The first birth was guessed by myself and the daddy to be a little boy. My predictions have been on target for a while now, but this time daddy and I both were wrong and mom delivered a beautiful little girl. Mom was pleasantly surprised at how far along she was when I arrived and it wasn't too long before we had a baby. Maddeline Elizabeth, 6 lbs. 10 ozs.
Next birth came early the next week. Both moms delivered a couple of weeks "early" at about 38 weeks. That's not considered premature, but within the parameters of normal for sure. Again, mom was very happy to discover how far along she was when I arrived. I expected this one would go as fast, but we later realized she had an asynclitic head which made for a cervical lip that took a while to resolve and slowed down her descent. She was born with a "party hat", more technically known as a caput. Beautiful water birth, however and this mom's first homebirth. She did a beautiful job of bringing forth her new daughter. Didn't get to guess on this one because an ultrasound revealed her gender earlier in the pregnancy. Here is Norah Hope, 7 lbs 4 ozs. at birth:
Norah had some major peeling going on that first day and her face had taken a beating from her sideways trip down the birth canal, but when I returned a few days later for her postpartum visit, her mom had been wiping her face down with some breastmilk and she was just smooth and GORGEOUS! I'm convinced breastmilk is a magic potion in so many ways.
Had a new assistant for these two births and she was great. Nadine is a trained doula but has not been able to follow through with her certification. She learned the ropes of both my equipment and my charts very quickly and I really enjoyed having her along. After both births we visited Cracker Barrel for a meal and enjoyed just visiting and getting to know each other a little better.
Because both babies so cooperatively arrived a little before their due dates, I was able to travel down quickly to Tampa and see my son off on his Trek for Hope. Also, got to see my grandson Benjamin and his momma Raquel for a quick visit. Matt's journey has gotten a lot of media attention and I'm very proud of the way he's handling everything. Very articulate and mature in his dealing with the media, etc. He's had a few challenges already but is rolling with the punches. Here he is holding Ben just before departing:
At the send-off, held at the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, we met a young man who was taking pictures. I first assumed he was with a newspaper or the television station that was there doing interviews with Matt, but later learned he was a fellow soldier friend of Matt's, having roomed together in Iraq. He is an EXCELLENT photographer and the pictures he got at the send off were just beautiful. Here is one:
Yesterday, I was able to attend the Spinning Babies workshop with Gail Tully and later on that evening, also attend her shoulder dystocia workshop. I learned so much that will hopefully find its way into my repertoire of "tricks" that can be used to help a mom have a more normal birth and spare her a trip to the hospital and deal with stuck babies. Gail is very knowledgeable and in the smaller group that evening, I really enjoyed getting to know her better. We had some good fun, fellowship with other midwives and learned a lot.
At the workshop, I also got to meet a young CPM who is going to seriously pray about opening her practice in south Georgia. Please be praying that if it is God's will, she will know that and respond to the need of the many families that will be losing their choice when I leave.
Over and out for a bit.
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