It Never Rains, but it Pours

My first solo flight and two babies were born before noon yesterday. One was a multip, "E" having her 5th baby. She lives 2 minutes from my house. I missed the birth. But, I wasn't at home when she was close to having her baby.

4:18 AM, phone call from my primip ("C") due 1/23/08. "My water just broke." Water was clear, baby moving good, mild contractions every 5 minutes or so. She was going to try and sleep more. I told her to call by 7 AM or sooner if things changed. She said she'd been having mild contractions since about 3:30 AM.

5:25 AM phone call from E. "I'm having ctx about every five minutes. No bloody show, but some diarrhea." She says she's ready for me to come. I warn her that I have a first timer whose water just broke an hour ago.

I get dressed, call MountainMama, brush my teeth.

5:30 AM phone call. C's husband. "Her contractions are a lot stronger now." I hear her BELLOWING in the background. That, "I'm going to push soon" bellow. I make a split second decision that she sounds like she's further along and I need to go to her. I call MountainMama back and tell her to go to E and assess. I call three different midwives before I find one who can try and make it. She lives 2 hours away.

6:06 AM arrive at the primip. Her ctx are on top of each other. She's really vocalizing. I check her and she's 2 cm, but the cervix is soooooooooooooo thin, that I wonder how it's even not all the way open. I've never felt a cervix so thin. If I didn't have some experience, I would have probably called her complete, but there it was -- that little tissue paper thin cervix. I knew that was a harbinger of a fast labor! I call the other midwife and tell her what's up. I call MountainMama. The other mom seems (behavior signpost-wise) "maybe 6 cm". I ask her to please try and check her (she's never done that before) and call me back. I tell her that if E starts to look close to birth, she should call me so I can come. She says she's fine, really. I say, well, they hired me as their midwife and I need to be there if I can.

7:25 MountainMama calls The multip is 9 cm. I quick check the primip. She's 5 cm (it's only been an hour and 10 minutes) now. I tell C I'm going to go catch the other baby and I'll be back within 2 hours. She doesn't want me to leave, but understands. I call the other midwife, she's still 45 minutes out, but I’m 30 minutes away myself.

I get on the road. 10 minutes later, I get a call from my apprentice. Baby is out. SHOOT!!!! I call the other midwife and turn around to go back to the primip.

Get back to her at like 7:50. By 9 AM, she has a tiny sliver of lip and she's getting grunty. MountainMama arrives at 9:25 am. At 9:55 C is complete and pushing. Heart tones were low 100's and I tell her we need to have a baby pretty quick. She pushes like a champ and at 10:26 we have a baby boy with a nuchal cord and hand.

Neither mom bled, neither tore. Both are ecstatic with their babies! The primip was 38 weeks and 3 and the multip was 41 and 3. Both had calcified, used up placentas. Isn't that funny?

I feel REALLY BAD that I missed the multips birth. It was a judgment call I had to make. I felt that if the multip had her baby without me there, she would be fine, but the primip might freak out a little more.

As that prime's baby crowned, she started to cry and say, "My son! My son! There's my baby!" I told her, "reach down and take your baby!" and she did and burst into tears of joy, clutching her wet purple baby to her chest and crowing, "He's perfect! He's beautiful! We have a son!" I cried. I don't often cry at births anymore, but I sobbed like a baby myself at this one. The primip's mom and dad were driving from their home 15 hours away. As soon as the baby was out, they called Grandma and Grandpa on speaker phone and announced the baby. The grandparents were also yelling and crying and rejoicing. It was the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time.

And I LOVE WHAT I DO!

I am convinced that if everyone in the world could love what they do as much as I do, there would be no war. I know it's not all sunshine and roses. I know there will be days when I will have sorrow, pain, or want to quit. But right at this moment, I am over the moon.