I stand corrected.

A celebrity is able to give birth without a scalpel.

I know!
My jaw is on the floor too!

Twice in a blue moon...

I know a gal from another province who had a multiple gestation that defied the 32 week c/s by some miracle!
Yesterday I read a post by a midwife in Africa, who saw another...
This mother though.... did not have any clue for most of her pregnancy.
But oh my goodness! Those babies are cute!
*WARNING there is a healthy dose of despair and sadness laying beside the story of the quads.

whoa....

So.... been typing like a mad woman.

Been deleting everything ...

over

and

over

and

over!



Finally decided to go with the comedic route.



What do you get after a bottle of wine, some tears, emotional healing and a night of passion?



Pregnant.









NO NOT ME!
*that would require actual physical contact! snort!




My friend R.

I wrote very briefly about her here...

waving hello R!!!!!! I know you come here and lurk.

I'm probably just as scared as you are at the moment. So lets just plod along and make sure that your birth doesn't conflict with any of my other friends who WILL be pregnant this coming year okay?
Deal.
Done.
That goes for the other two as well. You know who you are!
And no I don't expect to be 'hired on' as your doula, just because I was last time either.... I just want to see babies! Purely selfish!

Any good thoughts, vibes, prayers etc... all welcomed for the little monster in training.

Ask for a surgeon, get a scar!

In this case... A woman was left to her own devices, with an 'untrained' captain.

Cripes OB's spend how long training so they can slice you in half to get a breech baby out?

I'll take a Shrimp boat captain any day!
Ask a surgeon to take care of you... of course they are going to whip out their scalpel to help you out with that footling breech!
bah...

Really?

Oh heck, look what the studies say now! ... I had this argument with a pregnant woman a few years ago during my pregnancy with m2. She said that the doctor wouldn't give it to her if it wasn't safe...

And.... c'mon you all know what I'm about to say...
ANOTHER REASON TO AVOID THAT C/S!!!!
T1's are a mainstay of post partum pain management once they turf you from the hospital.

Oh and for all the people south of me... Yeah, our "free health care" can bite it big time too.
What the heck? Wish I'd known about this woman, set her up with the gal I know in Edmonton who had two at home and the other two at the hospital with her quads....
I can't believe that they couldn't have coughed up the money for extra staff for the surgery? Seriously? Because the fact is... this was scheduled! I'm sure overtime wouldn't have cost less than the estimated 600 thousand?

As per usual...

The gal who advocated... buy the hospital ticket and you get the hospital ride....
Brilliant words and I use them all the time... for people who insist on hiring a surgeon to take care of a fairly normal, routine event in the evolution of life...

Today she can eat those words!

READ HERE how hospital birth should be!

GO NOW!

Post a comment. Post a novel... I did!
Post all the reasons. All the "allure"...
NOW!

Why homebirth?

Yeah, gotta be messing with the mom to monsters! She must have set this up....
Nope. Just along for the lovely ride! Thanks Louisa, wonderful midwife in training for the heads up!

Tee hee!

Found a new post up at one of the midwifery blogs I read...
She is now found in a myriad of sites...
This is her newest venture!


Go check her out... my security word was gooppop... how cool is that?

Surreal afternoon...

Very surreal.
The memorial service for wee babe was supposed to be last week, but the dad was only going to arrive on Friday. So it was rescheduled for today.
It was a very small affair. Grandparents, sibling, the OB who delivered babe, minister, myself. And of course the mom and dad. I was fine until the father came over and at his towering 6'4" leaned over and hugged me, started to cry and thanked me for being there to welcome his babe in to the world.

Among the mementos they kept of babe... the diaper from the hospital. Grandma hand embroidered babes name and such on it.
Didn't think I'd ever feel more at a loss than I did with my friend R's request for a baby diaper...

wrong.

Every day I take some photos and document the day for the husband, who is at camp.
As I looked at this one, for that brief moment on the camera...
I realized, I am incredibly lucky.
Trying to figure out rain drops... I added a few more with my tears tonight.
Nothing I can say, nothing I can do to make it any easier for this family, or R. I can only hope that being part of their journey is enough...

Under the title of....

Thank GOD no one ever asked the mom to monsters this when she was pregnant...
*by the way, the comment I left... I held back. REALLY AND TRUELY! I DID! I SWEAR....

Watching too much t.v.

So, as I hunkered down on the sofa to watch Discovery Health's little baby fest for the evening.... Happily knitting away (Goodness I feel so domestic tonight) I realize a recurring thread to most of them.


