Reflections on my second birth

A week ago today I attended the birth of a beautiful baby girl. She was quite the surprise as her mommy has two boys and I think had resigned herself to raising a brood of boys. As you can see in the picture...they lack pink, but I'm sure there will be plenty in the future!

I just keep thinking back over that day and how blessed I feel to have been there. It was such a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness. I prayed that mom would not experience pain, or deal well with what she had. Check. She was totally awesome. I  thought she was about 5 centimeters when we got there and had a while to go. She was coping so well and cracking jokes between contractions. But when she was checked, she was fully dilated and pushed her baby out about 30 minutes after she was admitted to the hospital. I prayed that the staff would be supportive of her decisions. Check! When we walked in the nurse was all about it and very encouraging. Then the doctor comes in and the first things she says to mom are about how she can push whenever she feels ready and however she wants. So...uncharacteristic of hospitals.

The second reflection I have is that dad's are probably my favorite part of the team. I think when a woman goes into labor, men just click into action. They don't always know what to do or say, but when the marriage is good you can see the love they have for their wives and their desire to support them. I loved how this dad stayed totally calm and collected. He prayed over his wife and held her. It was sweet and perfect for the moment. My absolute favorite part of the labor was when we first got to the hospital. Mom wanted to hang out for a little bit before going up and getting checked in so I walked with her over to the bathroom. When we got back to the lobby we couldn't find dad anywhere. "Do you see him??" she asked. Nope. So she tried to call him. No answer. Then she gets a text a minute later that read: went to grab a slice of pizza. Back in 3 minutes. And then we died of laughter. As we're sitting in the lobby, mom having contractions every 2-4 minutes I'd guess, dad finished up his pizza and we harassed him about leaving his wife during labor.

My final reflection (for today) is how awesome natural birth is AFTER the birth. Moms are beyond thrilled and energized. Not like they could get out of bed and run a marathon energized, but emotionally energized. They are so pumped about what just happened and everything they just felt. This mom pretty much summed it up when she talked about how it felt great to push and how it didn't feel unbearable until the end, but she's so glad she stuck it out. Babies born naturally are also usually super energized after birth. This little girl was vigorous from birth and nursed for a solid 45 minutes about 20 minutes after she was born. She wiggled around for another hour or so and then crashed in her daddy's arms. But not before I got to hold her:)

My mission as a Doula is that each woman would feel surrounded with encouragement and support during her birth. That she would have the birth she wants, and if things have to veer from her original goals that she would feel well informed and in charge of the choices about her care. Later that night I got a text from mom saying that she was blown away by the whole experience and that she couldn't stop thinking about it. It reminded me of how Mary (Jesus' mama) stored up all the things that happened in her heart. In the words of Little Einsteins: mission completion!