Pampered Pregnancy – Blissful Birth

WHAT: Pregnancy and Postpartum Health Alliance will host a free 1 hour training for doulas on peripartum mood and anxiety disorders.  Risk factors, screening, signs and symptoms, and treatment options will be discussed.
WHEN: Wednesday, January 18 from 7:30 to 8:30pm
WHERE: Get Babied!  1825 E 38 1/2 St. Austin TX 78722
CONTACT: Sally Rumsey 512-327-7500

In creating a resource list we’d like to help promote doulas and birth professionals who have experience with PPD and this is a way to ensure they get the training.

Vulvar varicosities aren’t really a topic of conversation that often when you let your friends know how you are doing during your pregnancy.  Hey how’s it going?  Well I have varicose veins on my lady parts right now…other than that I am doing pretty well.  Lots of the yoginis in my prenatal yoga classes haven’t even heard of vulvar varicosities.

So what are they?  Vulvar varicosities are varicose veins on the vulva.  Caused from the rise in the amount of blood in your body during pregnancy along with more weight and the enlargement of the uterus.  All these factors place more pressure in the pelvic region and can interfere with blood flow to this area.  When the pressure rises the veins can become distended and pop out.

Who knew?  Once you have them you can use the natural remedies below to relieve pain and keep your self in the best of health.  Normally, they resolve after birth – thank goodness for that right?

These are suggestions from other mommas:

*Frozen comfrey compresses (the same used for postpartum perineal healing). Bring 2 qts water to a boil, and then remove from heat. Place ~1 ounce dried comfrey leaves in the water, cover, and let sit 4-5 hours or overnight. Pour onto a mama pad (or a non-chlorine/non-gel disposable pad), and then freeze. Lay down on left side and “layer”… washcloth next to your skin, frozen compress, towel or other absorbent material. Stay laying down until it is no longer cold.

*Homeopathic pulsatilla nigricans.

*Witch hazel soaked pads (2 big ones) in your unders or with lycra bike shorts.

*Increase consumption of onions & garlic to increase circulation.

*Put your bum in the air with your head on your bed a few times a day (getting the pressure/weight of the baby off your pelvic floor) and kegel, kegel, kegel!

*Homeopathic sepia is supposed to work wonders.

*Nettle tea (strengthens veins)

*There’s some great info in Aviva Jill Romm’s book THE NATURAL PREGNANCY BOOK

*Yoga inversions for pregnancy  – my prenatal yoga instructors keeps saying inversions are great for any kind of varicosities.  doing inversions even just once a week in class.

*Stop sitting cross legged for hours on end at the computer!

*Definitely stay away from unsupported squats – use a block, bolster, or blanket under you when doing squats.

*Lie down with your rear end against a wall and legs up the wall. Use folded blanket or bolster under your hips so the uterus doesn’t compress the vena cava while relaxing with legs up the wall.

*You can find support garments on the internet that help relieve the pressure.

Talk to other mommas, and take care of yourself.  This too shall pass!

The weekend of February 17th, we have Kay Miller, CAPPA trainer, coming to do her awesome certified lactation educator (CLE) training!!!

By completing this training, you are completing both the 20 hour Breastfeeding Course in support of the BFHI (Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative) and the CAPPA Lactation Educator certification workshop at the same time!

In this training, you will learn:

• Goals/Roles of the Lactation Educator
• Historical Look at Breastfeeding
• Anatomical, Physiological, and Hormonal Aspects of Lactation
• Benefits of Breastfeeding/Hazards of Formula Feeding
• Successful Starts with Breastfeeding
• Teaching To Adult Learners
• Ten Steps to Baby Friendly
• Working with the Hospital
• Maternal/Infant Challenges
• Pumping/Expressing Breastmilk
• Medications and Mother’s Milk
• Fathers/Partners and Breastfeeding
• Marketing Your Practice
• And more!

Benefits of this program:

• You can teach in a variety of settings, from private classes to hospital
• You will understand the necessity of advocacy, promotion, and support of breastfeeding
• You will be able to market and target your audience
• You will begin the process of certification with CAPPA

February 17, 2012 8am-6pm
February 18, 2012 8am-2pm
February 19, 2012 8am-6pm
$425 if registered and paid by 1.20.12
$475 after 1.20.12

Register NOW and save $50!

http://www.heavensentsupport.com/lactation-educator.html

Hey Mamas (and Dads) Still room in this weekend’s class! I’d love to
have you join us.

