Birth Stories

Back To Top Of Page

Niahah Rose's Birth**

May 5, 1999

Theresa came to me at just under 30 weeks. She had a nine month old infant, and wasn’t happy about this pregnancy. She had originally intended an abortion. She didn’t like motherhood and didn’t want another baby. She was on the pill when she conceived so we had some dating issues to work with. She had no money and qualified for food stamps. She was adamant that she wanted to give the baby up for adoption. I connected her with an adoptive family. They hit it off. I believe this family provided a safe space for Theresa to explore motherhood from various points. Her pregnancy unfolded nicely. She kept in contact with the adoptive family on a weekly basis. Having been adopted herself, and having adopted two of her four children, the adoptive mother encouraged Theresa to name her baby. She named her Niahah Rose. After a lot of soul searching, and just a week before the actual birth, Theresa decided she wanted to keep her baby.    On Cinco De Mayo, one week after the established due date, at 2:21 AM, Theresa called stating her water had broken, clear, no contractions, but she didn’t feel the baby move. The baby had been too high to reach at the last vaginal exam, so I hurried over to her apartment reassured by Theresa that there was no cord hanging between her legs. Niahah Rose was moving when I got there and she had stable heart tones. There was the slightest green tinge to the fluid. Since there were no contractions, we decided to sleep awhile. I returned to my home, which was just ten minutes away, and took a little nap. At 5:30 she called me back, stating the contractions had started and they really hurt; she asked me to come back!    By 9:30 AM, after several trips back and forth from the bed to the bath tub, Theresa was feeling she couldn’t go on. Her mother in law really got in there and kept her going. At 10:30 AM, she was a very stretchy 8 cm’s dilated!    Niahah made a rapid and easy appearance at 11:18 AM. She had the cord around her shoulder, her abdomen and underneath a thigh! She didn’t want to cry and seemed floppy at birth. She had a good heart rate and was taking shallow breaths. Her cord wasn’t really pulsating when I palpated it just after delivery, but we didn’t cut it immediately just in case there was some oxygenation getting to her from the placenta. At five minutes of age, Noelle, the other midwife present, thought she could feel the cord pulsating. The heart rate was well above 100 even at delivery. We gave her some blow by oxygen and stimulated her well. We gave her about three breaths with a bag, but she was breathing, and getting pink, she just didn’t cry. She was a very peaceful baby. Her tone was improving. She remained stable. Her tone and color were excellent at 5 minutes, but she still scored a 7 for her apgar score. She seemed content to just be. At 20 minutes of age she was on the breast. She gave no signs of distress. At four hours post partum I felt comfortable leaving mother and baby to bond.    On the first post partum visit 24 hours later, Niahah was as red as a tomato! She also had a little facial bruising, which is normal in rapdi deliveries. I was thinking we might have some polycythemia. Polycythemia is a condition of too many red blood cells in the baby’s system. Baby’s actually have more red blood cells while they are growing in utero, and these must be broken down into bilirubin by the liver and eliminated by the intestines in the stool. Extra red blood cells such as in polycythemia vera, do cause Jaundice. I encouraged Theresa to see her doctor the next day just in case the polycythemia might cause a problem. Niahah was healthy and nursing well. She was stooling and urinating. There were no indications of an infection, and there were no risk factors for an infection. Niahah was a perfectly healthy baby from all appearances.    At 52 hours of age, Niahah had her first checkup. I hadn’t seen her that day, but her doctor thought Niahah looked a little jaundiced. She sent her to the hospital for some lab tests. The Hematocrit was 59 and the bilirubin level was 16. Her white blood cell count was 17. This is normal for a baby. Her doctor decided to admit her for bili light treatment.    At that point, Theresa lost faith in the physicians. She called me to come in and see what was going on.    At 10 PM, I was up at the hospital calling the admitting physician. The doctor stated that without these tests she didn’t feel she could sleep at night. She didn’t say it was due to the home delivery, but when I pointed out the infant had no signs of infection, there were only 2 vaginal exams during the entire labor, that the group B strep culture was negative just days before, and the bag of waters was ruptured for only 9 hours and was very low risk... that did not matter to this doctor.     When I asked why the urinary catheterization was necessary when the infant had no signs of a urinary infection, that she was just two days old, and had been in mother's arms and had not been sexually abused, the doctor said that yes, her Hematocrit was elevated; yes, she probably had polycythemia; and yes, she had facial bruising all of which were obvious causes of elevated bili levels, but...she needed to look for other causes too. So she was treating what wasn’t there, just in case it was there. I wondered...Was this not the same physician that 9 months earlier had admitted a 21 day old home birth infant just for 48 hour observation and antibiotics "because we all know home birth babies are more prone to infection"?    