Births, Fainting, and Episiotomies

Hi All,

My second woman went into labour late last night (around 11:45). I was called at 12:15 this morning by the Midwife, who said that if I wanted to make it I would have to really hurry! Was totally exhausted, but jumped out of bed and threw on my cool new polo and drove off.

When I got to Calvary, she was in transition and went into 2nd stage very soon after. She was lying semi-recumbent (that was the word the midwife said to use--I was calling it "on her back" at first--but semi-recumbent sounds much more sophisticated!). The midwife asked her if she wanted to change positions, but she very decidedly said "NO!!!!", so the midwife looked for ways to make it more comfortable in the bed for her. But the midwife didn't need to do much, as the woman was instinctively doing most of the right things anyway. She was pelvic tilting, rolling her pelvis around, rolling slightly from side to side (hardly ever was actually on her side, but was moving all the time). But she was flaying her arms around, and grabbing our arms or shirts in the midst of contractions or pushing. So the midwife got her to hold underneath her thighs and push into her thighs, and that helped a lot. (Both us and her) : )

I was so carried away with the fact that it was going to happen so soon (and that I could actually see EVERYTHING that was going on this time) that I didn't think to sit down or move from the one spot. All of a sudden I felt really hot, light headed and nauseous. I fought it off for as long as I could, but then I just couldn't stand up anymore, I HAD to sit down! I sat on the nearest chair, and the midwife looked highly amused and suggested I go out and get a drink of water. I went out, passed the other midwives at the desk (who stared at my total lack of colour), slumped down against a wall and drank as fast as I could. So the heading is kind of deceiving because I never actually fainted, but I felt SO close to it, and it was not nice!
I didn't want to look like a scared chicken or really green, so I went back into the room as soon as I could and started helping again, but found that I had to sit down every couple of minutes; pretty much in between every push.

The woman did not progress normally, and the midwife was worried that perhaps the baby was posterior, so conducted a vaginal examination. The baby was not exactly posterior but lateral and kind of leaning a little on the posterior side (I think), but definitely coming down a little. So we waited, and the woman pushed, and we waited, and she pushed. Eventually we could see some small part of the head, but then it didn't keep progressing. Then about 15-30 mins baby's head definitely coming, but still only a little, the woman began to tear rather badly, so the midwife made the executive decision to do an episiotomy. Baby's face came through and the head had been transverse which is why she was tearing so badly. The midwife allowed me to put my hands over hers, so that I could experience what she was doing, then she had to really wiggle the baby out and I picked baby up and put baby on the woman's chest. That was lovely !!! I also was able to rub baby down a little, and had to keep baby from sliding off its mother as she was a little out of it all.

I was able to watch closely the registrar suturing the (I think 3rd degree incision), which was pretty cool, but a little gross, especially since the woman kept experiencing pain (not from the needle but from the cleaning out of the vagina of blood, so the registrar could see properly).
Baby didn't want to breathe at one stage as he was a little clogged with fluid, but after the midwife rubbed his back vigorously and tilted him forwards, he spewed it all up and became pink again.

I got to measure, weigh, and do all the vital signs on him, so that was cool. I also dressed, wrapped and rocked him to sleep, while his mother was showering. I feel very blessed : )

And tired...

Facebook scams

Source: Canberra Times
Title: Stolen online identity
Author: Conrad Walters

A study found 84 per cent of people divulged their full date of birth on Facebook, 87 per cent divulged details about their education or job and 78 per cent listed their current address or location.

Facebook safety tips
1 Review your online profile to reveal only what you need to.
2 Don't assume default privacy settings are appropriate or sufficient.
3 Don't post contact info or share any details that could help someone guess your password.
4 Use a unique password for your Facebook account to isolate it from any problems elsewhere.
5 Keep anti-virus software current to detect programs that could monitor your online activities.
6 Ignore emails that ask you to confirm details for your account.
7 Don't share your logon details with other people.
8 Block messages from other people who solicit information from you.
9 If you get an emergency appeal from a friend, confirm it independently.
10 If you suspect there is a problem, contact abuse@facebook.com.

In Facebook the controls that govern what information other people can see rests three levels down. (Look for "settings", choose "privacy", then "profile".)

Time for God's Will

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet

Time for God's Will

One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.

Lord, help me to take your yoke on my shoulder, not a yoke of my own making. May I learn from You to be gentle and humblehearted. May I find that your load is light.

My first birth story...

Hi Everyone,

Just to let you all know that "my" woman gave birth last night!!!! I have had four hours sleep this afternoon, so I am now able to articulate what happened : )

She is with the Birth Centre, and I had had two antenatal visits with her already, one at 39weeks and the other on her due date (which was last Friday) ... but no call that day which I was very disappointed about!

I waited all day, and all day Saturday and then on Sunday I couldn't handle it anymore and I packed a "birth bag" for myself in the (possible) case scenario of having to stay 12 hours or so (considering past labour of 21hours).....but still no call : (

I finally decided to go to bed, just lay there looking up at the ceiling, when I was called!!WOoohOoo!!! It was this morning at 12:48 am, by the midwife's stand-in, as the midwife was having a weekend off (apparently a rare incidence). I immediately got together my "birth bag" ... and jumped in the car to head off to the Birth Centre.

