8.25.2017

Hurricanes and Babies

“To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.” - Maya Angelou


As a doula, I can't think of any better way to describe the great storm that is labor - growing and encompassing, opening and clearing the way for a new life.

As Tropical Storm Harvey gears up to shake, rattle, and roll Texas, I thought it might be prudent to get some Pregnancy Hurricane Preparation into my clients hands.

If you aren't planning to evacuate for the storm, here's a best odds for staying safe in the storm: 

  • If your plan had been to labor at home for as long as possible, know that that plan should change and travel should probably be considered earlier in labor. 
  • This website will help people in the Houston area to know which roads are closed for high water. This will enable you to map the best route more efficiently. https://traffic.houstontranstar.org/roadclosures/roadclosures.aspx?typ=hw
  • Map out where your nearest hospital with L&D, your local ems, and fire departments are, just in case it's needed, and post it on your fridge. 
  • Stock up on snacks and especially water, as water in general, and especially clean water can be scarce. 
Supplies Checklist for Pregnant Mothers:
  • Comfortable traveling clothes, including closed toe shoes
  • Food (nutritious snacks like protein bars, nuts, dried fruit, and granola) and water for 1 week and 1 week supply of medications
  • Printed medical records, in case you need to go to another hospital
  • Phone and Chargers
  • Full tank of gas
  • Emergency birth supplies, such as clean towels, sharp scissors, infant bulb syringe, medical gloves, two white shoelaces, sheets and sanitary pads
In case of an emergency, exclusive breastfeeding will provide the best protection for your baby. It doesn't require water, sterilization of any equipment or water, and doesn't require a heat source - lowering risk for baby during emergency. If you cannot breastfeeding, you should try to get single serve, already prepared formula. If you are a mom who relies on pumped milk, learn to express your milk by hand and have a few syringes and/or disposable cups on hand that you can feed your baby with.

Additional Resources:

http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/stayingsafe_disaster.html

http://www.marchofdimes.com/baby/environment_disaster.html

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

http://www.mymidwife.org/Guide-to-Emergency-Childbirth

11.16.2016

Reasons to LOVE Being Pregnant and Birthing During the Holidays

I know being pregnant during the holidays can carry it's own set of challenges, and some women downright dislike it... but for those of our doula clients that are pregnant during the holidays, this countdown is for you!

10. Most places you live in the U.S. mean that the weather will be much more tolerable than Summer and 8-9 months.

9. People have a better chance of coming to you for Thanksgiving Dinner and Christmas parties - and they bring all the food and clean up. 

8. A great excuse for seconds... and thirds... and fourths..... 

7. Holidays are a great time to practice your happy space for pregnancy, your boundaries, and your thank-you-for-your-unsolicited-advice,-I'm-going-to-ignore-you-now face. 

6. Laboring on a holiday? What a perfect excuse to avoid the awkward family gathering. 

5. Birthing on a holiday? 5 words: You Get All The Leftovers

4. Little one already here for their first holiday? Practice this phrase in the mirror "Please excuse me, I need to take care of the baby". Fussy, tired, hungry, or 'oops I just woke the baby'  is a great time to go to the office, bedroom, etc. to give you some quiet time away from the chaos of family get-togethers, and an excuse to avoid that one person at family gatherings you don't want to see!

3. You can practice all of your holiday puns. "Stuffing", "Turkey", "Gift", etc... c'mon, give me your best shot!

2. You can name your Holiday baby any of the awesome, hippie-like names without fear of being called a hippie! Think about it, Sage, Pumpkin, Cranberry, Yule, Solstice, Samhain, Henny, Mayflower, Fowler, Cornucopia - the possibilities are endless

1. Having a November baby means you probably had a ... good Valentine’s Day. Mid-November is 9 months after February 14th. December baby? Full moon or passover were your most likely candidates. 

11.02.2016

Coping At All Stages - Immediately Postpartum

"For my first, I didn't get to hold him or nurse him until 1 in the morning. I had a bad reaction to the medication. We spent two days in the hospital where I didn't get much help breastfeeding. I was told I had to supplement with formula because of blood sugar. I didn't know about LCs or LLL. I struggled greatly and, at 3 months, stopped breastfeeding. The recovery from a cesarean was very difficult and I had issues doing anything for about a week and a half. 

