I now have a domain :)
http://www.smiledoula.com
The site is in the works but you can just see the basic info right now.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
I apologize
I have been really slacking on updating my blog. It has been a crazy 7 months. I am working on getting a website and updating a blog from there.
I gave birth to my daughter on February 10, 2009 and had the most amazing birth!
I have two births coming up in July that I am so excited for! More to come :)
I gave birth to my daughter on February 10, 2009 and had the most amazing birth!
I have two births coming up in July that I am so excited for! More to come :)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
My First Labor and Birth!
All the studying and anticipation for my first birth was well worth every minute! My first labor and birth spanned over 22 hours.
On 10/23/2008 (Thursday) I recieved a message from client #1 (names are kept private). She took her first dose of Castrol Oil at 9:15am. She decided to go with Castrol Oil because she had been contracting for two weeks but they would not stay continuous. The doctors were talking about inducing her within the next couple of days due to the baby's size so she wanted to get things moving along. I arranged for the boys to go with my father and I got ready for my night.
I arrived at her house at 2:15pm. She had just started contracting at that point but was having a hard time telling what her contractions were. She is one of those lucky moms who you can't tell she is in labor until she is ready to push the baby out. So we sat down and I helped her get in tune with her body to determine what a contractions was and what the baby moving was. She was able to easily start timing her contractions afer that. She took a shower and added nipple stimulation so that these contractions would keep on coming. After the shower, we starting timing the contractions at 4pm for 30 mintues. They were 7 minutes apart and lasted about a minute and a half each.
We then went off to Target and walked many laps around the store. We timed her contractions at 5:30 and they were 5 minutes apart. We continued walking through each one. She was handling her contractions so well I could barely tell when she was having one. At 6pm we decided to sit in my car because she was having a hard time telling when one contraction started and the other started. After timing them for about 15 mintues in the car, we relized they were right on top of eachother. We called the doctors office from my car. We were directed to come to the hospital. We then went to her house and got all her stuff and her husband.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:15pm. They were registering her and the lady behind the desk kept asking if she was being induced. My client told her no that she was contracting every two minutes. She was handling it so well no one could tell she was actually in active labor. Even the nurse that brought her back was assuming she was being induced. They hooked her up to the monitors and got an IV put in. She was checked internally and she was 5cm dilated, -2 station and 60% effaced at 8:02pm
My role was to be her main support person. Her husband expressed that he wanted me to do whatever was needed to keep her comfortable and preferred me taking this role. We started off with a hand massage to help her relax from all the hustle and bustle of admission. We were then given the OK to start walking. We did a couple of laps around the labor and delivery floor. We talked and joked the whole time. She was checked again at 11:40pm and was 6.5cm dilated and 70% effaced. At that time, she sat on the birth ball and I did some counter pressure on her back followed by a full back massage and light touch massage. She was tiring and needed some rest before long. She as checked at 2:07am was progressed to 8cm and 80% effaced.
At that time she chose to get an epidural so that she could rest for a couple of hours to regain her energy. I was able to stay in the room with her while she got her epi and held her hand and talked with her through it to keep her mind off of it. Afterwards, I gave her a head massage because she was starting to get a headache. She was then able to rest on an off up until about 4:50am. They then broke her water but could not get to it because the babies head was in the way. They then tried again at 6:15am with success. She stayed at 8cm until 8am that morning. I really feel strongly that her body needed to rest and that is why she was not progressing.
The doctors administered pitocin at 8:35 that morning. She was starting to get uncomfortable around 9:30 am and it was the first time she felt panicked. I was able to recognize this right away and it was the first time I felt nervous. I took a deep breath and I was able to get her to calm right back down within 30 seconds by getting her to breath and talking her through it. That was the point where she hit transition. She could feel the baby's head coming down. The annesthesiologist gave her another dose of meds to make it a little more comfortable for her. She was checked at was fully complete and ready to push.
