Don't speak too soon

I spent Wednesday making homemade spaghetti sauce and let it simmer in the crock pot overnight to make sure it cooked down and the flavors all melded together nicely before my family dinner the following evening.  All the presents were purchase, wrapped and under the tree.  Stocking were filled, table was set, desserts were made, floors were clean (quite a feat since it had been raining all day).  Late Thursday afternoon just before my family arrived I had not yet heard from my remaining December client and I posted on Facebook that it looked like I might be home free!

Not so.

Family arrived a little late because of the evening traffic and the horrific rain.  As soon as they arrived, bringing the bread and salad we got those ready and sat down to eat as our only family Christmas gathering.  I was so excited to enjoy all of them together and to see everyone open their presents.  I had eaten maybe half my dinner when I heard my phone vibrate.

Yep it was.  Apparently she had been feeling a bit crampy most of the day and labor had gotten active around 5-ish.  60 seconds long and about 5 minutes apart and she lives an hour away.   So I put a few things in the car quickly, tried to say goodbye without crying and left home.

Baby did not arrive until after 8 AM the next morning, but I'm oh-so-glad to have been there.  This momma was a first timer but she was so strong and brave.  We had been worried a bit about the baby's size, having been told a week ago that he was 10 pounds.  Also worried about mom's blood pressure but it had stabilized and she was self-monitoring with my electric cuff at home.  It took a few unusual skills to deliver him but what an adorable baby!

And he weighed 9 lbs even, not the 10 lbs the ultrasound had indicated.  Just goes to prove how inaccurate they can be.

The parents are in love with their beautiful new son and I'm honored to have been there.

I'll be seeing one set of grandchildren this afternoon and another set on Tuesday for babysitting.  I'm actually "off call" for about 10 days though I have plenty of prenatal and postpartum appointments to keep me busy all week.

One done, one to go before Christmas

Of course I thought I was safe planning a family Christmas gathering this coming Thursday evening.  One daughter is spending the holiday down in south Georgia so we planned our family Christmas a little early.  Should be fine with two December mommas due the first week of the month, right?

Wrong.

One of them just delivered yesterday in my office, pretty near the file cabinet.  No, that wasn't the plan but it was working at the time.  She was supposed to deliver in my office.  The house they are living in is owned by someone who wasn't comfortable having them deliver there.  This mom was a repeat client from south GA, having moved up here to the Atlanta area about mid-pregnancy.  She was supposed to have a water birth.  I had the pool assembled but they were bringing the clean hose to fill it.  Upon arrival, mom was so deep into labor that it became clear to me the pool was a moot point.  There would be no time to fill it.  Mom wanted to at least try so dad was faithfully filling it.  I was rushing around trying to finish setting up for the birth.

She was so intent on her labor, on her knees beside the pool, resting her head on the side for support.  I did manage to get some chux pads under her because her water was still intact.  A short few minutes later I heard her say, "OK, here we go!"  She was pushing.  I asked someone to hurry and get the vinyl/flannel tablecloth that had been intended to protect the mattress on the guest bed in case she birthed in there.  It was slid under her while I donned gloves and grabbed a towel and my stethoscope.  It one push I held the top of a little head in my hands and with subsequent pushes the baby girl was born.  Dried her and made sure she was breathing and threaded her back through the mother's legs so she could sit back and bring her new baby up to her chest.  When the mom leaned back on some pillows against my filing cabinet and picked up her baby, her eyes met mine with a smile and she said, "Well, hello.  This is the first time I've seen your face this morning!"  Made me laugh. Well, she had been a little busy focusing on other things.

So, this one is delivered and now I'm still waiting on a first time mom who is over due by 13 days.  

I have some cooking to do tomorrow for our family dinner and of course, I would really love to be there when my children and grandchildren open their gifts.  Timing is everything in this business.

And two more in the wings

Waiting on a couple more babies to arrive, hopefully soon.  One is a first baby for this mother and the other is baby #8 to the other.  I signed up for a two day advanced midwifery skills workshop on Dec. 14 & 15 and plopped down a nice fee that isn't really refundable, so please pray those babies either come before or after those births!

The workshop is called BEST (Birth Emergency Skills Training) and covers a lot of territory in 2 days.  Not only does it look good on your resume, but the training is critical for those rare times when you really want to make sure you are doing everything you can to get the best outcome.

I managed to get a LOT of Christmas shopping out of the way yesterday by just shopping online.  Should start seeing some boxes arriving soon.  Saved gas money and my time.  With an Amazon Prime membership (thanks Erin!) it really is the smartest way to shop.  I just have mainly the men in my life to shop for now.  Why are they so hard to shop for?

Two-fer

So this past week has held the births of two clients.  One came early Wednesday morning, a 9 lb 12 oz baby boy who joined an older brother and sister.  Beautiful easy birth to a sweet couple.

The 2nd birth was Saturday night and was a baby girl, 7 lbs 14 ozs.  She also joined an older sister and brother.

It was the first home birth for both couples and they both said how much more they enjoyed the experience over their hospital births.  I'm so glad.

Now, I have two other moms due this coming week.  One is a first time mom and the other is a repeat client expecting baby #8.  Looking forward to them both and hoping they wait and space their birthday apart.

Full week of prenatals and a couple of consults coming up also.  I like staying busy.  Atlanta is being very kind to me.