I went back in to Niahah Rose’s room and gave Theresa the doctor's rationale. I was able to convey the physician's paranoia that an infection can be deadly in a newborn. It's true they can "crash and burn" even if they don’t have symptoms. I have seen that happen while I worked in the hospital, and once in a birth center.    After 12 hours under bili lights, the bili level was down to 12. This was a great finding because she was three days old! The third day is when bili levels peak. Theresa reported that she did not have a good night, she had been persecuted by the night shift nurse for nursing her baby on demand. We all know, breast milk has a laxative effect. The more a mother nurses her baby, the more stool the baby passes, and the quicker the bilirubin is eliminated from the baby’s system. Theresa was healing her own baby with her breast milk. The same milk that forms antibodies to fight infection. Despite the initial anguish this caused Theresa, this gave the nurses impetus to put the baby in a bili blanket. With another 8 hours or so of that, her bili was down to 10. They took her off the blanket and her bili stabilized at 10 over the next 12 hours. Niahah Rose was discharged home.    Theresa and I kept phone contact that week. She stayed at a relative’s home for a week. I returned for the baby's second PKU test and noticed the baby's right foot where the IV had been was swollen. There was redness extending down to the toes and just above the ankle. There was a bruise about 1/2 inch above the IV insertion site. Niahah withdrew her foot and cried when I touched it. It looked like cellulitis. Theresa had not told me about Niahah’s foot. Theresa said they really had to dig to get the IV started. She felt that it was getting worse, because the swelling was spreading above the ankle. We discussed that IV antibiotics and heat packs are how this is usually treated in the hospital. Theresa indicated her anger over the first hospitalization and adamantly wanted to keep them from starting another IV and from enduring another hospitalization. She was angry that she had taken a healthy baby to the doctor, and her baby had been needlessly treated. I understood her anger.    Theresa decided to veer from the traditional at this point. She kept a watchful eye because she wasn’t sure the alternative approach would work. She knew that she might have to rely on her physician, the one dictated to her by Medicaid, whom she no longer trusted. For two days, Theresa put garlic poultices on Niahah’s foot, and she herself ingested garlic 3 x day with tomato juice so that Niahah would benefit from the antibacterial properties of garlic breast milk. On that second day the redness was gone, but the bruise directly over the insertion site seemed bigger. The swelling remained. I approached the idea of seeing a doctor again, but Theresa did not want that. Since the redness was gone, we decided that the foot must be healing. We’d watch it another day. That evening she tried an epsom salt soak. I called a couple of Reiki practitioners and requested healing on behalf of the baby's foot. The next day, day 3, the swelling was gone and Niahah did not withdraw her foot in pain when I touched it. However, the bruise was larger and had swollen to the size of a large boil, but it wasn’t a boil. It was as if the infection were collecting in one place. Theresa continued with the garlic poultices and she continued to eat garlic three times a day. Theresa also started giving homeopathic Arnica 30C. I returned 2 days after that, and the swelling and fulminating appearance of the bruise had dissolved to a slight fluid pocket and discoloration. Theresa continued the garlic poultices for one more day for good measure, and continued to eat it for three more days.    Due to life circumstances, Theresa did discontinue nursing when Niahah was a month old. Niahah developed seborrheic dermatitis for which she was taken to the same physician. Theresa showed the physician her baby’s foot. The physician was flabbergasted that Theresa did not bring Niahah back for another round of antibiotics, but she agreed that the foot was no longer infected, and did not require treatment.    From a home birth midwife’s perspective, what is ultimately upsetting about this infant's hospitalization is the mind set from which the physician perceived home birth as inherently dangerous. She did not trust the caretaker’s ability to heal her own child. In this instance, because Niahah was born at home, the doctor saw this infant as "infected". She ordered invasive procedures which ultimately did cause a serious infection. This physician did not trust the homeostatic properties innately present in the human body. She did not trust birth. She did not trust Niahah’s mother to take care of Niahah. She did not trust the certified nurse midwife that delivered the infant. It was apparent that this physician viewed home birth as a catastrophe from which she had to save this baby.    **This is a local birth story of a wonderful woman and her beautiful baby. The names have been changed to protect their privacy.

