family for Thanksgiving, so Tom recommends I just go get a motel room for the night. Once I get settled in (and get to pee) and start thinking about that open window and all the other items of value that are still in my cottage and decide to call the police now instead of waiting until the morning. They meet me there and start an investigation and while they are there, I remove the items that are valuable that were not taken---my printer and all of my medical supplies, etc. Now the question comes up--where will I stay temporarily until my permanent move to Atlanta?

I have to check out of the motel on Thanksgiving Day and have no idea where I will spend the night that night. Then a friend contacted me via Facebook and says they are going out of town for the holiday and I can stay in her house as long as I need to. Not only do I have a really nice place to stay but it is private and the view of the lake where her home sits is peaceful to my rattled soul.

That day my husband reminds me that after I moved into the cottage my dad's wife had offered me her deceased parents home in a nearby city. Not as convenient for some of my clients but it offers more room and a wonderful temporary place to stay. I called her and she is delighted to have someone staying at the house and giving it that "lived in" look to deter vandals. (Hoping I will deter vandals, Yikes!)

So over the weekend, my hubby comes down and helps me get settled in. I'm enjoying several things about the house: the 1955s wall mounted antique refrigerator that works!, the gas heat that makes for a comfortable home, the little wall mounted heaters in the bathrooms and bedrooms, the screened in porch and the single car carport, having a kitchen again to cook and a washer and dryer to do laundry at my own home, the citrus tree that is bearing ripe fruit right now.

They are still letting me do prenatals in the cottage for clients who are closer to that city. It just means remembering to carry some things back and forth, which is a pain. Stocking paper cups, toilet paper, trash bags, hand towels and soap, a lamp for light, something to cover the bed and my prenatal bag and equipment, sometimes my lab equipment and spinner. Yeah, the things I do for my clients....