She held off just for a little bit because she did not feel ready. The doctor was paged and came in the room about 10:03am. She started pushing at around 10:05am with a resident watching for the baby. She pushed 3 times within a contractions and the resident was holding the babies head in so the doctor could get her gloves on. This really help her not tear at all. The resident released his hand and out came little Gabriel at 10:06am! All 9lbs 4oz of him!
She did not even tear! This was a big fear for mommy as she tore with her first two.
As he was being born I was encouraging mommy, I was telling her how great she was doing and how wonderful her body was for giving birth. When he was born, noone else anounced what the baby was (it was a surprise baby). So I grabbed her as we were both crying and I said "It's a BOY!!" Seeing mommy cry was my biggest accomplishment of the day. She did not cry with her other births and this baby was a surprise to them. I really felt that I help mommy bond with her baby and that was so heartwarming to me.
The experience of going through this labor and birth with my client was more than amazing. I really have not been able to find the words to express how I feel about how wonderful it made me feel. This is my first labor and birth as a doula and it is one that I will remember for the rest of my life! Hearing the mommy say that this was her best labor and birth yet was music to my ears.
My goal is to help a mommy and daddy have the labor and birth they have always wanted. I want them to be confident in the choices they make and to realize that it is their choice and not anyone elses.
Here is what the mother wrote me when she returned from the hospital. This makes being on call 24/7, finding a sitter just in case for my boys every day, finding coverage at work just in case all worth EVERY minute! I have found my passion and it feels so good. I am a doula!!!! Saying that out loud after all that I have worked for is the biggest accomplishment (other than my babies and my husband) that I have made in my life!
"I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything, you were awesome! You helped me so much! You made the whole experience very relaxing. My husband and I truly feel you are apart of our family forever. We can't thank you enough for everything."
On 10/23/2008 (Thursday) I recieved a message from client #1 (names are kept private). She took her first dose of Castrol Oil at 9:15am. She decided to go with Castrol Oil because she had been contracting for two weeks but they would not stay continuous. The doctors were talking about inducing her within the next couple of days due to the baby's size so she wanted to get things moving along. I arranged for the boys to go with my father and I got ready for my night.
I arrived at her house at 2:15pm. She had just started contracting at that point but was having a hard time telling what her contractions were. She is one of those lucky moms who you can't tell she is in labor until she is ready to push the baby out. So we sat down and I helped her get in tune with her body to determine what a contractions was and what the baby moving was. She was able to easily start timing her contractions afer that. She took a shower and added nipple stimulation so that these contractions would keep on coming. After the shower, we starting timing the contractions at 4pm for 30 mintues. They were 7 minutes apart and lasted about a minute and a half each.
We then went off to Target and walked many laps around the store. We timed her contractions at 5:30 and they were 5 minutes apart. We continued walking through each one. She was handling her contractions so well I could barely tell when she was having one. At 6pm we decided to sit in my car because she was having a hard time telling when one contraction started and the other started. After timing them for about 15 mintues in the car, we relized they were right on top of eachother. We called the doctors office from my car. We were directed to come to the hospital. We then went to her house and got all her stuff and her husband.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:15pm. They were registering her and the lady behind the desk kept asking if she was being induced. My client told her no that she was contracting every two minutes. She was handling it so well no one could tell she was actually in active labor. Even the nurse that brought her back was assuming she was being induced. They hooked her up to the monitors and got an IV put in. She was checked internally and she was 5cm dilated, -2 station and 60% effaced at 8:02pm
My role was to be her main support person. Her husband expressed that he wanted me to do whatever was needed to keep her comfortable and preferred me taking this role. We started off with a hand massage to help her relax from all the hustle and bustle of admission. We were then given the OK to start walking. We did a couple of laps around the labor and delivery floor. We talked and joked the whole time. She was checked again at 11:40pm and was 6.5cm dilated and 70% effaced. At that time, she sat on the birth ball and I did some counter pressure on her back followed by a full back massage and light touch massage. She was tiring and needed some rest before long. She as checked at 2:07am was progressed to 8cm and 80% effaced.
