I had an AWESOME birth today! I came onto shift at 1:45pm, and got called into the birth room, because I was "first up" to catch a baby today. The patient (Hazel) was pushing, and I saw a little tiny bit of the head poking out as I sat down at the end of the bed, right in the "catcher's seat". The patient was so sweet and seemed to have made a great connection with her midwife from the day shift, who gently reassured Hazel that she would not be leaving, but she was just going to have me take over, while she assisted with the birth. As her uterus contracted, attempting to expel the tiny little human (which is actually the size of a watermelon) through something which is usually not the size of a watermelon, she breathed hard and asked me, "Can I push?" I assured her that when she felt a contraction to push. As she did, I encouraged her, "Siggy, utong! Maayo kaayo! Very good Hazel! Wow!" She protested, "No its not good, its painful!" I tried not to laugh at this, as I told her I was referring to her hard work of pushing, not the pain itself (as being very good).As she breathed, in between contractions, she looked over at her midwife from the day shift and said, "Check the baby!" This was actually my favorite part of the birth (aside from the fact that it went almost perfectly)! When a patient is pregnant and in labor, we always monitor fetal heart tones (FHT). Sometimes when it is the first time a mama has heard her baby (like in her first prenatal), it is a very exciting moment for her. But I have never had a patient request... Or rather command a midwife to check her baby's heart tones! It was quite hilarious! I also really appreciated how in tuned she was with what was happening and she wanted to be in tuned with what was going on with the baby too!
So as Hazel continued to push, the little head made its appearance and at crowning I directed her, to breathe the head out with some "Hah! Hah!"s. The head came out, after slid her little body, and with it a rush of excitement and adrenaline through my body!
Her baby made her way into this world after 9 short minutes. She was a sweet little 6lbs 3oz girl. I wiped the baby's, dried her a little, and lay her on her mama's tummy so that she could be skin-to-skin with her mother for some bonding and warmth, and then settled in to wait for the placenta to come out.
During the postpartum care, I got to know Hazel and her bantay (helper). She was so sweet! She looked up at me as I checked her blood pressure and pulse and asked, "Normal?" I assured her, "Very normal." Then she flinched as I massaged the top of her uterus (fundus) deep into her abdomen to assure that it was contracting and the bleeding was stopping. As I maimed her fundus, she protested and flinched. Later I taught her how to do it on her own, so I did not have to continue hurting her when I massaged it.
I finished all the of the postpartum care, birth certificate, and baby bath with energy to spare (which is incredibly rare)!! And discharged before the night shift. As Hazel and her bantay (Karen Joy) were getting up to leave with the new baby all wrapped up, I kissed the baby, and handed her to her mother and i asked her, "Do you know why I wanted to be a midwife?"
She said, "Because you love babies"?
I told her, "Well babies are kind of cool, yes. But really, my favorite part is being with the mother."
"Really? But why?" she asked.
I told her, "Well, God has done so many amazing miracles in my life. After going through a lot of hard times as a teenager, He really showed me how much I am loved and valued by Him. And thats the love I want to share with my patients."
Karen Joy looked at me and told me, "Wow, you are such a kind person. You are so different now."
I told her thank you as I saw them off to a taxi and said goodbye. And thought, wow its kind of amazing the handiwork God has done in my heart. Someone I have barely known for 6 hours can see the change, and the testimony of His amazing love, grace, and forgiveness that He has given me. I am so in awe of God's passion for His glory, and how He uses the weakest of us poor weak little humans, so show us how strong and amazing and loving He is! My hope in sharing my heart with my patient was not that I would receive a nice complement... My hope was that she would see God's glory, and she would understand how I valued her, because God values her so much more.