Back To Top Of Page

I got a call saying that Teresa was in labor. I fell out of bed and headed to David and Teresa Luquette's home. It was 6:30 AM. Teresa was having irregular contractions with a tripling type pattern (she would get three in a row and then a long rest). These type of contractions signal either early labor, or a baby in posterior presentation(sunny side up), or a cephalo-feto disproprotion (CPD). A tripling pattern to the contractions can really wear a mom out because they don't get the cervix open, and mom has a tendency to get tired, so she works three times as hard as in a text book labor. Teresa had already been up all night, she hadn't kept up with drinking her fluids, but she was in good spirits. The baby's heart tones were good. We were all set for a healthy home delivery. I suspected Teresa was in early labor. I got her to start drinking fluids so that she wouldn't dehydrate. But I did wait to do the first vaginal exam. The fewer vaginals performed during labor, the less likelihood of introducing infection into the uterus. In addition it would have been disheartening for Teresa if I had told her she was 2 cm dilated, but she had her heart set on hearing 5 cm.    Throughout the morning, Teresa alternated walking and tried an hour or so in the bath tub. We walked outside and watched the neighbors drive by as they headed home from church. Megan, her primary midwife, David and I stayed by her side, offering support and comfort when we could. Finally at about one PM she requested her first vaginal examination. She was 8-9 cm dilated with the right side a little less open the left side. This is usually attributable to the position of the baby, and as the baby rotates, this type of discrepancy rights itself. At two PM Teresa wanted to get in the bathtub. She pushed a little. She really didn't have the urge to push. Megan and I were thinking that the natural process of labor, the effect of the relaxation that the water produces, and the oxytocin released by the warmth of the water as it caresses the mother's nipples would probably cause a water delivery. By three PM, Teresa was out and walking, saying she couldn't take it any longer. David adjusted her back as she arched and held on to him during the labor. In my experience, most women experience the transition phase (or 7-10 cm) in about 45 minutes and are ready to push. However, Teresa was experiencing what we in the hospital would call a deceleration slope. It is a normal phenomenon too. By four PM Teresa still had no urge to push. She was definitely exhibiting signs of being tired. Anne Marie's heart tones stayed strong and stable.    It was apparent Teresa had been up for 36 hours, not having slept last night, and she was pretty tired! After ten hours of labor, my imagination began to work overtime too. I thought this petite 4'8" woman's belly seemed to grow with each contraction. At one point I thought her belly was rounder than she was tall! I began to think that we might need to implement plan B, a hospital transport. I didn't say it out loud, but as we discussed the pros and cons of our options, which were waiting this out a little longer or breaking the bag of waters, I did mention that if breaking the bag of waters didn't work or caused a problem, then we would need to go to plan B. Teresa and David opted rupture of the membranes..    With the next two contractions, I held my finger over the bag of waters. On the second contraction, at 4:15 PM, and with a flood that soaked the three blue chux pads, and some of the floor around their mattress with clear fluid, Anne Marie's head came down. Her heart tones were stable and never once dropped. Over the next 18 minutes Teresa powerfully pushed Anne Marie into this world! She greeted us at 4:38 PM healthy and beautiful, 8# 12 oz. No tears, no complications! Thank-you Lord Jesus.

