Salinye Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 I had an awesome experience tonight. Some of you know I'm in the process of being certified as a doula. (Labor assistance). I've done births before, I'm just now getting certified so I can be paid. (We don't deliver babies, we assist the mother and partner through the labor, birth and recovery). Anyway, I attended my first "Official" birth today....wow... It was such a moving and amazing experience for me. The description below is very breif as last night i didn't get to bed until 1am and got the call at 5am then spent hte last 20 hours working my tail off at the hospital, so I'm surprised I'm even seeing straight. I just wanted to share because...yeah, I just needed to share....Now, I need sleep. I have another client whose due date is tomorrow, so she could go anytime. Who knew that two clients who had due dates 2 months apart would end up so close together? Here is a copy of what happened, I posted it on one of my doula boards. Wow... So, I attended my first "official" birth tonight. I have done births before, but this was my first client that was supposed to count towards my certification, as her due date wasn't until October 31st. However, to make a very long and emotional story-short, she went into preterm labor last night. I got the call that they couldnt' stop the labor at 5am this morning and so I headed to the hospital. My partner doula and I got there at 6am and she didn't have the baby until 5:32pm. All said, she was in labor over 29 hours, and she pushed for 4 1/2 hours. The first two hours, she just pushed to get the baby down the canal, so it wasn't constant pushing. Her contractions were pretty spread out. However, she pushed pretty solidly almost the last 2 hours. Her baby was sunny side up, so he was harder to push out! She's type 1 diabetic so thankfully the baby was bigger than usual. At 31 weeks he was 4 pounds 5 ounces! That's as big as one of my twins that I had at 36 weeks, 3 days!! How awesome! Plus he was pink and even had meat on his bones, which is rare for 31 weeks, AND the best part, he was breathing on his own!!!! All of that was so awesome. Unfortunately however, he was born with some pretty severe unexpected deformities. One of his arms did not have a forarm, his wrist was attatched at the elbow and I believe he was missing a thumb on that hand. The other hand's thumb had two finger nails and finger tips. He also had a clubbed ear and a spinal dimple. I think the parents do not understand the depth of the deformities. I believe they just see them as a few isolated physical issues, whereas, after talking with the doctor he said usually when there are this many defects they are not isolated and even the X-Rays that he has taken so far have shown bone deformities and he expects he may find deformities in the organs too. So, I don't know how good the prognosis will be, but man, this child is so beatiful. You should have seen him. I think it's rare for a baby to be born with as an angelic of a face as this beautiful chubby cheeked little boy had. I look forward to keeping tabs on them. Anyway, I'm exhausted. Ronnie and I were at the hospital for 20 hours or so, but I just had to share this story as it was beautiful and amazing. For me, it was also a very spiritual experience. ~Shelby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valdar and Astralis Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 \O_o/ Yeah. . .wow. Best wishes and prayers to the parents, sounds like they'll need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyrfalcon Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 I'm glad you enjoyed the experience, Salinye, and I hope you head to bed early - it sounds like you need it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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