For my second, after I birthed the placenta, I started to hemorrhage. So I was given some herbs and a shot of pitocin in my leg. I was taken out of the birth pool and onto the floor where they massaged my uterus. It finally slowed when my baby was brought to my chest. They cleaned me up, and I started to nurse. The next day the soreness and pain settled in and I couldn't lay down for a couple of months without being in pain. For about 10 weeks I camped in the living room with my rocking chair. I never went out and smiled and said I was fine. I was really horribly depressed. If it wasn't for a visit to my house by an LC, I don't think I would have kept nursing. It took me till 6 months out to crawl out of my depression. I got a part time job. I wish I would have known about ppd and known to work to process this birth, which was more traumatic in some ways than my cesarean. 

For my third, 6th hours after giving birth, we went to the chiropractor for adjustments. That night I was up and cooking dinner. No postpartum depression, no baby blues, just awesomeness." ~ Allison

"I had a small tear that they stitched up, I didn't even know the placenta was born. Nursing went fine. The anesthesiologist came in and had me sit up to pull out the epidural. That felt weird. I thought I'd be staying in that room - with all the equipment and stuff. I was pleasantly surprised when they came in with a wheelchair a few hours after M was born and said we were moving rooms. I was also wary of my ability to get up.  My butt felt like someone put a cue ball in it and my legs felt like velour. We got up though, and surprisingly I peed. My least favorite thing about postpartum was that I  had a nurse, lactation consultant, doctor, nursery nurse, pediatrician, or food delivery person in my room every. single. hour. Literally, day or night, every hour, someone was coming in. I didn't sleep well until I got home." ~ Amili

"After birth I was not prepared for all the blood and the pressing on the uterus and the stitching up. I used ibuprofen for awhile after birth and went home about 4 hours after he was born. I had one 2nd degree tear and even with it being minor, it wasn't fun for those first weeks. I spent a lot of time preparing for birth but not postpartum recovery, so a lot of it was a shock to me. I was sleep deprived as well and was so grateful for the help of my parents. I did do herbal baths though to help with healing. But yeah, the whole soreness and bleeding and emotional roller coaster, no sleep, and constant breastfeeding was veerrrrryyyy shocking." ~ Chelsea

"It ends up he pooped while I was pushing and they wanted to suction him. When he was back in my arms, he started nursing right away. It hurt. Some observations: no one told me about your legs staying up in stirrups and 30 minutes of strangers staring at your vagina. No one told me about your free postpartum massage; Fundal Massage my ass. No one tells you that birthing your placenta feels like birthing an octopus. No one told me that your tailbone can hurt for a long time after. No one told me that you would feel like your vagina was just in a boxing match with Mike Tyson.... But, also no one told me that I might change my mind about an early discharge and want to stay the full two days so I had 24/7 help. No one told me that I might really need and appreciate the nursery nurse coming in so often to assess his latch (and diagnose a posterior tongue tie a few hours before we left the hospital). Final thoughts, never underestimate the power of sitz baths and boppy pillows to sit on." ~ Liv

Read the rest of Holly's story on her blog, including her postpartum blog post and her cord burning post~ Holly

"We stayed this way with Cole only slipping in to give us a blanket (our request) so we could hold him. Our midwife only slipped in to check his heart rate and his breathing. About 15 minutes later they helped us out of the tub and to the bed. On the way to the bed my placenta fell out. They knew it was coming (we didn't) and caught it in a bowl. They took our food order and did one more once over on baby and I. I appreciated that they didn't bother us. My midwife and doula helped me get him latched, my midwife checked my bottom out and helped me get cleaned up, but then they both left the room to make us breakfast and chart. The placenta stayed in the bowl beside us with a chux over it. A little while later, my midwife came in and helped us with the newborn assessments and asked if I was ok taking an after-birth smoothie to help with my contracting (I wasn't bleeding heavy, just a little more than what she wanted to see). We cut the cord and our doula made cubes out of the placenta for smoothies (and brought one to me right then). My doula did the dishes, cleaned up the birth pool, and did a load of laundry. We just hung out in the bedroom and, after breakfast, nodded off. When we woke, our doula was gone, my sister had arrived and my midwife was packing to leave. My mom came the next day (and my midwife to do the 24 hour assessment), and my postpartum doula came the third. I felt cared for and checked in on." ~ Trinity

"My doctor pushed on my fundus (holy owie) and pulled on my placenta to get it 'unstuck' (owie owie owie). He then gave me pitocin in my IV, cytotec in my bum, and methergine in my thigh. I bled a lot. Things finally settled down and he said I had a tiny tear that didn't need a stitch. The tech started washing me off but I told her I wanted to do that myself. My doula and nurse helped me to the shower and I rinsed off. Postpartum wasn't what I hoped for, they bothered me all the time and told me everything I did was wrong (breastfeeding, sleeping with babies cot right up against my bed and my hand on her, hubbies swaddling technique and diapering technique). We felt we were doing good, but they made us feel inept. That, along with the long line of well meaning visitors.. and we never slept or rested. We requested an early discharge and left 24 hours after baby was born. We did a follow up the day after at the hospital nursery." ~ Kelly

After baby is born, if your hospital does LDRP rooms (Labor, Delivery, Recovery, Postpartum combined), you won't need to worry about moving rooms. Common practice, though, is to have LD rooms and postpartum in another section.