Back To Top Of Page

By Kara Bertke

My husband and I were married in May of 1996. We desired children from the moment we said "I do." We felt frustrated when our one year anniversary came and went and there was no baby on the way. Six months later, in November, we found out that we were expecting our first child. We were thrilled at this gift from God above. My husband and I decided long before that we would have our baby at home. It was never really a question of where I would have my baby. My husband I had decided that homewas the best place to give birth. I began to see my midwife, Sandra,on a regular basis.    My pregnancy went smoothly and soon my due date arrived...And passed. We waited and waited. Four days after my due date I met with my midwife and she offerred the alternative of a homeopahtic remedy since it would have no effect on my baby's health. She also stripped my membranes hoping to get my cervix to change.     At 5 am on July 9th, I woke and went to the rest room where I passed my mucous plug. I was excited but I tried to calm myself. I crawled back into bed hoping to get a little more sleep. By 5:30, I was having contractions every 5 minutes. I waited a little longer and then called Sandra to tell her I thought that I might be in labor. By 7:30, I was having difficulty talking through the contractions. At 9:00, my midwife came to check me. She said we would be having a baby today! What excitement. This child that my husband and I had prayed for, hoped for, and cried for, would soon enter this world! By 11:30, everyone was at my house. My sister, my husband, Arlen, a friend from church, my midwife and a doula were all there to greet and welcome this child into the world.    I spent some time in the bathtub. It was relaxing and refreshing from the hot summer weather. After a time in the bath, Sandra encouraged me to change positions. I retreated to our bedroom, crawled onto the bed, and postioned myself on all fours. My back was causing me great discomfort, and the baby was posterior. After some time in this position, I was ready to return to the bathtub. I had lounged in the tub for awhile when my body began to push. It was a strange sensation. Around 4:00, while my body was pushing, I felt a pop and some warm water disperse between my legs. I looked wide-eyed at my midwife and demanded, "What was that?" As calmly as she had always been, Sandra told me my water had broken. She reminded me not to fight what my body wanted to do, but to render myself to my body's urges. Once I accepted my body's pushes, the contractions were tolerable. Later, I got out of the tub and returned to our bed. It was here that I began the long journey of pushing my baby into the world. Sandra told meto focus my energy on pushing my baby down the birth canal instead of wasting so much energy through my mouth. When I finally focused on getting our baby to come out, I began to make progress.    I finally heard my midwife say that she could see the baby's head! What an encouraging report. I continued to push. After what seemed like a long time, Sandra told me that the baby's head would soon emerge. She explained that I would feel a burning sensation and that birthing the head was the hardest part. So I prepared for the next contraction. As it pounced upon me, I took advantage of it and bore down as hard as I could. The contraction gave me a split second to catch my breath and I bore down again. As my breath and energy were nearing the end, I felt this tiny little nose and chin slide past the walls that had kept it a prisoner for nine months. Our child's head emerged and joy rang throughout the room from all the onlookers. Sandra encouraged me and then told me the shoulders are the next hardest thing that I would have to birth. Again, I waited for the next contraction. When it arrived, I took full advantage and the remaining part of our baby's body entered into this world. Great praise and celebration took place as my friend, Arlen, informed me that our reward was a little boy. Aaron weighed 8# 12oz. and was 21 3/4 inches long. He was placed on my chest and I praised God for His goodness! Our son's birth was all we hoped it would be! Aaron entered this world surrounded by people who loved him. He didn't have any drugs to distract him from learning to nurse or from drinking in his parents' proud faces. He wasn't swept away into a nursery to have a rubber nipple stuck into his mouth and made to drink of some man made formula. When I remember back to my son's birth I am filled with thankfulness, gladness and joy.    Kara and Richard Bertke gave birth to Aaron July 9th, 1998 at 6:14 pm. in the privacy and comfort of their home. Kara wrote this birth memoir.

