Cyril Jane ~ my 30th Birth!

This little girl was born on April 29th 2008 at 3:34 am. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz. 

Her mother was one of my continuities. She had come in the day before thinking she was in labor but she wasn't. She went home after spending an hour in the birth room listening to other women in labor without even having an internal exam. She returned the following day in real labor. When she came in she was only 3 cm so i sent her home. She returned three hours later in very active labor and delivered within a few hours. It went fast... very fast. But in the end she only had to push for 15 minutes when her little girl was born.

Cyril's father was the one to cut the cord and give her her first bath.

Myca Faulin Baby # 24

Jenevive is my continuity. She texted me early one morning but I didn't get it until someone at the clinic texted me saying she was there. When I arrived she was 7 cm with strong contractions. About 15 minutes later, her water broke and immediately she wanted to push. She only pushed for 7 minutes when little Myca Faulin was born! Her husband really caught my attention. He cared for her so lovingly while doing so on crutches. He has a lame leg.

Baby # 22 Dhionne Kate

This is my continuity. She started texting me about 1am while I was working night shift. She was showing signs of early labor and I told her to stay at home until she was further along but she came anyway. It was a stormy night and she came in dripping wet and still in early labor. But she was far enough along, so I let her stay. It was going to be a long day is all I could think. We both needed sleep but she said she couldn't sleep... so I wasn't going to get any either! :- )

She labored fairly well but because she refused to rest the night before, was exhausted when it came time to push. I had to insert an IV. She tried to push too soon as well which made her cervix swell. She breathed through contractions but ultimately my supervisor chose to push her anterior lip back. Little Dhionne Kate was born 40 minutes later. All in all, she was at the clinic for over 12 hours. But looking back on it, i'm glad that i got to walk through it with her.

Ede Jr's Big Day!

An-An is one of my continuities. She has a remarkable history of birthing small babies. I took her as a continuity after seeing that her fundal height had not increased week after week. I was concerned that her baby would have complications and wanted to make sure someone follow up closely on her. The great news is An-An labored really well and had her baby after about 4 1/2 hours of labor. He was small but healthy.

This is her third child. When she had her last child, she was out in the mountains visiting her family. One day, she was alone in the house when the contractions started and gave birth completely unassisted after a very short labor! :-) She is a remarkable woman.

Precious Stones and Purple Flowers!

I got a call one evening around 9pm telling me that my continuity had just arrived at the clinic in labor. I had been praying for this lovely girl for quite some time after taking her as a continuity when I learned of her gynecological history. Her last two babies were delivered stillborn at the local hospital at 8 months and the doctors could not explain why.

This was her fourth pregnancy. She has a little boy at home who is five years old and seemed a bit nervous about her newest addition. I prayed with her, followed up on fetal movement charts and encouraged her to get an ultrasound. After she moved on into her 8th month and approached her due date, the fear of losing her baby was not as palatable even if it was still possible. She started looking happy and even excited about the birth. But she stayed reserved about it.

So when she came to the clinic in labor, I rushed over. It was a strange birth in so many ways. Her husband was attentive but I could tell he was a ball of nerves. I don't know why it never occurred to me before that he would be just as concerned as she that this baby live. I guess since I didn't see him for check ups, I sort of forgot about him.

Ruby was only 4 cm when I first checked her but her labor progressed well. She started getting "pushy" 3 1/2 hours later but she had a anterior cervical lip that needed to addressed. I got her on her hands and knees and let her push through several contractions that way, but she started showing signs of not coping well. It wasn't the physical but the emotional pain that was holding her back. My supervisor came to help and did perineal pressure to help the baby's head descend. She pretended to push somewhat but it was evident (at least from our end) she was not pushing at all. She tensed her body, she strained her neck, she got in the right position but SHE DID NOT PUSH!

We walked her through it for over an hour, we tried talking to her and asked what she was thinking. We encouraged her in every way we knew how but there was no progress. In fact, she was litterally crawling backwards on the bed away from me and my supervisor. We had to tell her to scoot back to the center of the bed twice. She thrashed and pretended to push but still didn't. Her baby's heart tones dropped dramatically and I have to admit there was a lot more stress in the room than I would have liked. One of my colleagues started telling her in Vasaya that if she didn't have her baby soon then we'd have to transport her to the hospital. It wasn't to that point yet, but apparently it got her attention and she pushed for real. From that point on, I believe little baby Iris was born within 15 minutes!

Iris came out completely posterior meaning she was looking up at me instead down at the bed when she was born. She was healthy and breathed well from the first minute. Ruby however fainted immediately. I believe it was the strain of the emotional stress because she had not lost much blood at all. She was perfectly normal when it came to her vital signs. It was just the fear and the potential pain. She woke up quickly afterwards and both have been doing great since then. Iris is healthy and strong and Ruby is doing very well recovering from the birth. This picture is of us all at their three week check.

My first Continuity! ~ baby #6

Meet little Curt Wynn born December 14th at 12:04 pm, weighing 3740 grams!
Look at those cute chubby cheeks!!!

His mom, Menchie, is my first continuity. A continuity is a woman who I follow along with from prenatals and am on call for their birth when they go into labor. So when I got call from her two weeks before her due date I wasn't too surprised. This is her fourth baby and mothers who have had babies before tend to deliver a few weeks early. She had lost her last baby at 5 months for unknown reasons. That is why I took her as a continuity.

She texted me at 6 am that morning asking if it was okay not to come to her prenatal appointment because she had labor pains and was going to wait until her water broke before she came in. She didn't want to have to come in twice. Knowing that this was her fourth baby, I didn't want her to wait too long. I texted her back asking 'how far apart are your contractions?' She answered me by saying 'I live on such a such street in ABC district!'

Obviously we had a failure to communicate. I gave her my home phone number and asked her to call me. I asked her how strong the 'pain' was, and whether it was high or low on her belly. She tried to answer me but was having a hard time talking through the contraction. It was that strong! I told her not to wait and to come in as soon as she could. She made it to the clinic about an hour later and when i did and IE on her, she was already 8 cm! She labored well and a few hours later gave birth to a chubby cheeks little boy! But her water didn't break until the head came out! So had she waited, she would of had her baby at home! :- )