I sat in on a few contractions, but both the midwife and I decided that the couple should have some time to themselves, so I sat in the midwife's station and copied out notes about check-in and the initial palpation and vaginal examination....then I went and sat in for a few more contractions, and again went back with the midwife. She periodically checked the baby's heart rate so we went in for that, and popped our heads in just to see that she was okay. Otherwise, we chatted midwifery, this birth, what I knew and didn't know (took longer to tell that bit!), and listened to her moans and (increasing) grunts.

When the grunts became a little more guttural we "moved" into her room and gave her some extra encouragement. I was uncomfortable doing much but observe, but it was a lovely and rich experience. She got into the bath when the pain became too great and I got to see how a water birth looks like. The urge to push became really strong around 5.00am, but after a VE the midwife recommended not pushing as the cervix was not fully dilated. (If you do push when the cervix is not fully dilated it causes swelling of the cervical muscles, the midwife said, which makes it increasingly harder to birth.)

When the midwife had "breathed" the woman through several more really tough contractions, she did another VE and said that it was now okay to push. Very shortly there was a crowning; then baby's head out; then the shoulders were a little stuck and the midwife had to ask the woman to get out of the bath, lift one leg a little, and with the help of another contraction and the midwife easing the baby out, out came a gorgeous baby girl! SO LOVELY!!

I had to really hold back the tears, it was just so lovely! And even though I was "only" observing I did get to document all the "births" (baby, placenta, etc) timings while the midwife was in the thick of it all...so that was exciting : ) And I found out that my name is put on the birth register as a witness to the birth, how cool is that??!!! : )

25 things I hate about facebook

This is absolutely hilarious!

25 things I hate about facebook

Photos of Grandad

True Christianity

William Wilberforce wrote in Real Christianity:

Measure your progress by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men....

In contrast, servile, base, and mercenary is the notion of Christian practice among the bulk of nominal Christians. They give no more than they dare not withhold. They abstain from nothing but what they dare not practice. When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and the consequent obligation to refrain from it, they reply to you in the very spirit of Shylock, "they cannot find it it the bond."

In short, they know Christianity only as a system of restraints. It is robbed of every liberal and generous principle. It is rendered almost unfit for the social relationships of life,and only suited to the gloomy walls of a cloister, in which they would confine it.

But true Christians consider themselves as not satisfying some rigorous creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude. Accordingly, theirs is not the stinted return of a constrained obedience, but the large and liberal measure of voluntary service.

From: Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot

Love God more

As I was reading "Passion and Purity" by Elizabeth Elliot, I came across this Christina Rossetti poem:

Trust me, I have not earned your dear rebuke,
I love, as you would have me, God the most;
Would lose not Him, but you, must one be lost,
Nor with Lot's wife cast back a faithless look,
Unready to forego what I forsook;
This say I, having counted up the cost,
This, though I be the feeblest of God's host,
The sorriest sheep Christ shepherds with His crook.

Yet while I love my God the most, I deem
That I can never love you over-much;
I love Him more, so let me love you too;
Yea, as I apprehend it, love is such
I cannot love you if I love not Him,
I cannot love Him, if I love not you.

It reminded me of what Elizabeth Prentiss says in "Stepping Heavenward" when someone accuses her of loving her children too much:

You cannot love your children too much. You simply love God more.

Book Giveaway---Prayer by C. H. Spurgeon

I am giving away this wonderful book! It is open to all readers who want to enter. Just leave a comment ON MY BOOK BLOG POST and share about a spiritual/devotional book that has led you to come closer to God.

Here are some sentences from the back of Prayer:

"You feel like you don't know how to pray--you can't find the right words, or just can't seem to get God's attention. You will be encouraged by this treasury of devotional expressions for Charles Spurgeon."

His elegant prayers, beautiful in their simplicity, will invite you to be vulnerable before your Creator.

His profound trust in God will set an example for your own pursuit of peaceful spirit.

His persistence in intercession will motivate you to pursue God in prayer.

Also, part of one of the prayers from within Prayer:

You who are King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we worship You. "Before Jehovah's awful throne, we bow with sacred joy." We can truly that we delight in God. There was a time when we feared You with the fear of bondage. Now we reverence You, but we love as much as we reverence. The thought of Your omnipresence was once horrible to us. We said, "Whither shall [we] flee from thy presence?" (Psalm 139:7). It seemed to make hell itself more dreadful, because we heard, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there" (v. 8).

But now, O Lord, we desire to find You. Our longing is to feel Your presence, and it is heavenly that You are there. The sick bed is soft when You are there. The furnace of affliction grows cool when You are there. The house of prayer when You are present is none other than the house of God, the very gate of heaven.

I'm in !! Midwifery program 2009!!!!

After completing a year of nursing at university, I have been accepted into Canberra's first Bachelor of Midwifery program.

I love nursing, but my passion is in caring for women and babies. I knew that it was going to be hard to get into this as there were many applicants, and few places; but after much prayer, and a lot of work on my curriculum vitae (read Resumé), I was accepted!!