If your postpartum unit is in another area of the hospital, generally you will recover in your LD room for around 2 hours. During that time, a number of things will be happening.

If you have a home birth, your midwife will normally stay for about 2-12 hours afterward, depending on your needs and birth experience, and will perform a lot of the following postpartum care practices. If you are at a birth center, generally you will stay there for 4-12 hours, again depending on the time or day, your needs, and your birth experience, before you head home.

PLACENTA
While you are bonding with your baby and getting to know them, generally your provider will bring

your bottom down to the end of the bed and wait for your placenta. When it's time for your placenta to be born, they may ask you to cough or push to help deliver it and to aid in separating it from your uterus. Usually the provider will give light traction on the cord while you bear down to birth your placenta. Heavy traction or pulling on the cord correlates with an increase of bleeding.

To minimize bleeding, they will most likely provide fundal pressure (aka massage or pushing on the top of your uterus). This helps your uterus to contract. This is very crampy and painful for some women. Other women, it is minimally crampy and painful, and more annoying. Some women feel it is less painful if they place their hand on top of the nurses' hands while they're doing it. Likewise, some women ask the nurse to show them how to do the massage to check their own uterus.

Most women in the hospital setting will receive postpartum pitocin or cytotec for the same reason unless they have a prior agreed upon arrangement with their provider. The postpartum pitocin can be administered via IV or through the muscle as a single shot. Postpartum cytotec is administered rectally. Midwives in most states can carry pitocin or cytotec for this same reason.

REPAIR
Some providers will begin any stitching that needs to be done before the placenta is birthed. Most prefer to start repairs after the placenta is born. If you haven't had an epidural, they will provide lidocaine, a local anesthetic, to the tissue through injection prior to any repairs being done. The stitches that they use are dissolvable. It's important to tell your provider if you have any sharp pain during the repair, although dull pressure is expected. Midwives at home and birth centers can provide lidocaine for repairs as well.

CLEAN UP
After repairs are done and your placenta is birthed, the tech will generally clean you off with warm water, soap, and a washcloth, change out your padding, change the sheets of the bed, and, if the bed was broken down for birth, they will put the bed back together. After you are able to move up in the bed and sit up, they will generally give you an ice pack for your bottom and help you change out your clothing/gown before covering you with blankets.

If you have a home or birth center birth - generally your midwife and/or doula will help you get cleaned up and take a shower or bath, clean up the birth pool and any bed messes, and get you into bed with a pad and soothing compresses.

RECOVERY MISC.

@laughing.moon via Instagram
  • If you had an epidural for a vaginal birth, they will turn off the epidural and remove it. 
  • If you had an epidural and don't have a lot of feeling in your legs, they might empty your bladder with a straight catheter (one that doesn't stay in) once more before leaving for postpartum. 
  • If you had an unmedicated birth or have good mobility, they may have you use the restroom and try to empty your bladder before you head to postpartum. Your midwife at a homebirth would like to see you empty your bladder before she leaves as well.
  • They will offer you something to drink (juice, water, ice) and sometimes a light meal. At home or the birth center, you can eat whatever you'd like. They normally encourage a high protein food and juice for energy. 
  • You will need to have someone (father, partner, doula, other support person) pack up your belongings for changing rooms if you are in the hospital. 
  • Sometime during this time, baby is normally taken to the warmer for any newborn procedures you have agreed to, such as eye erythromycin, vitamin K, and sometimes Hepatitis B. Baby will also be weighed, measured, have a physical assessment, and newborn reflexes checked. If you are at home or the birth center - these all happen in your room and in your presence, oftentimes at the end of your bed so that you and partner can take part in it. 
  • Normally your blood pressure cuff, whether you had an epidural or not, will go off around every 15-30 minutes. Also, you may have a pulse ox on your finger. In home and birth center births, they will check your blood pressure and listen to your respiration before they leave to make sure you are doing well. 
  • Some hospitals remove the saline/hep-lock prior to moving to recovery - others remove it after 12-24 hours in postpartum. 
POSTPARTUM (24-72 HOURS)
Once you are moved to your postpartum room, your hospital will expect you to stay anywhere from 24 - 72 hours after birth. If you would like to be considered for early discharge, let your provider and nursery staff know that. 