Back To Top Of Page

Back To Top Of Page

Lisa contacted me when she was about four months pregnant. She had her first baby at home. Her second baby was born in the hospital. She hated the hospital birthing experience. She definitely was not sold on epidurals! Now with this third baby, having known what both of her options were, she wanted a home birth! She'd seen both worlds and knew that home was the best place.    Her pregnancy unfolded without too many glitches. At least none that didn't resolve. On her first visit, she confessed that she was unsure of when her last menstrual period had actually occurred. She had three episodes of bleeding that could have been the first day of her LMP. On her first bi-manual exam, we matched up the size of her uterus to the best episode of bleeding and figured that her due date would be May 13th. We discussed having an ultrasound to confirm her due date, but she and Michael never really took the initiative to go and get one. Since her uterus consistently measured in accordance with the date that we chose, I didn't believe that dating was an issue and just knew that her baby would come near it's due date. Other than the fact that Lisa Smoked, but less than 10 per day, and usually around 5 per day she had no further risk factors.     Lisa had a history of fast labors once she was in labor. But did have several hours of prodromal labor. On may 10th, she had contractions all morning, and around 5:30 that evening, although her contractions were every 9-27 minutes her family urged her to call me. We kept in contact by the phone every hour. At eight pm, her contractions were every 3-7 minutes and she noticed some bloody show. Her home being an hour and 15 minutes North of Nacogdoches, I decided it was time to gather my birthing equipment and head to Lisa's. When I arrived, around 9 pm she was doing the dishes, and her next door neighbor, Sue was cooking dinner for every body. Michael was very excited, and was on the phone calling all of their relatives! Her older children, Sabrena, 4 and Dillon who was 7 were there to welcome the baby too, as was her mother, and sisters, and several friends. Lisa's cervix was 3 centimeters dilated, 80% effaced, and the baby was at a -1 station (not quite engaged)with an intact bag of waters. Her contractions were still every four to five minutes. Lisa had a beautiful smile on her face, but stopped to breathe through her contractions. It was still early in her labor yet. We monitored the baby every half hour. We got out the birthing equipment. The blue pads, the bulb syringe, the package of sterile scissors, etc. I carry an oxygen tank and an ambu bag. We set that up, in case the baby needed it. But I actually travel very lightly to a woman's home. I sat on the bed singing and talking with Sabrena, her four year old. She was wide awake! Her big brother though, was winding down and getting ready for bed.     Twenty minutes to midnight, Lisa's contractions picked up to every 2-3 minutes. She requested a vaginal examination, which showed her to still be 3 centimeters dilated, but 100% effaced, and the baby's head now engaged. She had made progress! This was it! We were going to have a baby some time during the night. She settled in her bed, and put on her night gown.     Lisa had back labor. We worked on easing her back pain. She got up to go to the bathroom and noticed lots of bloody show. She was breathing well with the contractions and labor was well underway by midnight. At 1:07 am she requested another vaginal exam because she was starting to get the urge to push. She was seven almost eight centimeters dilated. She got onto her hands and knees to help the baby with the rotation through the pelvis. At 1:15 am Lisa got into a semi reclining position, where we all noticed the baby's head was visible just beneath her labia. She pushed with the next contraction, the bag of waters broke, and Lisa gave birth to her little 7 pound girl, Jacie Marie at 1:18 am. Just 11 minutes from her last vaginal examination! Jacie went directly to Mommy's tummy, and was covered with a towel. The room was filled with tears of joy. Even her daddy was crying.     At 1:30 am the placenta delivered itself with a little help from the midwife. Jacie's umbilical cord was then clamped, and Michael had the privilege of cutting his own daughter free! Jacie was wide awake and alert. She took right to the breast. At 3:45 am, the midwife's work was done. Baby was fine, Lisa was healthy and still excited, so I headed home to get a little sleep.

