Baby Boy

Well, it has been quite a while since I talked to my midwife about letting me help with some births. About 2 months, actually. I thought she was just mad at me. I just knew it would not be a good idea to call. If she wanted me to help, she would call. So I just waited.

Last night, while Matthew was asleep due to sickness, Warren and I were working feverishly on our bathroom. What started out as a toilet replacement became a full scale remodel. Okay, not full scale. We repainted, refloored, retrimmed, recaulked, and retoileted. The vanity, the shower, the mirror, and the light fixtures remain untouched. So we are installing the trim so that we can FINALLY install the toilet and Matthew wakes up. With a 103.8 temp. We gave him some Tylenol, got him in a warm bath and 20 min later the fever was down to 100.3. Whew. No trip to the hospital. I also had a meeting that I was planning on going to after he was back to sleep. Dad was willing to stay home and sleep with him. Obviously, it was as important as taking my kid to the hospital, but it was a relief that I didn't have to take my baby to the ER and I could still make my meeting. Icing on the cake. Well, about 7pm, the midwife calls. "Hey, you in for a birth?!?!?"

UGH! I have a sick baby, I am remodeling my bathroom, and tonight is the first meeting for this study I am super excited about. OF COURSE I WANT TO GO TO A BIRTH!! :-) So I flew out of the door. I flew right back in when I couldn't find my keys, but then I FLEW right back out after I stole my husband's.

I got to the birthing center to find out that mom was complete, but not feeling the urge to push, so we just sat in midwife's office and chatted. After a bit she said she was ready to push, and by this time the real assistant was there. At one point mom needed oxygen b/c the baby's heart rate was dropping. We decided to take a break since there was still a bit of cervix left, and that was all she needed. After about 20 min, she was ready to go again, and man did we go! She got that kid out in 30 min (which is kind of awesome(who am I kidding, I don't really know. However, I think it is awesome)). She sat with him in the tub (where she had birthed) and passed the placenta. It ended up that I became the photographer, so that was nice for them.

We got mom and baby cleaned up and in bed. They basically just chilled out. The coolest part? I got to help her breastfeed! It was fun acting all like, "Yeah, I know what the hell I'm doing" When I really don't. I know how to breastfeed, I just don't really know how to teach someone else how, ya know? He wasn't feeling it, so we tried again after about 30 min. He latched on pretty well and she didn't complain about any pain, so hopefully they have a bright breastfeeding future ahead of them.

All in all, it was just a textbook birth, really. But it was so great. I didn't do much but get in the way and act like a moron (nothing says idiot like learning to take blood pressure on a nursing student who doesn't know it is your first attempt). However, I had so much fun! I didn't get giddy. I never felt faint. I pretty much kept my cool, which is kind of impressive for me.

Afterwards we just cleaned up and did a crap load of laundry. I was home by 1am. I got about 6.5 hours of sleep which isn't shabby in my book! I couldn't even fall asleep right away, which is one of my nifty tricks, I was too busy being excited about my very cool evening.

Anyway, I still don't know what I want to do, but I had a blast last night, and I think I could actually be capable of doing that. I don't know. I'm just going to try very hard to live in the moment and not think too too much about it.