When you arrive at postpartum, normally your postpartum nurse will assess you for her own records (another set of vitals, another fundal massage, etc.) and your babies nursery nurse will do another set of vitals on baby (usually in the warmer, but many women request it be done with baby in their arms). If you're at home or a birth center - your midwife will continue to monitor you intermittently before leaving/sending you home. They will provide a list of things to be looking for, what to expect, and when to call them.

Around the time that you arrive in your postpartum room, your  baby will probably be getting very sleepy. This is usually babies longest nap for the coming weeks. Pro Tip: consider not having any visitors until you have taken advantage of babies first nap and napped yourself at the same time. 

If you haven't yet been offered food or to use the restroom, this is usually when they would offer or ask that of you. Pro Tip: since you don't know when you'll birth, consider packing an actual microwaveable meal - otherwise you might get whatever is in the fridge - which is oftentimes cold cut sandwiches. Your nurse should also help you become familiar with any/all of these items that your hospital might have handy: 
  • Peri bottle - this is your bathroom time best friend. Spraying warm water (and sometimes witch hazel) from this bottle onto your bottom before you start to urinate helps dilute the urine, making it less stingy on your stitches, and confuses the tissue in your bottom/urethra, making it easier to 'convince' your body to relax and allow you to urinate. Pro Tip: put a Tucks pad in the peri bottle with the warm water and shake it up. Also, a few drops of peppermint in the toilet bowl can help stimulate the first pee. 
  • Witch Hazel/Tucks pads - these are wonderful to stuff in your pad to help sooth your bottom and bring down swelling/hemorrhoids. 
  • PADS - the pads at the hospital are thick, bulky, and leaky and are kept in place with strange undergarments. They're free, and you go through a lot of them usually - so that's a bonus... Pro Tip: consider using Depends - which are just as absorbent but don't leak nearly as bad - and they keep those soothing cold packs in place better
  • COLD PACKS - some hospitals offer ice in a glove, others have the perineal cold packs. Just like with other times icing, it's best to do 20 minutes of cold, then a break. Thankfully the perineal cold packs only stay cold for 20 minutes. Pro Tip: have someone make you some padsicles for when you get home
  • Medicine and Stool Softeners - your nurse will tell you what pain medication options you have on your chart, but your provider should order ibuprofen or other light pain medication for your discomfort. Also, the stool softeners are to help you with your first bowel movements; and labor makes the system reset, which, in turns means a more difficult time with the first bowel movement most of the time. 
After you've settled into your postpartum room, you will normally have a nurse check on you every 2-3 hours and on baby every 2-3 hours. They also, usually, stagger this care - which results in someone coming into your room every 1-1.5 hours, day and night. Pro Tip: see if they can coordinate both coming in at the same time so that you can rest more without interruption. 

Pro Tip: while at the hospital, take advantage of the nurse staff... when you change diapers, swaddle, bath, or nurse baby - ask for confirmation everything is ok and right. More confident parents from reinforcement means easier adjustment when you get home. 


You should expect your bleeding to taper off dramatically during your stay. Take your time adjusting to baby and nursing and call for help with nursing if/whenever it's pinchy painful. Discharge takes time and is a great opportunity for partner to pack everything in the car so that the only thing left to take out to the car is you and baby. 

I hope this overview of what to expect in every stage has been helpful for women choosing to birth in the hospital. What did your hospital stay include that you weren't expecting/prepared for?  What were you glad for? What worked and what didn't?  

10.25.2016

Coping At All Stages - 2nd Stage (Pushing)


"For my first, n/a - but my anesthesiologist was warm and so kind....

For my second, when the lip was gone and I could push, I pushed for 20 minutes. 

