One night, two baby boys

Another midwife, who lives south of Atlanta called me one day to ask if I'd be willing to help her out with a birth. She has a young lady she is very close to that lives in MS and was expecting her first baby right about the same time this client was due. The young lady didn't need her to deliver the baby but she did want her nearby right afterwards and for a few days following. So I agreed to be on call for her if the local mother didn't deliver before she needed to leave.

Come to find out the client she needed me to be on call for lives about 5 minutes away from me. That was good because the mom delivers very quickly and last time her midwife of choice didn't make it in time for the delivery. So the plan was, even if her regular midwife was still in town, I would still head there when she was in labor because of her fast delivery. The dad was particularly happy with that plan. I got to meet the mom several times before labor began via an informal home visit and one home prenatal.

Problem was, I had my own client, due just a few days after the above client. She also delivers very quickly and she was about an hour away. So my prayer was they would not go into labor at the same time.

I need to be a bit more specific when praying....

Friday night, I was tired and heading to bed around 11 PM when my phone rang. It was the dad for the nearby client of the other midwife. Mom was definitely in labor but contractions were still 10 minutes apart. I assured him all my equipment was in the car ready to go, just let me know when they were 5 minutes apart. He said, fine, no hurry at this point, just wanted to give you a heads-up.

About 5 minutes later he called back and said her contractions were now kicking butt and 5 minutes apart. I hurriedly pulled myself together and got there pretty quickly. Mom was in the tub and I listened to baby who sounded good. While there her water broke, listened again and baby still sounded fine. Momma started making pushing sounds and I figured we'd have a baby pretty quickly.

Usually this momma's water breaks and then you very quickly have a baby but this time something was different. A couple of times baby's heart rate would go down but it would recover. This is common in head compression as baby presses against bones during the 2nd stage. Other midwife arrived and still no baby. We finally got mom doing some things to help baby if malpositioned because no progress was being made in bringing baby down. The thing that worked best was having her climb the stairs. She only did it once and suddenly baby started moving down. When baby crowned and was born, the reason became more apparent. A straight face up baby presented, with a very bruised forehead. That explained a lot.

So the other midwife and I tag teamed. She put in a few sutures while I did a newborn exam on the baby so we would finish up much quicker. We had mom cleaned up and back in bed and linens being washed when around 4 AM my phone rang again.

Other mother (my client) in labor. She hated to call and wake me up (LOL) but she had been having contractions for about a half hour. From the sound of her voice I knew it was not a false alarm. Ran back to my house long enough to restock some gloves and headed her way. I got to her house at 5:06. My assistant was not there yet. Mom stood in the shower and her water broke. I'm still setting up and know I have limited time to get everything in place for the birth. Mom decides to sit on the toilet to help support her during pushing, then as baby crowns she kind of just squatted over the toilet and baby is born in just a few pushes, just about 10 minutes after my arrival.

First baby was only 6 lbs 8 ozs. but the second baby was 9 lbs. 12 ozs.

After several bouts of excessive bleeding with mom #2 were resolved, I didn't get to leave there until about 9 AM. Took my assistant out to breakfast (she arrived just a minute or two before the birth). Got home and went to bed!

Next time I pray, I need to ask that the mothers not go into labor at the same time AND that I get some rest between babies!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!