Got Babied! New Infant Survival Course with Happiest Baby Techniques

This is a fun interactive 2.5 hour class designed to teach you the
skills you need for those first 8 weeks with your baby. The class is
taught by me (Ame Shillington), certified doula/certified mom. Class
registration may include gently used copies when available of the
books discussed to take home for further reading. Class fee: $30 per
couple.

Topics Include:
*How to select a pediatrician and schedule of routine well checks and
vaccinations
*Pros and cons of circumcision & care for circumcized penis surgery
*Cord blood banking
*Routine medical procedures for baby at the hospital – Vitamin K, Hep
B, Ointment, Metabolic testing
*Common infant afflictions and treatments – jaundice, acne, rash,
eczema, cradle cap, fever
*Daily infant routines – review of the book “The Baby Whisperer”
*Daily infant care – diaper changing, umbilical cord care, bathing,
feeding, burping, review of the book “Baby 411″ by Ari Brown
*Infant Massage
*Sleep, SIDS, Co-sleeping/bedsharing
*How to soothe and calm a baby and review of the book “Happiest Baby
on the Block” by Harvey Karp
*Looking Ahead – “Sleep Training” and review of the book “Solve your
Child’s Sleep Problems” by Richard Ferber
*Postpartum Depression
*Babywearing

Register online here: http://www.getbabied.com/classes/online-registration

And don’t forget to check out our other exciting January classes – Get Diapered – Cloth Diapering 101 on 1/8, Get Comfortable – Comfort measures for labor on 1/15, Get Prepared – Express Childbirth Preparation on 1/16, Get Milk on 1/17, The ParentU Baby Expo with all kinds of great lectures on 1/21, and Get Parenting – the 7 Spiritual Laws for new parents on 1/27. Start off the new year right with awesome educational opportunities at Get Babied!

–

Hey folks! Megan here! Jenni, our LC who normally teaches Get Milk! is out of town for most of January, so I am subbing in for her. There will be a breastfeeding basics class (taught by me!) January 17th from 7-9pm.

The course includes:

• Benefits / components of human milk for human babies
• Overcoming breastfeeding barriers
• Breast anatomy and physiology, infant oral anatomy, and how the two come together for a comfortable breastfeeding experience
• How to know if you’re making enough milk, and baby is transfering milk well.
• breastfeeding management for going back to work and other challenges
• Medications and their effect on lactation and the breastfeeding infant
• Family unit bonding and comfort techniques w/ basic infant massage
• Resources available if help is needed

You can register here!- http://www.getbabied.com/classes/breastfeeding-basics

Natalia called the doula line at 5:30am, January 1st. Her contractions had been consistently strong for the last two hours, and she was ready to head on in to the hospital and get the New Year’s party started. I met her there at 7am after she had been triaged. She was somewhat disappointed to discover that she was only 2cm dilated, but 90% effaced. With her cervix almost completely thinned out, the doctor decided Natalia could stick around for two hours or so, and if she did not progress within that time limit, they would send her home so she could do her early laboring in the comfort of her home.

We decided to do a labor encouragement circuit. Successful early labor to me is changing what you’re doing every 30 minutes or so, to use gravity, position change, and distraction to encourage progress. Natalia was on board for the position change plan. We walked the maternity ward at Seton, and worked in double hip squeezes during contractions. Natalia sat on the ball and did pelvic rocks. She did standing lunges while leaning on the bed. Natalia and Jason did some slow dancing. Our two hours were up, and it was time for the big reveal. Fail. Still 2cm, but 100% effaced, and Natalia was showing very clear visible signs of discomfort, uncharacteristic for 2cm. So her doctor was still unsure about sending her home, and ordered two more hours of observation.

To kick off the next two hours, I recommended Natalia hop in the shower, the warm water might help her body relax. Jason was on hot water spraying duty and moral support. While she was in the shower, I got on the smartphone to the doula team and told them to send me their best suggestions to treat malpresentation. I had a hunch that Natalia’s baby was in a funky position, probably OP, because her labor was way too intense to be just at 2cm dilation. Sometimes when labor is excruciating this early, it’s because the hard part of the baby’s head is pushing on a sensitive area (like the lower back). And double whammy, when the baby is in a sub-optimal position, it isn’t putting enough pressure on the cervix to cause change. The doula team quickly responded sending a checklist of malposition options for us to try. There might be only one doula in the delivery room, but 9 others have your back when you work with our team.

