Waiting on a baby girl who was "due" on Valentine's Day but obviously has another day all picked out and I have another mom expecting a little boy who is "due" on Sunday.
In the mean time, the Georgia Birth Network has planned a workshop for the public on Sunday afternoon on Midwifery Options in Georgia and I have been asked to sit on a discussion panel. Praying both babies will choose another day other than Sunday for their birthday.
Mommas have been keeping me busy though. The life of a midwife includes so much more than just catching a baby. There are the phone calls and emails from those curious about home birth and wanting to schedule a consult. There are current clients who may be suffering from nausea, backache, urinary tract infection or a bad case of the sniffles and they call wanting to know how to make it go away. They call for advise about doulas and childbirth classes and recommendations for chiropractors. They call to say they "think" they might be in labor.....but no, the contractions went away. They call postpartum with breastfeeding concerns, worries about whether their baby's umbilical cord looks normal or not, and to report that an older sibling is sick and what should they do? They call when they are concerned about wet or poopy diapers, whether they can go up and down their stairs, if they can start exercising again. They call to reschedule appointments and to say their check is in the mail. They call to let me know they got their labs done and do I have the results yet? They call for a referral for an ultrasound or worries that the baby isn't moving as much today as yesterday. Sometimes if I send them in for a trip to the emergency room I also have to make arrangements to get records into the hands of those who are evaluating my client.
A lot of this is covered in their birth notebook that I give them at the beginning of providing their care. But there is something about the sound of a reassuring voice at an appointment or over the phone that lets them know this is all normal. That's why my phone is never very far from me and why I walk around Whole Foods trying to discretely talk about breastfeeding issues while picking fruits and vegetables. I mean, sometimes when discussing breastfeeding issues, you just gotta use the term nipple, folks! It's why my husband and son (who live with me) are quite familiar with all the names of body parts that get openly discussed when they are eating a meal with me while I'm trying to Q and A with a client over the phone. Poor guys!
Today, my heart is pulled towards my youngest daughter who is under my care for this pregnancy. She's just past 28 weeks and has a history of premature labor but she never actually delivers prematurely, just seems to have episodes of painful frequent contractions. She has had this twice in the last week. The first time it stopped but last night they did not and so far this morning, they still haven't. I asked them to head to the hospital for evaluation. Even though she is still contracting, it is not producing any changes in the cervix. All of her tests are normal and they are giving her meds, but so far she is still contracting.
Those are the phone calls that pull at you.
In the mean time, the Georgia Birth Network has planned a workshop for the public on Sunday afternoon on Midwifery Options in Georgia and I have been asked to sit on a discussion panel. Praying both babies will choose another day other than Sunday for their birthday.
Mommas have been keeping me busy though. The life of a midwife includes so much more than just catching a baby. There are the phone calls and emails from those curious about home birth and wanting to schedule a consult. There are current clients who may be suffering from nausea, backache, urinary tract infection or a bad case of the sniffles and they call wanting to know how to make it go away. They call for advise about doulas and childbirth classes and recommendations for chiropractors. They call to say they "think" they might be in labor.....but no, the contractions went away. They call postpartum with breastfeeding concerns, worries about whether their baby's umbilical cord looks normal or not, and to report that an older sibling is sick and what should they do? They call when they are concerned about wet or poopy diapers, whether they can go up and down their stairs, if they can start exercising again. They call to reschedule appointments and to say their check is in the mail. They call to let me know they got their labs done and do I have the results yet? They call for a referral for an ultrasound or worries that the baby isn't moving as much today as yesterday. Sometimes if I send them in for a trip to the emergency room I also have to make arrangements to get records into the hands of those who are evaluating my client.
A lot of this is covered in their birth notebook that I give them at the beginning of providing their care. But there is something about the sound of a reassuring voice at an appointment or over the phone that lets them know this is all normal. That's why my phone is never very far from me and why I walk around Whole Foods trying to discretely talk about breastfeeding issues while picking fruits and vegetables. I mean, sometimes when discussing breastfeeding issues, you just gotta use the term nipple, folks! It's why my husband and son (who live with me) are quite familiar with all the names of body parts that get openly discussed when they are eating a meal with me while I'm trying to Q and A with a client over the phone. Poor guys!
Today, my heart is pulled towards my youngest daughter who is under my care for this pregnancy. She's just past 28 weeks and has a history of premature labor but she never actually delivers prematurely, just seems to have episodes of painful frequent contractions. She has had this twice in the last week. The first time it stopped but last night they did not and so far this morning, they still haven't. I asked them to head to the hospital for evaluation. Even though she is still contracting, it is not producing any changes in the cervix. All of her tests are normal and they are giving her meds, but so far she is still contracting.
Those are the phone calls that pull at you.
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