For my third, baby was born at 2:25am after 2 hours and 10 minutes of labor." ~ Allison

"I was so angry at myself. My husband and Cole came back in and I told him I wanted he and my nurse to leave me alone. Cole suggested he go get some coffee. When they left I cried. Cole let me. She then helped me to 'unpack my baggage' as she called it. She told me about laboring down. She told me about sleeping before pushing and how that could help me. She talked to me about options like turning down the epidural, turning it off, or abstaining from pushing the medication button. She talked about what pushing might feel like. We waited an hour and half for me to feel butt pressure and called everyone back at that time. My doctor checked me and baby was sitting so low that I only needed to push for 4 contractions and M slipped out. She was born in the wee hours of morning and didn't leave my arms for 2 hours." ~ Amili

"By the time it was time to push, I got out and onto the bed and pushed on my back until he was under my pubic bone. Then I got back into the tub and pushed there, alternating between bites of fig and sips of water. He was born after a few more pushes..." ~ Chelsea

"My nurse came in and asked to check me. I hopped up on the bed and she said I was 9cm with a lip of cervix. I turned on my side for a contraction and it was miserable. We flipped to the other side and did it on the other side for the next contraction. My doctor came in and checked me and said I was 10 cm and could push whenever I wanted. I wanted to be on all fours but couldn't move. My doctor didn't want me to be in that position either, so I drew my legs back and pushed hard. My contractions had spaced out to about 6 minutes apart and I didn't really feel like I had to push, but I wanted to be done. I pushed and pushed, resting between, with water sips and cold washclothes. It took me 2 hours to feel the urge to push, and another 45 minutes to push him out. 4 billion people came in the room for baby, the doctor, and me. Everyone showed up for the big finale and I took forever to do it. He came out turned to one side and his shoulders didn't come out easy. I tore, but not a lot. I didn't feel it either. When he came out, they unwrapped a cord around his neck, they cut his cord, and took him to the warmer...." ~ Liv

"I got in the tub... One contraction caused me to involuntarily spring forward into a splay-legged position on all fours. (I remained in this position until Julep was nearly born). I could’ve done the splits and still wouldn’t have felt I was open nearly enough. I wanted so badly to stretch my whole pelvis even wider. This compulsion didn’t intend to relieve pain (I wasn’t experiencing any), it was to enhance what already felt good. After my water broke, Julep’s head was in the birth canal. The whole round thing, all of it so suddenly. Cole arrived (ten minutes before Julep would be born). In one moment, I felt Julep kick me from the inside. His whole body, from shoulders to toes, wiggled inside the birth canal right before the contraction that would bring his head out completely. It was a wild, incredible feeling..." ~ Holly

"My midwife showed up and asked if I wanted to get in the tub. It had been about 15 minutes or more since my last contraction. I had totally forgotten about the birth pool. Thankfully my husband had set it up while Cole and I were moving back and forth between the bedroom and bathroom. I hopped in the tub during that long break between expansions (because that's what they really were) and again asked if this huge lull was normal. My husband climbed in with me and I intuitively got into a squat, facing him, with my hands on his shoulders. The next expansion rolled over me and I threw down (like throwing up, involuntary and all-body like) with so much intensity that I howled at the ceiling. My husband matched my howl and it made me feel so primal and sensual. I put one hand between my legs and felt my babies head. My husband put his hand on top of mine and our eyes met. I don't remember a real break in the expansion, as my body just opened, then opened more, then opened more. His head came out into our hands, then he spun on our hands and slipped out effortlessly. I sat back and our four hands drew him up to the surface, where we let him float between us. I was still riding this euphoric wave and our howls had turned into moaning, keening, post orgasmic joyful tears. " ~ Trinity

"... I popped up to work through a contraction, right around when we noticed the blood, and I started moaning through a contraction before suddenly yelping as my water popped, then grunting. Cole asked if I was pushing and I said I didn't know. She asked if I felt like I was pooping and I said yes. She asked if I thought it was time to have a baby and I said 'no, I'm only 4cm'. My nurse came in and asked the same series of questions. I was irritated at them, of course it wasn't time for me to have a baby, I was only 4cm. They were so stupid in my mind. With my next one I sank to my knees and started really pushing. Even between pushes though, I would pant 'just pooping, just pooping'. I know that things got chaotic but I was only focusing on pooping, which was so vastly important and satisfying. Next thing I know, my butt felt totally stretched out and I remember thinking 'oh, it's not a piece of crap, it's a baby', and then I was holding her. I was holding my baby. Total time between my 4cm check and my baby in my arms was 50 minutes. My doctor didn't make it, my nurse and I caught my baby, kneeling on the floor beside the bed. Cole and my nurse helped me into the bed. My doctor came in and proclaimed 'now that was interesting', while the nursery staff came in and saw she was a little floppy. They wanted to take her to the warmer to get her to get more pink and to start crying, but my doctor asked them to do the oxygen with her in my arms, so they did. We clamped and cut the cord a short time later and sat around waiting on the placenta. Baby latched on about 40 minutes after birth, but my placenta wouldn't come out. I kept nodding off to sleep between little crampy contractions..." ~ Kelly

Pushing can be an interesting sensation. Some women say it is like throwing up, in reverse: the involuntary nature of throwing up, that intense pressure moving everything in your core upward... but instead downward. They call that 'throwing down'. Other women say it is like the most intense constipated pressure you will ever feel. Other women say it is an involuntary urge to poop - similar to when you have diarrhea.