At that time she chose to get an epidural so that she could rest for a couple of hours to regain her energy. I was able to stay in the room with her while she got her epi and held her hand and talked with her through it to keep her mind off of it. Afterwards, I gave her a head massage because she was starting to get a headache. She was then able to rest on an off up until about 4:50am. They then broke her water but could not get to it because the babies head was in the way. They then tried again at 6:15am with success. She stayed at 8cm until 8am that morning. I really feel strongly that her body needed to rest and that is why she was not progressing.
The doctors administered pitocin at 8:35 that morning. She was starting to get uncomfortable around 9:30 am and it was the first time she felt panicked. I was able to recognize this right away and it was the first time I felt nervous. I took a deep breath and I was able to get her to calm right back down within 30 seconds by getting her to breath and talking her through it. That was the point where she hit transition. She could feel the baby's head coming down. The annesthesiologist gave her another dose of meds to make it a little more comfortable for her. She was checked at was fully complete and ready to push.
She held off just for a little bit because she did not feel ready. The doctor was paged and came in the room about 10:03am. She started pushing at around 10:05am with a resident watching for the baby. She pushed 3 times within a contractions and the resident was holding the babies head in so the doctor could get her gloves on. This really help her not tear at all. The resident released his hand and out came little Gabriel at 10:06am! All 9lbs 4oz of him!
She did not even tear! This was a big fear for mommy as she tore with her first two.
As he was being born I was encouraging mommy, I was telling her how great she was doing and how wonderful her body was for giving birth. When he was born, noone else anounced what the baby was (it was a surprise baby). So I grabbed her as we were both crying and I said "It's a BOY!!" Seeing mommy cry was my biggest accomplishment of the day. She did not cry with her other births and this baby was a surprise to them. I really felt that I help mommy bond with her baby and that was so heartwarming to me.
The experience of going through this labor and birth with my client was more than amazing. I really have not been able to find the words to express how I feel about how wonderful it made me feel. This is my first labor and birth as a doula and it is one that I will remember for the rest of my life! Hearing the mommy say that this was her best labor and birth yet was music to my ears.
My goal is to help a mommy and daddy have the labor and birth they have always wanted. I want them to be confident in the choices they make and to realize that it is their choice and not anyone elses.
Here is what the mother wrote me when she returned from the hospital. This makes being on call 24/7, finding a sitter just in case for my boys every day, finding coverage at work just in case all worth EVERY minute! I have found my passion and it feels so good. I am a doula!!!! Saying that out loud after all that I have worked for is the biggest accomplishment (other than my babies and my husband) that I have made in my life!
"I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything, you were awesome! You helped me so much! You made the whole experience very relaxing. My husband and I truly feel you are apart of our family forever. We can't thank you enough for everything."
Friday, October 24, 2008
More to come....
I just wanted to update everyone. I attended my first entire labor and birth yesterday until this morning as a Doula. I will update the blog this week with all the details.
The experience was so amazing and moving! Both Momma and Baby are wonderful!
The experience was so amazing and moving! Both Momma and Baby are wonderful!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Preeclampsia - more common than we think?
Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) can lead to the dreaded Preeclampsia in some pregnancies. Researchers say that Preeclampsia only happens with 5%-8% of pregnancies. However, I am seeing this more and more as I obtain more clients. So far, I have had three clients.
The first client was the first labor that I attended and she had PIH. The second client whose labor can start any day has the beginning signs of Preeclampsia. She is experiencing edema and protein in her urine but no high blood pressure. We will find out on Wednesday if they are going to diagnose her has preeclamptic. My third client has the high blood pressure and is having issues with low platelets in her blood. We will find out on Thursday if she is considered preeclamptic or not.
That is 3 out of 3 clients that have some issues with this nasty disorder in some way. This really concerns me. I found a great article that can help educate us on Preeclampsia from the Mayo Clinic.
I decided to bring out my books and reread what they have to say about this disorder.