When Natalia got out of the shower I told her we needed to get serious about turning this baby around. We needed a game-changer position change. So first off, we did a sidelying pelvic floor release, to reset the pelvis and create some more room for baby to rotate. After this Natalia got into child’s pose, having her butt up in the air would allow her baby to disengage from the pelvis (in the hopes it would re-engage in a better lie). Then it was hands and knees positioning as long as Natalia could bear it (hands and knees can be tiring on your knees, back and neck). Hands and Knees allows the heaviest part of the baby (head) to rotate down, the most optimal position for labor and delivery. While she labored on her hands and knees, I got behind her to do some double hip squeezes during contractions (which also helps to open the pelvic outlet). Between contractions Natalia appreciated long massage strokes on her back to help her dissociation/meditation techniques (her mind was in an outdoor rainforest shower in Belize, her happy place). Going back and forth between child’s pose and various hands and knees positions, suddenly something changed, and the stabbing shooting back pains had vanished. Yes! A good sign that changing positions was working.

At the next cervical exam around 12:30pm, Natalia was a solid 4cm, and 100% effaced, and a zero station! Baby had dropped, cervix was stretchy, back pains were gone, full steam ahead! Natalia exclaimed “I think we actually turned her!” During the earlier back labor Natalia was dreaming of an epidural (but knew it was too early to request it). Now, at 4cm, her nurse A-OK’d whatever she wanted. But, the game had changed, now that this baby was in a better position, the labor became tolerable again. Natalia was glad to hear the option was available, but wasn’t quite ready to request it. Shortly after this discussion Dr. Yium was doing her rounds, and Natalia picked her brain about getting the epidural. She wanted to rest, and was worried about increasing intensity or returning to back labor land. She was also worried about waiting too long and missing the epidural window. At the same time she didn’t want the epidural to slow her new found progress. Dr. Yium decided she would check Natalia herself, and depending on how her cervix felt, would be able to better advise her. Her check within 30 minutes from the last exam revealed a cervix 5-6cm, Dr. Yium was confident that labor was moving at a good clip and an epidural wouldn’t interfere. Natalia wasn’t totally ready for an epidural, but was happy to hear that if she made this decision her labor would continue moving forward. She decided to do everything she needed to do to be ready for the epidural in the case she decided to opt for it, which included getting a hep lock and a full bag of IV, and getting her blood work done. These things take about 45 minutes to accomplish, so she kept powering through the increasingly intense contractions on her hands and knees, and rested in between in a seated position leaning back on the birth ball on the bed.

By around 1:30 (an hour after “active labor” officially started), Natalia was feeling the urge to push, and pressure in her bottom. The nurse checked her and was surprised within 30 minutes Natalia had gone from a 5ish to a 9ish. She would probably be complete, except that her bag of waters was still intact and bulging. Holy Transition! Dr. Yium suggested breaking the water, this might be the last push to bring that baby down and cervix completely dilated. Natalia agreed to this plan, and after the AROM, Dr. Yium said there was a tiny cervical lip, that Natalia would have to wait it out before she could push in earnest.

9.5 cm kicks butt. But it’s also the most intense part of labor, the very end of transition. Natalia had made it so far! I was so proud of her, as was everybody in the room. I knew she could do this thing unmedicated, no sweat. But Natalia was still waiting for her epidural. I encouraged her to go without it, and said, if it’s your goal to go natural you’re almost there. Then she reminded me, that wasn’t her goal. Right! Time for me to change my position! She had always intended to get an epidural, and that was still her intention. She didn’t need me to persuade her otherwise, that wasn’t my job. As soon as she got the epidural there was an immediate calm and peace over the room. Natalia finally was able to rest comfortably, something she had been wanting to do all afternoon, and 9.5cm really was her first opportunity to do so.

Dr. Yium allowed her to labor down for half an hour or so, and then it was time to push this little lady out. Natalia was a trooper pushing hard for a good 90 minutes. The position that seemed to work the best was when Jenni (my shadow doula extraordinaire) held the rebozo at the base of the bed and Natalia grabed on it with both hands to pull herself toward Jenni and use that momentum to direct her strength down. Jason was in charge of keeping Natalia energized and comfortable, supporting her head, cheering her on, applying the chapstick, and catering to her ice chip and apple juice needs. I was on warm compress duty to help that perineum stretch. 90 minutes of pushing had her baby right on her perineum, but still a little stuck under her pubic bone. Her baby was showing some signs of fatigue, as was Natalia, self-admittedly. Dr. Yium suggested using forceps to help nudge baby around that corner. Natalia would still have to push hard, and Dr. Yium would just steer. One push later, at 4:33 pm Natalia’s beautiful baby girl was placed on her chest for some immediate skin to skin time and pinked up and cried immediately. Dr. Yium let her hang out there while she waited for the cord to stop pulsating. Jason got to cut the cord. Baby girl (who’s name is still being contemplated) was a tiny peanut, and weighed in at 5lbs 7oz. She was quickly weighed and measured, and went straight back to mamas chest for more skin to skin time. Natalia got a full 2 hours of bonding and breastfeeding in without interruption (thanks Seton!) And another pleasant surprise was that her mother, fresh off a plane from Kansas, excitedly arrived within minutes after baby’s birth, teary eyed and cooing at her brand new baby grand-daughter.