Pro Tip: all about pushing and positions here

Pro Tip: when preparing for second stage during pregnancy, practice pushing gently and controlled while going #2 on the toilet. 

Many providers will encourage you to purple push, or hold your breath and push for a count of 10. If you aren't wanting to do that, there are other ways to push.

You can push while envisioning your pelvic floor like an elevator car. Picture your elevator car in the lobby/main floor (not high rise) of a building with many basements. "Take a deep breath in the lobby, now drop your baby lower and lower all the way to the basement - like an elevator".

Pro Tip: when preparing for second stage during pregnancy, you and partner can have a spit bubble making contest. Pay attention to how gentle you have to be with your lips and the pressure you press out with to make a successful spit bubble. 

In pregnancy, I explain that their vagina and butt needs to be as soft as their lips need to be to blow spit bubbles, with just the right amount of pressure. In labor, some partners will say 'blow spit bubbles with your bottom'. It's a great analogy. if they feel tight or scared, tension or burning, it's time to back up and blow more gently so their spit doesn't pop.

Speaking of burning, many women say that, as baby comes to crowning, they feel burning or heat on their perineum. That is their perineum stretching. Being mindful of this stage can minimize the chances of tearing. When mom's feel the burn or the pressure or the stretching or the fire, support teams can say 'that's good, you're stretching, stretchy bottom, soft bottom, relaxed bottom, push when you need, breath when you can.". Say all this really close to their ear and quietly. The tone reflecting what she wants her bottom to achieve. Pro Tip, more on minimizing tearing here

What did your experience of pushing include that you weren't expecting/prepared for? What were you glad for? What worked and what didn't?  

10.24.2016

KNOWHEN Ovulation Predictor - Product Review

I received a sample of the KnoWhen Ovulation Predictor from the manufacturers and provided it to a client (who we'll call Staci) for review. She asked to remain anonymous for family members who are very nosy.

Here's Staci's review in her own words:

"I received the KnoWhen package and initially thought 'it's so small and compact, it can't be accurate!' I don't know why, but we tend to consider the bigger and flashier the product is, the more reliable it is. This package was small, it could fit in my purse - and that's where it went.

That weekend, my partner and I went to a hotel out of town for a friend's wedding. I was excited to
try the KnoWhen Ovulation predictor and set it up by my bedside the night before. We were actively trying to get pregnant, and this was the perfect weekend - right when I *should* be ovulating, on a romantic weekend, away from the children.

I attempted to download their easy-to-use Fertility Monitor App, but my phone refused. I don't know if it was the hotel's WiFi, their system, or my phone - but I couldn't do it. Oh well, out came the handy notepad I kept in my purse for basal body temperature tracking (NFP).

That night, we made love. We crossed my legs and hoped it took. I fell asleep with visions of little tadpoles in my babybox prancing through my mind.

The next morning I took my temperature, just under my basal temp - that's a good sign.

Then I drew up a good amount of non-bubbly saliva, not too much, and put it in the glass top cup do-hickey for KnoWhen. I got up and got my shower, got ready for the day, and went down for breakfast. When I came back up, my saliva was dry. I put the cap on and looked at my loogie. According to the ferning I saw, I was very fertile... VERY FERTILE! I did a little happy jig, rinsed off my spit, dried the lens, and put it back in my purse.

That night, we did the deed again. The next, again. That following morning - my temp spiked. I hope that meant we caught his boys during my peak fertility, but only time will tell... To be continued...

This was so easy to use that it was rather fun. I think I'm hooked on it. Between mucous, spit, and temperature - I think I'm becoming quite the expert on my omelette shop. I can't wait to see if KnoWhen was a part of my conception story!"

10.20.2016

Coping At All Stages - Transition


"For my first, not applicable.

For my second, my midwife had me lay on my left side to help me keep dilating. It was very painful. My doula curled up face to face with me and never left my side... once I was 9cm, I was in the birth pool and my body began pushing on it's own. I had a large cervical lip though, and I had to learn to not push when my body wanted to so that she could push the lip back.

