Mother's day weekend

Since I haven't blogged in a few days I shall play catch-up now :)

It was a busy weekend for us and I wasn't necessarily up to it...but oh well! Friday night my mom and I had to finish shopping for my older daughter's birthday party. Plus we took the girls to get badly needed haircuts. My older daughter was looking pretty wild and woolly! Saturday we cleaned the house up for company. Then I ran errands, wrapped presents. My daughter's birthday was actually on Mother's Day but she had invited a few friends over for a party Saturday night. It was supposed to be a sleepover, however I had forgotten that Mother's Day was the next day so no one was gonna sleep over - not necessarily a bad thing. They had a good time and my daughter really seemed to enjoy herself. My mom took my younger daughter out for a while to keep her out of her sister's hair. Sunday, I got called in for a personal patient of mine....

This was her second baby, I had caught the first one. I was very excited to be there with her. She is a natural childbirther and does it so beautifully! She had a good bit of tearing with her first and really wanted to try and avoid that this time. She was determined to slow down this time on pushing the baby out. Well, she didn't get much of a choice! She came in and was 8cms with intact membranes. She ruptured spontaneously and felt pushy after awhile. I had her husband take a couple pics of her because she looked so beautiful...in her own place and space. I kinda wish I had taken one but I didn't want to disturb her by asking (I'm trying to really follow what Michel Odent had to say about quietness at birth - I talk a lot and probably too much, even though I am very quiet about it). She started to push a little but soon got frustrated because she felt like the urge wasn't strong enough but she wanted to be done. I suggested a side-lying position (I was thinking this baby was sunny side up), which she tried and actually was able to doze for a bit. Once she started pushing again, she was really serious about it. She pushed for about 20 minutes, birthing a cute little boy in direct OP who weighed more than a pound bigger than his sibling! Her tearting was minimal - I only sutured because there was a little flap of skin that wouldn't have healed right. All told, she was there for three and a half hours. She felt very happy and content with her experience. As much as I wouldn't want to lose her as a client - she really should be doing homebirthing!

I then went home and slept. Got up in time for my mother and soon-to-be stepfather's arrival. We had planned to spend the afternoon in the pool with the kids, having a drink (or four) and cooking out. Then off to bed as I was on call the next morning and scheduled to go in for a section at 7:30am.