I thank you Natalia and Jason for allowing me to take part in this beautiful day. I thank you for always being open to changing your position. And reminding me to do the same. Many blessings to your new family. AS.

Are you due between January 10th & 31st 2012 and looking beautiful pictures of your newborn baby?

Look no further! Sweet Life Family Photography will be hosting a professional newborn photography workshop for nationally recognized newborn photographer, Laura Brett Photography.

Participating newborn parents will receive:

Complimentary newborn session
Complimentary 16×20 print
Discounted rates off additional prints or digital files
$100 gift certificate from Sweet Life Family Photography

http://blog.sweetlifefamily.com/austin-january-2012-babies/

The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology this month published study results indicating no differences in progestin only birth control pills, and traditional combo birth control pills.  It is current common clinical practice to not prescribe combo pills as it is thought that the estrogen messes with lactation in quality and quantity of milk produced.  Women randomly assigned to one type of pill or the other demonstrated no differences in breastfeeding duration, milk supply, or infant weight gain.  This study gives women some options with birth control, since the combo pill is much more effective for contraception, has fewer negative side effects, and more positive side effects.  So ladies – talk to your docs about birth control options!

Effect of Progestin Compared With Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills on Lactation: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Espey, Eve MD, MPH; Ogburn, Tony MD; Leeman, Lawrence MD, MPH; Singh, Rameet MD, MPH; Ostrom, Katie MD; Schrader, Ronald PhD

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of progestin-only compared with combined hormonal contraceptive pills on rates of breastfeeding continuation in postpartum women. Secondary outcomes include infant growth parameters, contraceptive method continuation, and patient satisfaction with breastfeeding and contraceptive method.

METHODS: Postpartum breastfeeding women who desired oral contraceptives were randomly assigned to progestin-only and combined hormonal contraceptive pills. At 2 and 8 weeks postpartum, participants completed in-person questionnaires that assessed breastfeeding continuation and contraceptive use. Infant growth parameters including weight, length, and head circumference were assessed at 8 weeks postpartum. Telephone questionnaires assessing breastfeeding, contraceptive continuation, and satisfaction were completed at 3–7 weeks and 4 and 6 months. Breastfeeding continuation was compared between groups using Cox proportional hazards regression. Differences in baseline demographic characteristics and in variables between the two intervention groups were compared using χ² tests, Fisher exact test, or two-sample t tests as appropriate.

RESULTS: Breastfeeding continuation rates at 8 weeks (progestin-only 63.5%; combined hormonal 64.1%), contraceptive continuation, and infant growth parameters did not differ between users of progestin-only and combined hormonal contraceptive pills. Infant formula supplementation and maternal perception of inadequate milk supply were associated with decreased rates of breastfeeding in both groups.

CONCLUSION: Choice of combined hormonal or progestin-only contraceptive pills administered 2 weeks postpartum did not adversely affect breastfeeding continuation.

You may have squandered away a bulk of cash traveling and giving gifts this season!

It is time for savings on what may be the most important investment of your pregnancy!

If you register this week for the upcoming Bradley Method series at Get Babied!  you will save 10% off of the $300 registration fee.  December 31st is the last day of this great offer!!

The 12 week series begins on Sunday, February 12th from 11am-1pm and ends on April 29th.  This series of classes is great for May and June due dates!

Register using the Promo Code NEWMOM for the great $30 discount and read more about the benefits of the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth!

Music and Massage! Jamie’s Story

by Steph Scott

Jamie had been in early labor since 4:00 am Tuesday morning. She and her husband Travor spent the day trying to get labor going, walking and using the breast pump, but Jamie’s contractions were around 10 minutes apart most of the day. At 8:30 pm, she texted me that she had lost her mucus plug. I wrote back that this didn’t necessarily mean anything would happen tonight – but an hour later, Travor called to say Jamie’s water had broken!