Back To Top Of Page

Joni chose the home birth option before pregnancy. She came to some of her sister's prenatal visits and discussed the feasibility of home delivery early on. She contacted me for prenatal care at 5-6 weeks. She was also present at Jackie's delivery of Mary Madeline in November of 1998. (Jackie's home birth was previewed in the Spring 99 issue of the Doula Community News).    Joni's pregnancy was fairly easy. She had some pretty bad nausea in the first trimester, but realized that the vitamin B6 she was taking prophylactically to prevent nausea, was actually contributing to it, and so, she stopped taking it and her nausea abated. Towards the end, Joni had a metabolism that tended to lend toward swelling in the heat, so her feet and ankles stayed swollen the last 6 weeks of pregnancy. Her Blood pressure was in the normal range and her urine protein was always normal, so we just realized that swelling was o.k. for her, she rested more, drank more water, and made sure she was eating plenty of protein.     Just after midnight on June 22, Joni called to state her water had broken. It was clear, and the baby was active. She wasn't having contractions so she decided to try and sleep. Unfortunately, I was the one who was so excited that I couldn't sleep. But around 4 am, I finally dozed off. At 5:00 am the phone rang. It was Joni. Her contractions were regular now. I headed over to her home. Her mother and sisters had all had fairly strait forward labors, so I figured Joni's labor would be on the "easy" side for a first time mom!     I made it there by 5:30. At that point Joni wasn't even breathing through her contractions. We opted not to do a vaginal exam until there was an indication. Her baby's heart beat was fine, Joni did not have a temperature. She ate some muffins and sweet rolls, and drank birthing tea with honey. She was laughing and joking with a hearty appetite. This was not labor!     Joni's best friend was there, her mother in law and nurse, who agreed to be my birth assistant, her mother and both her sisters and a doula! Joni, and her best friend and I took a walk up and down her long driveway. She took 3000 mg of vitamin C and sipped on birth tea. We were back from our walk by seven. Her contractions were picking up. By nine am, Joni needed to breathe with the contractions. The women sat around and visited. The men folk sat outside on the porch and did their thing. At ten am, it was evident that her contractions were more uncomfortable. Joni was reporting back pain. By eleven am Joni moved in to her bedroom, and we shut out the party happening in the rest of her house. Derek was so loving and supportive at this time. He lay on the bed with her, and helped her breathe with her contractions. He stayed with her over the hours that followed lending his calm quiet support. We monitored the baby every so often.    At 11:30 Joni wanted me to do a vaginal check. She was still leaking clear fluid. She did not have a fever. She was very good about rinsing her perineum with betadine and water and keeping a clean pad on. She and Derek had opted not to test for group B strep unless they had risk factors. We wanted to be extra careful that Joni or the baby did not get an infection. We watched for external signs of infections such as maternal temperature or a rise in the baby's heart rate. I reluctantly performed our first vaginal exam. I say reluctantly because intrapartum infections are caused by frequent vaginal examinations. Joni was 3 centimeters dilated, 100% effaced and the baby was at a +2 station and was in a posterior presentation,(sunny side up) but the anterior fontanell was palpable right underneath the pubic bone. This meant her baby was not only posterior but was in a military presentation! The largest diameter of the fetal head was trying to birth first. Her pelvis was so big, there were no notches for her baby's head to rest on so that it would tuck it's chin to it's chest and present occiput anterior, the correct fetal position for birth. (There, you've all had an anatomy and physiology lesson in birth!!!) All midwives know that vaginal delivery of a baby presenting military, can be a very difficult delivery. Fortunately, the reason this occurred in Joni is because her pelvis was so large! She definitely came from good birthing stock! Thank you Mom! And thank you Grandma!     Joni was quite disheartened to hear that her contractions had only dilated her to three centimeters. Her mother said a beautiful prayer for strength and God's guidance. Joni settled into the hard work of labor accepting that she was not one of the lucky few who wouldn't feel their contractions. She didn't want to move, but every hour or so, I'd have her turn over and rest on the other side. Turned inward to do the work of birth. Every so often one of us could get her to sip on some water. Derek stayed by her side. We rubbed her back, placed counter pressure on her sacrum. She took a 30C dose of homeopathic pulsatilla hoping this would rotate the baby out of it's posterior presentation. The baby's heart rate stayed stable with accelerations noted. Joni never once exhibited signs of a fever. Her blood pressure went up a little, but was never alarming. Finally I encouraged her to get up and go to the bathroom.     When she came back , it was 3:20 in the afternoon. It had begun to thunder, and rain poured outside. It was a beautiful tribute to God's handiwork. I checked her again and she was 4 centimeters dilated, but as I stretched her cervix to measure it's full dilation, I felt it give way. Joni's cervix opened to 6 centimeters and seemed content to stay. The baby had moved upwards as I exerted a little pressure on baby's head to encourage her to tuck her chin. I stopped very quickly, because the baby wanted to move right up and out of the pelvis. That created the risk of the baby's umbilical cord falling out. We had made wonderful progress. We were all excited by this news. Joni was heartened to go on. By four pm she was feeling quite the urge to push. She rolled on to her left side, and at 4:15 pm she was complete.     The baby still had an anterior fontanell that was palpable, so she was still military and sunny side up. Joni pushed on her left side for awhile, then her right, sipping water between contractions, and by 5:30 pm we were excited to see a little patch of black hair just visible. Baby's heart beat remained strong and steady. Joni pushed hard. I noticed that she made the most progress when she pushed in a reclining position. We tried the left side for a while, then the right side, but the baby seemed to want to recede upwards, so the semi reclining position worked best for Joni. At that point, Joni's mom opened the door to the bedroom to go get something, when three heads fell into the room! We laughed and Joni allowed all of the women, including her father in law's girlfriend, come into her bedroom and sit on the floor to watch the birth and to give Joni encouragement.     It was obvious that Joni did not like the ring of fire sensation as the baby moved forward and out. She would hold back, but she tried to push through it. It hurt. Despite her obvious discomfort, she continued to bring the baby's head out, little by little. At five minutes to six, the baby was crowning, and giving us the turtle sign (Turtle's sign is when the baby's head slowly, slowly starts to crown, but tends to recede at the same time. This is thought to be a sign the shoulders might get stuck during the birth.). The turtle sign had actually been doing that for about 20 minutes. At six, with the baby's head partially on the perimeum, to the eye brows, and Joni exerting all the pressure she could, and the baby seemingly not coming out, we all helped her to stand.     I encouraged her to try to push without a contraction because it would give her more control and prevent tearing. She could not push at all without the contraction, so we waited. With the next contraction, as my hands steadied her perineum, and gently assisted her baby out, I felt a pop, the nose then slipped slowly slowly out, then the mouth, slowly at first, by the time the head was out, the shoulders just fell out! Little Audry made her way into this world at attention at 6:03 pm! She was a chubby little baby with the cord wrapped around her body twice. She weighed 8# 10 oz!!! She cried as I handed her up to mom, still attached to her placenta. Praises to God and joy echoed through Joni's bedroom. What relief! What joy! There were smiles, and congratulations all through out the house. Joni and Derek were elated with their precious gift.     Joni had a second degree tear into the vagina. Because it was bleeding, it required repair. Otherwise, it was positioned so that it would have easily healed without stitches. The stitches were done to stop the bleeding. After all of mom's immediate needs were met, Audry ate her first meal at her mother's breast at 37 minutes of age. All of her family and loved ones shared in the joy of Audry's birth. Joni and Derek were initiated into the special passage of parenthood that day.     All was not roses. Learning to breast feed was a challenge. Audry did not open her mouth wide enough. She sucked blisters on to one breast by the end of the first week. Joni did not give up. Finally the two of them established a mutually agreeable nursing situation. Audry lost almost a pound within the first three days, and even though all was well by day 14, she was still 2 oz under her birth weight. She was healthy and breast feeding well, filling her diapers well. Despite that initial difficulty, Audry is thriving!

