On the Way!

I am lining up an apprenticeship as we speak. Lets cross our fingers that my last obstacle moves out of the way...my car. We have someone coming to look at it tomorrow, and he thinks that it will be an easy fix at this point. I sure hope so. I need that baby to run well so that I can drive all over the place for births and prenatal appointments.

Finding this apprenticeship just sort of fell in my lap, which was a surprise since so many midwives say the hardest part in becoming one is finding an apprenticeship. I am in an area where midwifery is available but border line illegal. So midwives sort of practice under the radar and cross their fingers a lot.

I had emailed this particular midwife a month or so ago, and got a good response back, saying that she was looking for an assistant in my area (she covers a HUGE radius). I wanted to meet with her, but had not gotten a response. I went to my midwifery class a week ago (which was awesome BTW), and they all told me that the midwife I contacted was awesome and that I should jump on the chance to work with here. A few emails later, and we are lining up a meeting and hopefully I will start to work with her by the spring. Yay!

She has even said that due to her not having any help close to my area that she wants to put me on a fast track so that I will attend births sooner than her assistants in more staffed areas. She is also totally on board with signing off on NARM skills and helping me get ready for that as well. I am hoping in 3-4 years I will be sitting for the NARM exam and be an independent midwife.

I am very, very, very excited about all of this. I have the feeling that this is what God intends for me...after all, why else would it all fall into place so easily?

Plan for the New Year

So, I totally forgot about a great opportunity not far from me.

I need to start taking some midwifery classes or at least meet with some midwifes in the area (closest are an hour or so away). I emailed those midwives in November and they informed me that not only would they love to meet me with me, but that they do a midwifery series once a month. The midwife I contacted, and a midwife from The Farm (!!!!) holds the classes each month. Even better...they only cost $100 per class. That is not bad at all considering that if I were to go to the series at The Farm it is going to cost me about $1000.

So after we get our transportation squared away, I am going to try to get to those every month.

Yay! for a plan.

The Full Birth Story of my Son

This is the story of August’s Birth, both from what I wrote a few days after and what I am adding from memory as of his first birthday. The “added” parts will be [in brackets].

Well August – you are here! You were born on December 29^th, 2010 at 2:57pm. You weighed 6lbs 1oz and were 19 inches long. As I write this, you are laying on the bed in front of me, yawning and looking so heavenly.

On the 28^th, we went in for our midwife appointment. Though I was 2cm dilated and about 70% effaced, she said not to worry, that I wouldn’t be going into labor any time soon…well your daddy and I went into Orlando after the appointment and walked around IKEA [I really wanted the Swedish meatballs, and it was our favorite place to walk. We were at IKEA for about 2 hours.] and the Florida Mall [we were there for about another two hours]. My back was hurting more than usual but I just thought it was because of all the walking. [Now that I look back on it, I had to stop walking often, every few minutes. I was in early labor and thought I was just having back spasms again. Little did I know.]

We came home and had dinner [pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and broccoli, which I cooked] and turned in early. I was very excited about the baby shower the next day. Around 10pm, I started to have contractions, mostly in my lower back. At first I thought it was nothing [more back spasms, which were off and on all evening] but I had timed them anyway. They were lasting about one minute and were about 10 minutes apart. That is the pattern of early labor! I let your dad sleep since I knew he would need it later, and I tried to sleep as well [I was hoping that this would just go away, since I wanted to go the baby shower the next day]. I was woken up at 2:30am with stronger contractions.

I lay in bed and timed those contractions for about an hour. Lasting one minute and only 5 minutes apart – active labor! I decided to go to the bathroom and maybe a shower before waking your dad [Again, I was hoping it would go away. I knew that to make sure it wasn’t a “false alarm” that I could go the bathroom, have some water, and take a shower or bath and see if it died down]. I got to the bathroom and my water broke [Everywhere, movie style]! I carefully walked back to the bedroom and woke David – it was time to go. Luckily your dad thought ahead and already had your bag and mine in the car. [We also got towels for the car, since I was still leaking fluid every time I had a contraction.] We stopped for some Gatorade [Mommy Power Juice!] and hit the road.

The midwife Michelle Gawne was surprised to see us in labor – she had just had our appointment that day. By the time we got there the contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds to a minute each [I would say that the car ride was the most uncomfortable part since I couldn’t move or sway with each one. I plugged into my HypnoBirthing and just zoned out totally while your dad drove and called the family]. I was checked for dilation – I was about 6cm I think, and then I got into the Jacuzzi tub. [I also had an IV line put in just long enough to get some medicine in for GBS to protect you just in case, but they put it in pretty fast and then took the line out…Mommy hates needles and IVs.]It was about 4:40am. Your Grandma Michelle got there about 30 minutes later. While your dad and I worked through the contractions we listened to soft music [Lots of Cory Smith, Jewel, Counting Crows, and others from our favorite soft rock groups] and the HypnoBirthing CD [which we had practiced with every night since about the sixth month of the pregnancy]. I was able to stay calm and quiet for most the labor and birth because your dad was such a calming presence. [Your dad was the only person who could tell when I was having a contraction for most of the labor] I had to get in and out of the tub a few times because I was getting too hot, but you were just fine. [Fun fact, the way that I helped to zone out during contractions got more interesting as time went on. Eventually I was having your dad pour cold water slowly down my face during each one. Don’t know why…but it felt perfect.]

At around 10am, things started to get more intense. You were trying to start moving down and I was almost fully dilated. I was in and out of the tub a few more times to try other positions to help you move down. [I really lost track of time, we were in labor at the birth center for about 11-12 hours, but it felt like only a couple of hours to me – I just sort of zoned out.]

I am not sure what time it was, but I started to feel a lot of pressure…that was you moving down into the birth canal. I began to feel the urge to push.  I moved all around. I used the birth stool (not my favorite), the ball, standing, hands and knees on the bed. You would not move down for anything. We figured out that you were stuck at the pubic bone, and tried some more moving. After what seemed like a lifetime, we decided to quickly flip me from hands and knees to laying down flat on my back. With that quick movement - I could feel you make that last turn and start to crown! At this point the crowning/pushing felt like a lifetime. [I only pushed for 15-20 minutes, so it was definitely not a lifetime]. Your dad held my hand and supported my right leg while I started to really push you out. Feeling your little head gave me the power to get you into my arms. It was not the most comfortable feeling in the world, but it wasn’t pain. It was intense and too much to wrap my mind around. I sort of went into some other part of me and knew what to do [The way I would describe it is that my “wild woman” came out and took care of business]. You started your way out and I called for you. It was the most powerful moment I have ever felt. I yelled for you and held out my arms for you. They laid you on my chest and I loved you with every fiber of my being. [You stayed there on my chest for over an hour. Your father and I just admired you and you had your first meal at my breast only minutes after coming into the world. No one poked you, rubbed you, cleaned you, messed with you, until we got our time to meet each other and have a calm hour to ourselves. It was bliss. I cannot even imagine someone taking you from my arms at that time, and I am so glad that we were with a midwife and not in a hospital where they would have taken you away to “check you” before we got our time. You were not removed from my arms or your fathers for about 3 hours after your birth. Those first moments of your life, when we just breathed each other in and gazed at each other are moments that changed my life forever.]



Please ignore the really glamorous hair/face...I had just given birth. :)



It seems that we waited so long for you, and now I can’t believe you are here! I look at you and see a miracle – a little piece of your father and I’s love in the most adorable package. I love you August and I always will, more than you will ever know.

Love, Your mom