I met them at Seton at 10:00 pm. Jamie was 2 ½ cm dilated, but her contractions were already intense enough that she needed help coping with the pain. She wanted a natural birth, but Travor told me she was already questioning whether that would be possible. When I arrived Jamie was lying in bed on her side – she was supposed to be monitored for an hour. She and Travor were listening to hypnobirthing recordings. Travor sat by her head and breathed with her during the contractions to help her focus on keeping her breaths long and slow, and after contractions, he’d give her sips of water, praise her hard work, and encourage her for the next one. They were in a wonderful groove, but it was still so early that I suspected things would soon get really intense.

Jamie liked very firm counterpressure on her low back while she was lying on her side, so I did a lot of that while Travor was by her head. It took me a while to unpack my things and get the room set up; the breaks between contractions seemed really short. I brought out my lavender and peppermint oils. I put some nice lavender soap at the sink and put some lavender hand sanitizer on the bedside table, and I turned off the horrible fluorescent overhead light and put on a softer, gentler light by the door that made the room darker and cozy.

As soon as the hour was up and the monitors were off, Jamie got out of bed and sat on the ball. Travor sat on the bed with pillows in his lap, and Jamie sat on the ball leaning over onto Travor. He was such wonderful support – he massaged her shoulders to relax them when he saw her holding tension there, he always remembered to offer her sips of water to keep her hydrated, and he intuitively knew how to help her focus on her breath by breathing with her loudly instead of trying to talk to her in words about how to breathe. When I emailed the other Get Babied doulas an update, I commented on how great Travor was and how Megan’s “Get Prepped Plus” class had turned him into a highly skilled doula! Megan wrote back that Travor was the superstar of the class. It really showed!

Travor also kept saying funny things to Jamie between her intense contractions. This is hard to do without getting yelled at, because humor can be annoying to a laboring mama when she’s trying to focus all her attention on coping with the pain. But Travor was able to find the perfect degree of levity to make Jamie smile. After the really hard contractions he kept saying, “Oh yeah, you kicked that one in the ASS!!” It cracked me up. Jamie would grin and murmur, “Thanks!” They were so sweet together.

Gus is a cutie!

While Jamie sat on the ball, I sat behind her and massaged her back. It didn’t take long before she started needing a lot of help and encouragement to get through her contractions and stay focused and motivated. I did a lot of very firm counterpressure on her low back; that seemed to help the most. Travor and I also did double-hip squeezes by standing on each side of Jamie when she was on her hands and knees so that we could each press one hip towards her spine. I could see her tensing up with each contraction, and instead of just breathing, she started whimpering in a way that sounded increasingly desperate. We talked about not fighting the pain because it was good; it was productive and was really helping to melt her cervix away and move Gus down a bit lower each time. Little by little, Jamie figured out how to work with the contractions instead of fighting them.

For the first few hours, she switched between the same two positions – sitting on the ball and sidelying in the bed. Because she had been awake since 4:00 am and labored all day, she was already exhausted when she got to the hospital. So we tried to make her comfortable enough that she could doze between contractions as much as possible. The contractions were getting more and more intense, and Jamie was doing great working with them. She told Travor and me that she liked hearing us talk to her and tell her she could do it. She had a very hard time relaxing because of the intensity of the contractions plus lack of sleep. At 1:00 am, another cervical check showed she was 3 ½ cm. She knew she still had a lot of labor ahead of her, so she asked for some medication. Within seconds of getting fentanyl she sighed and murmured dreamily, “This is AWESOME.” Travor and I grinned at each other across the bed – it was wonderful to see her smile again. As I spoke to her quietly about melting softly away and making more space for Gus to descend, I could see her shoulders moving down and her hands unclenching. As Jamie relaxed, I could feel myself relaxing too.

I began to pay more attention to the room around us as I was able to focus less intently on Jamie. Travor had exchanged the hypnobirthing recordings for the playlist Jamie had put together for her birth. Sitting behind Jamie and massaging her back and hips, I started really getting into the music. I was working on 4 hours of sleep, having just been to a birth early the previous morning, and I was a little bit delirious. At 1:20 am, “Crimson & Clover” came on, and I felt a subtle but distinct shift in the atmosphere. We were all sitting – Travor on the edge of the bed, Jamie on the ball with her head in his lap, me on the stool at her back, always massaging. But with that song, it started to feel like we were all dancing as we moved and breathed together in rhythm with Jamie’s labor and Joan Jett’s gritty vocals.

