September 4-5, 2013
Sit and wait...wait and sit...sit and wait... Hour after hour passed by with no change so us two girls went upstairs to "rest." I'm not sure how much resting we did but it sure did feel good to lay down. :)
An hour or so later I went back down to see if any progress had been made and to get my cell phone charger, otherwise known as...my computer. When i walked quietly into the bedroom where she was laboring her husband smilingly asked if us girls were getting good rest. i smiled back and said..."well...I'm not sure about rest, but we are having a nice time and laying down feels great" He laughed and replied that he wasn't surprised that we weren't sleeping. A little concerned that he heard us laughing and talking I questioned if he had heard us. His response was "oh no...I just have 7 sisters, so I know" :)
She had now progressed to 8cm but the head was still floating and the water bag bulging. Back upstairs i went.
About an hour later we both heard Freida's phone and having a good idea what that meant we got our shoes on and quickly went back down the stairs, out the door and listened to hear if there was another one in labor. To our disappointment...there was someone else in labor. Freida didn't feel like we all could leave the birth we were presently at and neither of us girls know how to drive stick, we both were willing to try, but that was vetoed. Disappointed and unsure of what else to do we resigned ourselves to what the situation was and after an exciting trip to the outhouse we went back upstairs to lay down. Oh, the stars was simply amazing last night!! And the sunset too. Laying down in bed talking through all the different "options" we could think of...getting a buggy to come get us, walking, trying to drive stick, etc. I prayed that the Lord would intervene so that we wouldn't miss the other birth.
Somehow we were so exhausted, it was now about midnight, we fell asleep for a little bit. Jena woke me up and downstairs we went. When we "woke up" enough to stagger downstairs we gathered our things and went into the room. She was now complete. Not too long after we had a precious baby boy. I was able to do the newborn exam and I got to dress him in the traditional Swartzentruber gown, bundled him up nice and tight and carried him around for a little bit while we got his mommy all cleaned up and situated.
What was the time of birth? I confidently replied: "10:51"- guess I'm a little tired...it was 1:51. Cord wrapped 3 times around the neck and one time around the body, it was 40 inches long, yes...we measured. LOA. Uria L H (A & L): 1:51am, September 4, 2013, 7lb 3oz, 20 inches, head: 14 1/4, chest: 12 3/4 . I got to do the newborn exam.
We made it home around 4:20AM and to bed we went, praying for some sleep.
This morning we are out for the day doing prenatals, PKU's, post partums...and we will see if we have a birth.
September 5,2013
Sitting here in a different rocking chair in another place. This time it's in a birthing center. Yes, waiting for another woman to have her baby. But while we wait...I shall write. It's amazing how much everything starts to blur together. (Maybe having so little sleep might have something to do with it.)
Where to start...oh, so after yesterday's checks we all we quite tired and decided that it would probably be best to rest as much as possible in case there was another birth. So home and to bed we went around 6:30ish. A couple hours later I heard the familiar sound from long ago of footsteps coming down the stairway to my room.
(Time to go check, might be getting close)
Yes indeed, Freida was coming down to let me know that someone was in labor. She wasn't sure if I would want to go or stay in case someone else went into labor...kinda funny :) I was dressed and ready to go in less than five minutes. Just in case we had to go different directions, if someone else went into labor, I drove my car. I learned a new definition of flying down the roads last night! Do they ever have sharp curves here!!! As I was leaving i prayed for a few things: to make it and for safety from/for buggies, animals, cars and people. I had no idea how many buggies would be out at that hour. I had to pick up Jena and then we were to stop at the birthing center to get her files and then head to the birth. It was an hour away and us girls were determined not to miss it.
As we were driving here it totally took me back in time to when, four years ago, Amy and I were flying to make another delivery, going down the same roads with the same feelings of excitement, anticipation and determination not to miss the birth.
Jena was putting the new directions in the GPS as I unknowingly flew by the birth center, as we got to the next road she informed me that we passed it, doing a u turn in the middle of an intersection we headed back to the birthing center. I drove in right up to the door, yes, through the lawn, and us girls jumped out of the car and headed to the door.
We flew into the birthing center and like two little tornados searched that place for the chart that was supposed to be on the desk, yet wasn't. I finally found it in the very hard to open desk drawer and just as quickly we flew out the door and down the road.
"Do you want to deliver this one?" Freida asked as we walked in the door. Of course I happily replied that I did. She handed me some gloves and yet something inside me told me to check where she was at before putting the gloves on. So I squatted down to where she was sitting on the birthing stool and took a quick look only to find that the head was coming! At this point the though of wearing gloves quickly left my mind as i got down and ready to deliver the baby and one minute later we had a baby boy.
Two minutes...we seriously made the birth by two minutes. I checked my watch when we arrived: 9:56pm and when I got the time of birth it was 9:58pm! After we had mommy and baby settled in I looked back at Jena and we both smiled and knew that we had just barely made this one. My 80mph flying to pass a semi was totally worth it.
We held him next to his mommy and then I held him while we assisted her in getting into her bed. Into the kitchen/dining room we went to fill out paperwork and get ready for the newborn exam. Jena and I did the newborn exam.
Isaac J S (J & Mary) September 4,2013 at 9:58pm, weighing 6lb 9oz, 19 1/2 inches long, head 13 1/4 inches. ROA
I did his footprints and I guess I was a bit tired as I did the feet on the wrong side of the paper, I put the left footprint where the right one was supposed to go ;) ...at least that was the one for the other midwife and not the one for them. (Their midwife left town and so we are covering for her.) He had so much hair and so I washed it before we left, he was nice and clean as somehow the shampoo was thinner than we thought and he got a ton on him. All clean and dressed in his traditional blue Swartzentruber dress, I bundled him up and carried him around with me as we finished what we had to do.
While there someone else called saying that they might be in labor.
After we got them all settled and left we had a decision to make: go back home and sleep/wait for someone to go into labor, or go to the birthing center and wait for someone to go into labor. Not wanting to miss anything and since the ones that were potentially in labor were up here, us girls decided to head to the birthing center to sleep.
I picked the first room on the right and laid down to sleep. It was 12:30ish. 3:00am I got a knock on the door letting me know that someone was in labor and they were on their way to the birthing center and would be needing my room. :)
I was walking out of the door as they arrived and we got them all settled in and assessed the situation. 4cm dilated with contractions about every 4-5 minutes apart. Knowing we had some time before it would be time I went into where Jena was sleeping, set my alarm for an hour, and went back to sleep. Since then: 4:15am I've pretty much been up checking, waiting, listening, helping. It's now 8:07am. I even got some time to do some devotions while sitting in the room with her.
Freida brought out her record journal of all her births and we went through which ones I attended when I was here January-February 2009, what fun memories that brought back.
And now...sitting in a rocking chair...waiting...and...writing... Thinking maybe I should eat something.
D & Susan H - baby boy Daniel, born 3:57pm September 5, 2013!
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