Back To Top Of Page

Kim was expecting her third baby. Like all parents she had researched her options well by reading books from the Library, borrowing birth videos and using prior experience. For the third time she chose to begin her birth at home. She prepared for labor with prenatal visits, a healthy diet, and a pot of pregnancy tea a day!!!    Sometime in the wee hours of a cool November morning, her water broke. She wasn’t having contractions. She chose to get more sleep. Later that morning, after she had slept, she got up and walked and tried to bring on the contractions. Around noon she was feeling a few contractions. They were very mild. I arrived to her home just after one pm. She appeared to be in full blown labor and was working well with her contractions. A friend was there to help her. Chester, her husband had just gotten the birthing tub filled, and was working on creating the correct temperature. A little after two Kim climbed into the birthing tub. With the very first contraction in the water, she completely relaxed as she floated. On the next contraction, the baby’s head appeared. Kim reported that she actually wanted to slow down the birth and take her time. But, since the birth was occurring under water, I encouraged her to push the shoulders out with the next contraction. We waited for the contraction. When it came, Hayden slipped into the water and was brought to the surface and floated peacefully. He had apgars of 8 and 10. Ten or so minutes later, Kim felt a knawing back ache signaling that the placenta was ready to separate. Hayden’s cord was clamped & cut, and he was handed to dad for moment while Kim birthed her placenta, then she and Hayden settled into the water for a few more moments of relaxation. Although Hayden weighed 9#14 oz, Kim didn’t have tear!!!

Back To Top Of Page