"what was your plan for labour"


think about it.
c'mon, you all know the answer.

was?

As if it is a done deal.... you've walked in here, and now whatever you had planned can go straight into that plastic bag with your clothes, dignity and confidence...
Or maybe I'm reading too much in to this?
me?
Just sounds so ominous... so wrong.... shouldn't it be "is"?

What is your plan for labour?
Just an observation.
I'll go back to scarfing down my low fat Greek dip.


Here is the recipe!
6 oz feta cheese
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz plain yoghurt (or I've found out that no fat cottage cheese works nicely)
2 cloves garlic minced
Tablespoon of parsely (dried or fresh minced)
Cayenne pepper to taste... I omit this, don't care for it...


I've messed around with it, making it lower fat by purchasing the low/no fat ingredients.



Despite the fact that I ate an entire nanimobar this afternoon.... I am going to seriously watch what I eat this month. The Froot Loops are not up for discussion. July is the only time I get them... and I believe my dear Techie friend did the math and figured out how they were more healthy than some other cereal... can't remember which one, but that is beside the point... I believe her and have a carton of skim milk to offset the horrors.

Night all!

Ahhh summer...

So. Tomorrow brings our friends from former place (and Province) of residence.
Then husband is off to camp on Saturday.
M1 is being parceled out to the in-laws campsite at the beach for a week, or two...
I won't have wireless access for a few days.
Went to see both R and the newly grieving mama tonight. Hopefully they will someday come in contact with one another, different situations, but same loss.

I'm going to finish off packing ummmm everything now.

Hello to my new reader! You know who you are... c'mon join in the fun! Please? I'm really curious! And mostly friendly! I swear! What brought you here?

Next thing is... do I bother to send m1 to school in the morning? He gets to hang out with the grade one students all morning. Think I'll give him the option in the morning. Ahhh see, all is good on the very last day!

Guardedly optimistic....

Had a call last night.

Would I go to a birth?

Won't go in to details, but babe arrived at 22+ weeks (from the looks of things closer to 23 or 24, but we all know OB's and their "due dates"). Sat with mom during neonatal visit. Holy crap that is a lot to absorb!
Mom delivered babe less than two hours later... beautiful baby. Straight to mom, nary an attendant even asked to "check baby over". I brought along some of my receiving blankets... I'm having a hard time letting them go. So I brought a girly looking one and a blue patterned one. The nurse ran and put them through... something? and had them ready to cover babe up for mom later on.
Such incredible respect for mom...
I left after the grandmother arrived from out of Province... with moms blessing.

This morning has been harried. I was waiting for word on a friend, this mom from last night and of course I'm presenting on Sun Sense for m1's classroom...

Word from the friend is pretty optimistic !!! Great big heaving sigh and a few tears* for that message.

Word from mama and wee babe from last night... is babe was calm and content for many hours curled up on mom... briefly in grandmothers arms too. It will be a small memorial service when dad gets home from active duty overseas (hopefully they can get him out in a week or so). She thanked me for being there... not sure what I did other than be there beside her during an incredibly difficult time... I will drop by her home before we go off for the weekend and make sure she knows she can call me any time.

Guarded optimism is my outlook for today...

*okay so I was pretty much sobbing and doing a happy dance... m1 commented to m2 that "mommy is okay, she is just happy and sad all at the same time."
yup kiddo. that is it.

Hey.... I'm not the only raving lunatic!

Whew... and I figured it was only for those of us who are stark raving mad about caesarean awareness.
Apparently not.
Funny how that story has been swept under the carpet...
And this one too.

And this one is for ob gyn kenobi... who seems to holding my comment hostage in the moderation pergatory.... She even asked for hints to help turn around a breech babe.
Yeah, and that baby was GINORMOUS at six pounds something huh?!

*wonder how dr. whoo would feel if she had less than adequate anaethesia? Or complications from the section? I hope she reads the links I sent her.

SQWEEEEEEE!

Ahhhh finally, another Province recognizing midwifery!

I'm starting to wonder about this God thing...

Last year I stomped my feet over this.
This week I'm absolutely livid over the fact that wee Fiona is trying to make a bid to escape at 20 weeks.

Yo God!
Think you've heaped enough on this family yet?
I've said it before.
And I'll say it again.

YOU SUCK.

FINE... I'll admit it... I cried.

But for all the right reasons.
My friend who had an amazing home birth after caesarean... spoke of her midwifery care this afternoon... I got the sneak peak, thankfully because I could barely hear a thing... until she started to cry.
DAMN IT!
The midwife she wanted to thank wasn't there. And isn't 'allowed' to be there.
Some great system, going on over a year since the "inquiry" started....