Jamie’s playlist was the perfect labor soundtrack. Most people choose their labor music based on how relaxing it is. Jamie said she just brought all the songs that made her really happy. She had a lot of Bob Marley, which is always wonderful for birthing – it’s impossible to feel too bad when you’re listening to Bob Marley. And “Your Pulling Touch” by Poi Dog Pondering is indeed one of the happiest love songs I know. As Travor said, Jamie has excellent taste!

Smack!

Jamie was able to cope well and rest with the fentanyl until around at 4:00 am. At that point, she was feeling a lot of pain, along with increasing pressure that made her want to push. She tried not to because she didn’t want her cervix to swell if she wasn’t completely dilated, but it became harder and harder to resist. Soon I could tell from the sounds she was making that she was pushing. She asked to be checked; she was 8 cm. She was making great progress, but she was thoroughly exhausted. She asked for an epidural so she could have some relief from the overwhelming urge to push and so she could get some rest; otherwise, she didn’t think she’d have the energy to push effectively. By the time she got the epidural, around 4:30 am, she had been laboring for about 24 hours.

Travor and I had also been up for 24 hours and working hard, though not as hard as Jamie. He had spent the day helping her try to get labor started, and I had been to an early morning birth. All three of us got some much-needed sleep after Jamie’s epidural. It took me a while to convince Travor to move out of his chair by the bed where he was sitting and holding Jamie’s hand – but finally, after they had both been asleep for about an hour (still holding hands), he agreed to move to the sofa bed. He slept with a scarf and a ridiculous furry hat with ear flaps because it was freezing in the room (Jamie had been hot all night). I slept on the sofa bed too, until around 8:30 am when Tanya, another of the Get Babied doulas, showed up with a triple mocha for me along with sugary treats for breakfast. (At the time I was convinced this was the most delicious breakfast I had ever tasted. I will be forever grateful to Tanya who appeared like some kind of angel from Starbucks – when I opened the door and saw her standing there I could swear there were harps playing).

Sleep Deprivation & a Ridiculous Hat

At 8:00 am Jamie was 9 cm; the epidural had slowed her labor down. Her doctor started pitocin to try to speed it up, but by 9:30 Gus’s heart rate started to dip after contractions, showing that he was stressed and not tolerating the pitocin well. They turned the pitocin back to the smallest dose possible and put Jamie on oxygen while we waited for a few more contractions to see what would happen. Everyone stared at the monitor, willing Gus’s heart rate to stay within the safe range – it did! Jamie’s doctor said she might need a cesarean if his heart rate started to dip again, but she was fine with Jamie laboring longer with the low dose of pitocin and the oxygen. Finally, at 2:15 pm, Jamie was finally 10 cm!

Gus was at +1 station, and the doctor wanted Jamie to labor down for one more hour to try to get him to +2 which would mean a lot less work for her to push him out. She was okay with this plan, although she was feeling more and more pressure and some pain at this point. She hung in there for another hour with Travor and me doing counterpressure on her sacrum. At 3:30 the doctor gave her the okay to start pushing, because Gus had moved down to +2 station.

Travor stayed by Jamie’s head holding her hand, and I brought warm washcloths for her perineum to help avoid tearing. The nurse did perineal massage with betadine instead of olive oil because the doctor wanted to avoid olive oil in case she needed to use a vacuum. By the time the doctor was delivering the baby, she wasn’t worried about needing the vacuum, and she did perineal massage with olive oil herself. Jamie pushed very well – she was really strong and the epidural had enabled her to regain a lot of energy. She didn’t think she wanted a mirror, but I suggested she try it. Right as Gus was being born, Jamie’s eyes were closed, so I prompted her to open her eyes and look in the mirror. She had been pushing quietly, but she suddenly gave a triumphant scream and then started laughing and crying at the same time as the doctor placed Gus right onto her belly.

Gus was born at 4:56 pm. He was a plump 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches long. As soon as Travor saw him, he started crying. Gus was so cute that none of us could look away from him! He was a very peaceful baby, and very alert. When his dad talked to him he got quiet and listened as if he understood what Travor was saying. Jamie got him unwrapped from all his blankets for some immediate skin-to-skin breastfeeding time. It just took a few minutes before he was latched on and chomping happily!

I want to end this birth story with something Travor said, which I think is maybe the nicest thing I’ve ever heard at a birth. After a really long, hard, contraction he told Jamie, “This little guy is going to love you more than anyone else in your life.” I know that is already true! Congratulations Jamie and Travor, and little Augustus Sharp!

Steph, Travor, Jamie, & Gus