In the Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May, she suggests that preeclampsia, eclamsia and HELLP Syndrome can be largely prevented by a good nutritious diet (getting the correct amount of protein is key whether it is from meats, soy or nuts). Reading these books and also attending my Doula Workshop, I learned about Dr. Tom Brewer. Dr. Tom Brewer is a physician that has devoted his life to understanding the cause of this disorder.
For those of you that are interested in reading a great article interviewing Dr. Tom Brewer, click HERE. It is long but worth a read especially if you are going through PIH, Preeclampsia, eclampsia or HELLP.
I have not personally experienced anyone that has been on The Brewer's Diet to prevent or treat PIH, Preeclampsia, eclampsia or HELLP. However, I would be willing to try if I needed to as there does not seem to be any other prevention or treatment for it rather than bed rest and early delivery.
The first client was the first labor that I attended and she had PIH. The second client whose labor can start any day has the beginning signs of Preeclampsia. She is experiencing edema and protein in her urine but no high blood pressure. We will find out on Wednesday if they are going to diagnose her has preeclamptic. My third client has the high blood pressure and is having issues with low platelets in her blood. We will find out on Thursday if she is considered preeclamptic or not.
That is 3 out of 3 clients that have some issues with this nasty disorder in some way. This really concerns me. I found a great article that can help educate us on Preeclampsia from the Mayo Clinic.
I decided to bring out my books and reread what they have to say about this disorder.
In the Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May, she suggests that preeclampsia, eclamsia and HELLP Syndrome can be largely prevented by a good nutritious diet (getting the correct amount of protein is key whether it is from meats, soy or nuts). Reading these books and also attending my Doula Workshop, I learned about Dr. Tom Brewer. Dr. Tom Brewer is a physician that has devoted his life to understanding the cause of this disorder.
For those of you that are interested in reading a great article interviewing Dr. Tom Brewer, click HERE. It is long but worth a read especially if you are going through PIH, Preeclampsia, eclampsia or HELLP.
I have not personally experienced anyone that has been on The Brewer's Diet to prevent or treat PIH, Preeclampsia, eclampsia or HELLP. However, I would be willing to try if I needed to as there does not seem to be any other prevention or treatment for it rather than bed rest and early delivery.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
My journey so far...
I started studying to become a doula about one year ago. I began by researching different organizations where I could become certified. I chose DONA International. Once I made my choice, I began purchasing the required readings for certification and reading them at every chance that I could. I also found my doula trainer and contacted her with some questions and stayed in touch with her periodically. I talked about pregnancy, labor and birth as much as I could with all who were intersted.
My First Labor
In August, I had the honor to be apart of a labor of a friend. She had Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) and was coming in for an induction. Her cervix was not fully ripe and still very hard so they gave her Cervadil to help soften her cervix. Cervadil is normally left in for 12 hours and then removed before pitocin is started.
Her blood pressure was very high so the medical staff started administering Magnesium Sulfate (mag). Mag is given to high blood pressure mothers to help prevent seisures. This was my first experience with mag ever so I didn't know what to expect. I remember reading the side effects being a mettalic taste in the mouth and severe hot flashes (flushing). As the nurse was administering the mag through the IV, I would see the mommy starting to tense up. I came to her side and asked her if she tasted the metal taste in her mouth. She said yes and it was making her feel sick. So I asked the nurse if she would be able to chew a peice of gum. The nurse okayed the gum and candy chewing but restricted all of her fluids and food at that point. The nurse then got us a tub of ice water and five rags. I spent the next 45 minutes cooling the mother down as fast as I could with these rags. We had some on her forehead, back of the neck, front of the neck, and two on her stomach. I would just rotate them in the water every minute. Her legs were hot too so I let my hands soak in the ice water for a minute and apply my cold hands and some ice water to her legs. Once the hottness went away, we sat and chatted for a little bit.
Her husband had to leave for a moment and she siad to him jokingly as he left, "Maybe you can rub my feet when you get back!" I then started rubbing her legs and feet to help her relax. She also needed head rubs (because of headache from the PIH) and back rubs (because she was contracting and confined to the bed). I was able to get the nurse to bring in a birthing ball that she sat on for about 45 minutes while I added counter pressure on her back.