For my third, two minutes later, another contraction... then another... I woke in full active labor and immediately moved through transition. Contractions continued to be a full minute long, intense, and 2 minutes apart."~ Allison

"They kept telling me I was almost done - but I felt they were lying to me. It took me a long time to get from 6-7 to 7cm. I felt like I needed a break and wasn't getting it, but I was actually getting a minute break, then had a minute contraction. I used my breaks to worry about the next one. I made the mistake of looking at the clock and feeling like it should have been two hours since they last checked me (they said I was in transition and should be ready to push within a few hours) but it had only been 15 minutes since my last check. My nurse again asked if I was sure I didn't want an epidural. I asked for another cervical check. I was 7 at my last check (15 minutes prior) and was 8cm at this one. I felt like it had taken hours to make that change. It was only 15 minutes. I got the epidural at that time. The epidural took about 30 minutes to finish everything and another 15 minutes to feel completely numb. When they checked me after those 45 minutes, I was 10cm and ready to push. I 'epiduraled' my way through transition." ~ Amili

"The birth assistant did some acupressure and I got in the birthing tub for the next several hours, squatting and shifting weight from one leg to the other..." ~ Chelsea

"Around the time that my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and were lasting for 90 seconds, I started to feel nauseous with each one. I would start to shiver, and that's when I knew another one was coming. My doula would see me throw off my sheet, stand up on my toes and shiver. In response, she would rest her hands on my hips and say 'sink into it, let the wave lift you up and over the top. All you have to do is go limp and breath.'. I threw up into my husband's hands. I still feel bad about that one. The pressure in my butt was huge. I felt like I was constipated and started to dread the next one. I started shaking my head 'no' when I felt them come on. My husband looked me in the eye and said 'yeeeessss baby, yeeeessss.' I nodded and started 'yeahing' my way through them. I think if I stayed in that negativity I wouldn't have made it. Things were really intense, but doable until transition. Transition was the hardest part. It only took an hour and half though. I kept asking how long it had been and how much longer. My doula and husband kept replying 'just long enough and only as much time as you need..' I know I was checked a few times but can't remember how far open I was..." ~ Liv

"Midwife arrived an hour and twenty minutes before J was born. Photographer arrived (forty minutes before J was born. She was startled to see me upon entering because the lights were dimmed and I was crawling around on the living room floor wrapped in TDD’s oversized, dark navy bathrobe like a drunken bum.... A contraction would move through me and I’d think, Wow! This is so interesting! " ~ Holly

" I had had enough of all fours and just wanted to go back to the toilet. We got back there and, as soon as I sat down, my water popped with a huge splash. I remember my doula checking her phone often and it irritating me. I thought she was checking the time and I thought, 'if they tell me what time it is or how long I've been doing this I swear I'll deck them.' I learned later she was worried my midwife wouldn't make it and was updating her. With my next contraction, I was sitting on the toilet and moaning like I was having the hugest orgasm ever. My husband took that cue to kiss me after every contraction and rub my breasts and brush my hair with his fingertips. My doula was giving me this counterpressure throughout, but I acutely remember thinking 'my god, she's got her fist in my butthole'. She didn't really, but she was giving me counterpressure on my lower sacrum and the baby was sitting in my bum, making it feel like one giant pressure. With my husband making out with my top half and my doula pressing on my bottom half, it was erotic and sensual but not sexual. The contractions were strong, but the pressure was stronger. Every contraction felt like an expansion and I needed to make a huge amount of space by opening my legs and mouth and butt. I pooped again, then rested, no contractions, for a long time. I kept asking if this was normal. Cole said yes, that it's usually the calm before the baby and then text updated our midwife for the last time." ~ Trinity

" I started shaking and throwing up with every contraction. My butt and hips hurt and I was miserable. I opted for some IV pain medicine, which did nothing but make me feel drunk. My doula grabbed my attention during one of my contractions and said 'you're almost done. you are doing this.' When that contraction was done, she would say, 'you never have to do that one again.' That became my mantra. I didn't really have a moment where I was like 'I can't do this' probably because of the Demerol. I did notice, though, that I wasn't getting as much of a break. My hubby noticed I had a bunch of blood when I stood up for one of the contractions. He asked if that was normal. My doula said, 'it's even more than 'oh that's normal', that's 'ooh, exciting''. All of this happened in about 40 minutes that passed since they checked me and said I was 4cm..." ~ Kelly

