3 babies and a wedding
Last week was a big week. I feel like I’ve spent every day in the hospital which is about the truth as I have. Three births, one wedding, two missed nights of work, a dinner party, a bbq with friends as well as lots of kms in my car and I’m exhausted. Because I don’t want to overshare on my blog, I won’t go into lots of detail here but the three births:
- One birth was, in hindsight, a malpresentation that was perhaps destined for intervention from the first moments of labour. I don’t mean any disrespect by that - women birth bigger babes and in less well-supported situations than this but the stop-start nature of the birth, the horrednous agonising pain she was in (her words not mine), and the lack of progress in pushing perhaps indicated something was up. Perhaps a better midwife would have manipulated the babe, perhaps a better midwife would not have thought the less than charitable thoughts I had about the staff and the whole procedure.
I am still debriefing about this and the parents are both traumatised by the whole process and the whole hospital birth nightmare replays in my head. Would it have been different had she not been on her back? Would it have been different if she’d laboured at home and/or in water instead? Perhaps if she’d had "her" midwife as well as me, rather than a revolving door of hospital staff and another dedicated but not overly familiar midwife, things might have been different. I cried in the delivery room, I cried in the lift, and I cried on the way home. I also cried with my partner, and another midwife.
- One birth was an interesting example of two things - support partners who don’t deal well with the blood and goo of birth, and a nuchal hand that held up stage 2 until a few flips and rearrangements and then fantastic pushing had a gorgeous flock of blonde hair slipping into my hands. Nuchal hand gave a simple tear as we breathed a babe into the world, as support partner looked shaky on her feet.
- One birth was so inspirational. The woman was a rare and precious beacon of strength in the face of a fairly long and obviously painful labour. She only had a shot of pethidine in a moment of panic (not my suggestion but she wasn’t coping so I understand perhaps a little why the hospital.midwife offered her it rather than a change of position or a bath or a shower or SOMETHING OTHER THAN DRUGS) and after a few more hours, birthed a 4kg babe into my lap.
One of these happened early on a weekend morning and there may have been a few words sworn when my phone rang, because I was due at a wedding a few hours later. Babe slipped into this world at 0907 and I was shoo’ed out the door by the midwife *and* the mother to get to the chapel on time! I did make it with a few minutes to spare, though I was not dressed up for the occassion. Photos to follow when I get them off my camera.