Every time a nurse or doctor would come into talk with them, I would pick up where the medical staff left off and explain all they were saying. I answered a lot of questions and left them at about 8pm that night.
At 1am the Cervadil was removed and she started contracting and going into labor on her own. She had a beautiful baby boy at about 5am that morning.
I left the hospital that night on a high. I knew that this is what I needed to be doing and felt like I am right where I need to be. I talked with the mommy the next day and she thanked me for supporting her and informing her on everything. She said it helped her become more relaxed.
At the end of September, is when I attended my Doula Workshop. The information on that is in the previous post.
My First Labor
In August, I had the honor to be apart of a labor of a friend. She had Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) and was coming in for an induction. Her cervix was not fully ripe and still very hard so they gave her Cervadil to help soften her cervix. Cervadil is normally left in for 12 hours and then removed before pitocin is started.
Her blood pressure was very high so the medical staff started administering Magnesium Sulfate (mag). Mag is given to high blood pressure mothers to help prevent seisures. This was my first experience with mag ever so I didn't know what to expect. I remember reading the side effects being a mettalic taste in the mouth and severe hot flashes (flushing). As the nurse was administering the mag through the IV, I would see the mommy starting to tense up. I came to her side and asked her if she tasted the metal taste in her mouth. She said yes and it was making her feel sick. So I asked the nurse if she would be able to chew a peice of gum. The nurse okayed the gum and candy chewing but restricted all of her fluids and food at that point. The nurse then got us a tub of ice water and five rags. I spent the next 45 minutes cooling the mother down as fast as I could with these rags. We had some on her forehead, back of the neck, front of the neck, and two on her stomach. I would just rotate them in the water every minute. Her legs were hot too so I let my hands soak in the ice water for a minute and apply my cold hands and some ice water to her legs. Once the hottness went away, we sat and chatted for a little bit.
Her husband had to leave for a moment and she siad to him jokingly as he left, "Maybe you can rub my feet when you get back!" I then started rubbing her legs and feet to help her relax. She also needed head rubs (because of headache from the PIH) and back rubs (because she was contracting and confined to the bed). I was able to get the nurse to bring in a birthing ball that she sat on for about 45 minutes while I added counter pressure on her back.
Every time a nurse or doctor would come into talk with them, I would pick up where the medical staff left off and explain all they were saying. I answered a lot of questions and left them at about 8pm that night.
At 1am the Cervadil was removed and she started contracting and going into labor on her own. She had a beautiful baby boy at about 5am that morning.
I left the hospital that night on a high. I knew that this is what I needed to be doing and felt like I am right where I need to be. I talked with the mommy the next day and she thanked me for supporting her and informing her on everything. She said it helped her become more relaxed.
At the end of September, is when I attended my Doula Workshop. The information on that is in the previous post.
Doula Training
At the end of September, I attended my three day workshop for my Doula Training. The whole experience was absolutely empowering. The first day consisted of Childbirth Education and the next two days were Doula Training. We did role playing and really got into the modes we would as if we were at a live birth.
Here I am on the floor acting as the Doula - Comforting the mother and directing the Father (who for the sake of the role play was a women).
I met some really great women at this workshop. We really connected and bonded. Our trainer was absolutely amazing! She has been attending births for over 20 years and has been teaching childbirth education for a while now. She is a humble, intellegent and empowering woman. She is also a HUGE advocate for VBAC's. I feel blessed to be trained by her.
I am now able to attend labor and births to get credit for them towards my DONA certification.
Here I am on the floor acting as the Doula - Comforting the mother and directing the Father (who for the sake of the role play was a women).
I met some really great women at this workshop. We really connected and bonded. Our trainer was absolutely amazing! She has been attending births for over 20 years and has been teaching childbirth education for a while now. She is a humble, intellegent and empowering woman. She is also a HUGE advocate for VBAC's. I feel blessed to be trained by her.
I am now able to attend labor and births to get credit for them towards my DONA certification.
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