Transition is usually the shortest stage in labor. It is tucked in an (average) 45 min - 2 hour gap between active labor and pushing. Around 1/3 of women experience a very intense transition, 1/3 experience a moderate transition, and the remaining 1/3 don't realize that they are going through transition. In the event that it is intense, some symptoms include:
  • nausea and vomiting
  • hot and cold flashes, the shakes, and goosebumps
  • short temperedness, introversion, and doubt
  • emotionally feeling anxious,  fearful, or requesting to be done/get medication/have other help
  • loss of time or ability to reconnect with those around her
  • raising up on heels to cope with pressure
In addition to any or all of the above, and even in the absence of the above, physiologically, transition generally is marked by: 
  • contractions 2-3 minutes apart
  • cervix 7-9cm
  • contractions lasting 60-90 seconds
  • sometimes double peaking
  • pressure in the sacrum, vagina, or buttocks
In addition to these symptoms, if your water hasn't yet broken, it commonly will around this time and be followed by an urge to push. It's also not uncommon for women, even those who haven't had any bloody show to this point, to have bloody show at 7-9cm. 

Some women begin having the urge to push at this stage, or increased pressure. With pressure, as stated earlier, some women become fearful of making themselves more 'open' by keeping heels on the floor, bending knees, or sitting on the toilet. Pro tip: make that pressure bigger by relaxing your bum like your passing gas. Good reminders that the pressure you're feeling is baby and a good indication of progress can allow a woman to relax her bum. All else fails, the toilet will help with that conditioned response to relax around the pressure. 

Women who may have been coping brilliantly well throughout labor, oftentimes request for pain medication, for something (else), or for help at this stage. If you are planning and hoping for an unmedicated birth, here are some Pro tips to forge through the transition stage: 
  • Connect - If you've been closing your eyes and internalizing, and you feel the sensations of transition are becoming overwhelming, try opening your eyes and making eye contact with someone in your birth team. Research shows that closing your eyes amplifies sensations. 
  • Stay Positive - If your mantra becomes 'oh no' or 'not another' or other negative words, having someone change your head shakes to head nods, your "no"s to "let goooo"s and your "that was BAD" to "that was PROGRESS" can help refocus your energy.
  • Cocoon In - If you're intimate partner is there, having them come in close and speak affirmations to you, touch you purposefully (no petting, patting, or tapping), and cheer you on gently and quietly can help quiet any fears in your mind. 
  • Keep The Goal In Mind - If your goal was an unmedicated birth, you are almost there. This stage is usually the shortest and means you can almost see the checkered flag. If your goal was an unmedicated birth, your mini goals are acceptance and surrender. If you haven't done either of those, work on that - communicate your needs to your team so that they can help you too. 
  • Stay Present - Many women worry about 'if it's this big now, how much bigger will it be an hour from now' or 'I can't do this much longer' or other such projection into the future. Don't worry about the future - stay present and do what you can right in this moment. 
What did your experience of transition include that you weren't expecting/prepared for? What were you glad for? What worked and what didn't?

Up next, pushing... .

10.17.2016

Lost on Hope Island: The Amazing Tale of the Little Goat Midwives (Lost on Hope Island Trilogy Book 1)

Patricia Harman has written a children's book!


This sweet story is about a young girl and her younger brother and their adventures after being shipwrecked. It's a story of survival, hope, perseverance, and family. The story has information on survival skills training (which was neat since we are doing that in school this year), and was an enjoyable read for the entire family. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series.

I had my children read it as well and I personally feel that their reviews are more important than mine:

Bri (16): There were a few grammatical errors in it, going from past tense to current. But the storyline is great. I can see kids my siblings ages loving this book. I felt hopeful that the children will be ok and that they are learning to live in community with the goats and other living things on the island. The survival skills they demonstrated were very real to life and applicable - that was a nice touch.

Kairi (13): I couldn't read some of it - it was too sad. But I loved how smart the girl and boy are. Hope is the central theme of this book and I loved that, at the end of the book, you feel hopeful. I need to read the next one now. Good adventure.

Charis (12): I wanted more information on the story - maybe we'll learn about it in the next books.. like what happened to the parents? What happened to the owners of the homestead? Where did all that stuff come from? I can't say too much because you have to read it. The goats were funny. They have sad parts and happy ones. I wish there were less sad ones though.

Jocelyn (12): This was really cool. They talked about some of the things we did in school on how to survive a bad situation. I liked how resourceful the older child was, and that she still needed her little brother's help too. He was helpful even though he was small. They fought like real kids. I don't know how I would do in that same situation - but I know I would be ok.

Xander (10): I didn't like it making me cry. I wanted everyone to be ok. I did like the adventure. It was scary sometimes. The goats were funny. I'm worried about the kids.

There was only one small section where the author flipped tense, but otherwise it was a smooth, easy, enjoyable read. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

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