Witch hunt is more like it. We all know midwives are witches don't we?!
Yeah... lets remove great midwives from practice for years at a time. Sure that makes sense.

So yeah. I cried.
For all the right reasons.

So... its International Midwifery Day in some parts of the world already.
I'm just shy of the official date here at home.
Been finishing off the t-shirts for the monsters.
Been doing a few more placards... yeah, not so many people made any the other night. But all in all a good meeting. So yeah, sniffing markers for me.
So... tomorrow is the big event. Media and of course politicians... bloody freaking politicians.
I got a new slogan for a sign from the net...
People can promise
Midwives deliver.

I changed it to
Politicians can promise...
but midwives deliver!

Not great... but hey, it gets the point across ...
right...
anybody?
huh.
Having huge issues with tomorrow... lots of people I know are going to be there. Most know my penchant for freaking out at the sound of sirens. It's just much harder this week to hold it in. Had two ambulances five doors down on Thursday night. Yeah... that went over well.
Sadly I'm hoping I won't see the midwife who cared for us when md was born... it just might push me over the edge. It has nothing to do with her. With the way things were handled. The birth itself was fine (well... not so much from my end), the first five minutes before the ambulances got there was nothing but a blur of activity and wondering what the heck happened? I never felt scared, I knew they (second midwife and primary midwife) were more than capable of doing what needed to be done ... do not get me started on the paramedics! I just get this nagging guilt... like feeling. For causing such a problem. Can't really explain it. I'm just scared I'll burst in to tears if I see her. And yeah, that will look good! I suppose I shouldn't care how it looks. But its hard to be brave when you are trembling inside.
Okay, time to get my wheat bag warmed up... sniff my way through a sign or two more and hit the sack!
G'night all.

*didn't hit publish last night so... whoops. Got another four signs done. Warmed up the toes and got some sleep

Happy International Midwifery Day!

I really hate politics...

yet... I can't shut up.

An open letter to the party in power right at the moment...
*hey they said in great bold letters
CONTACT US!

Please take a moment when reviewing your health initiatives and realize this brual statistic. Close to one full third of women in Canada are being told that they can not give birth and must subject themselves to surgery in order to deliver their baby. The world health organization indicates that this should fall under 15%. The increase in maternal/fetal complications for surgical birth is undisputed in the medical community. This then has a massive impact on the system for the care of both the mother and infant, the costs are amazing. I will defer the ramifications of the post partum period when a whole host of other issues also impact the new family and medical system. Now take a moment and look at first world/industrialized countries who have midwifery as a primary care for mothers... YOU COULD SAVE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! As well as saving thousands of women trapped in the system that is all about how dangerous birth is. Many who are seeking midwifery as a viable option, but can not access this crucial service.The report your Honorable Ms. Oswald has been shelving forever. You know the one, take a look. We need to have more midwives. We need to have a training program here, where women wouldn't have to leave their families and support systems to train. It will be too late for me to do it. I have wanted to be a midwife since I was a child and our friend would come for dinner and regale me with homebirth stories..
Please don't let women in this Province down.

I know that it really doesn't matter that our cesarean rate is high.
I know it doesn't matter that all women seeking care can't access midwifery during their pregnancies.
I know it doesn't matter that the midwives we have are burning out and are under incredible stress.
I know it doesn't matter if we have no where to train new midwives.
I know it doesn't matter that this impacts women more than men.
I know that what matters is the amount of votes an issue gets.

As frustrated as I am with the Honorable Ms. Oswalds office... I've lived in Alberta... I will not vote PC.
I wish I could vote for the NDP with the knowledge that my vote meant something. I hope that after reading this... it might.
Please don't let us down.

mm
mother to three
primary cesarean son
second son born at home with competent and superior care of Registered Midwives.
a daughter born at home with the superior care midwives again.

Someone take me out of my misery...

In three hours... I'll be trying to breathe... I'll be setting up the hand outs... I'll be going over the words my co-presenter wrote...
Someone
Kill
Me
NOW!!!!

breathe.... breathe.... breathe....

No, I'm not procrastinating... I'm taking a break from freaking out over having enough information and backing up my words with the right studies...

OHMYGOODNESSI'MSOSCARED!

eep.

And you all thought I'd be so ready for this didn't you?! Yeah, that mom to monsters knows her stuff about caesareans and vbac like the back of her hand...
Lets just say her hand is shaking a bit... not so easy, now is it!

EEEP!!!!!!!