No run today. I decided to take today off because I want to run tomorrow for sure, and want to not be too tired. I'm planning to get up and run with the cross country coach's summer running group in the morning.
kerc - depression is so scary. Can she find counseling in addition to the psychiatrist? It's so hard because mental health services are so limited in many places. If you don't like the one person who is available, you're out of luck. Does she have any support near her IRL?
poppy - Somehow, I didn't realize you had such a cool first name!
So the other 2 birth stories.
First, was a young (21) first time mom who was due the day before. She woke up at 5 am with cramping, which by 6 am turned into contractions 5 minutes apart or so. She headed in to the hospital around 8 or so (while I was running my race actually.) She was 3-4 cms and 90% effaced on arrival, and she ended up with one of my favorite labor nurses who is our most senior nurse. By the time I arrived at 9:30 am, Tina the labor nurse had talked the mama into the tub where she was floating with the jets and sipping cold water. Tina had put an IV in because the mama was initially dead set on having an epidural as soon as possible and you have to have IV fluids first, but she talked her into waiting for the fluids to run while in the tub. The mama was much more comfortable in the tub, which was the nurse's goal to begin with. She asked me as soon as I walked in when she could have her epidural, and we talked about the risks/benefits. She decided to wait a while longer after we talked (mostly, she was really worried that it was going to get much worse, so I encouraged her to just deal with what was going on right now, and we could change our plans later if she wanted.) An hour later, she was wondering if she could have some pain meds through the IV instead. I didn't want to make her get out of the tub, and her baby had had great heart tones throughout, so we gave her a little Stadol through the IV in the tub. That was enough to help her really relax in between and take the edge off during contractions. She ended up staying in the tub until after noon when she decided she was too pruny to take any more water. Also, she wanted to be checked for dilation which we did and she was 8 cms already. She also couldn't stand lying down, so she sat on the birth ball leaning over pillows in her dp's lap while her mom rubbed her back for a while longer. Soon, she started grunting with contractions, then pushing in earnest. I'm fond of the birth ball, but haven't figured out yet how to get the baby out while still sitting on one, so she moved to the bed in hands and knees. Her water started leaking shortly after she started pushing. Tina, the nurse, is always lots of fun to work with because she's good at being supportive and encouraging without pitying or smothering. She really helped this young woman believe she could do it. Anyway, after a while her legs were too tired to stay on her knees, so she turned on her side. Actually, she was more diagonal on the bed, half on her side, half on her back, with her head wedged against the bed rail. Looked miserable uncomfortable, but was exactly how she wanted to be. She must still have had a forebag of waters, because the first time she pushed in this position her water broke in earnest, splashing several feet away! She pushed her baby out in this position shortly after - a nice plump 8 lb 9 oz baby boy with huge hands and feet. Today she is thrilled that she did it without the epidural, and still on a labor high. (And honestly, she would likely have pushed a lot longer with an epidural, and who knows how it would have turned out.)
The last mama actually had arrived to labor and delivery in the very early morning with her water broken, but no contractions. She'd already been leaking fluid for about 20 hours. We waited a lot of the day, but she didn't start to labor. She had switched to me mid-pregnancy because a neighboring town hospital where she'd planned to birth had banned VBACs. She'd had 1 cesarean followed by 2 VBACs already, so she wasn't eager to have a repeat cesarean. For various reasons, we didn't feel comfortable waiting indefinitely with her water broken. Around 2 in the afternoon, we decided on some cautious pitocin. She was soon in good labor. She turned out to have some kind of nutty family members, who were running in and out of the room and talking loudly and generally disrupting the flow of things most of the day. Around 7 pm, she started to want to push - and things got a little weird from there. She'd say "when will you let me push? Why can't I push?" and I'd say "Push whenever you want" but she wouldn't. And then a few contractions later we'd have the whole same conversation over again. Then she got very nauseous, and vomited several times. Her sister turned out to be one of those types who can't see people vomit, so she threw up herself. The both of them gagging away for some reason got my labor nurse going too (not the experienced one, this was the next shift) and she had to leave the room to avoid vomiting herself. With all that puking, the laboring mom also managed to push out a bunch of stool, which got the sister going again. Talk about the non-glamorous parts of my job - here I am alone with the laboring mama, the gagging sister, and all sorts of stuff that needed cleaned up. I don't have a weak stomach thankfully, and the biggest problem I was having was trying hard not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. The mama felt lots better after getting all that, er, cleaned out I guess, and went back to pushing a little, and asking me when she could push, and my labor nurse came back. Still, no obvious signs of baby. Finally, around 8, I checked her cervix and she had a thin anterior lip of cervix that slid right over the baby when I pushed it, and the baby slid down quite a bit. She did finally start pushing then in earnest, and the baby was born at 8:08 pm. The sister and mother were back in the room for the birth, and drove me nuts screaming "Push, push, push, push" at the mama, to the point that I finally yelled at everybody to hush so the mama could calm down, catch her breath, and ease her baby out. I almost never raise my voice, so I shocked even myself, but all that yelling is no way to come into the world! Baby girl, 7 lbs 1 oz, with tiny perfect features.
Of all the babies yesterday, my one mama who was due yesterday wasn't one of them, so I'm guessing she'll be along shortly. Hopefully not tonight, because I need a good night's sleep!
Silly I know.
It'll be fun to watch and cheer him, BIL and Mamabeth on though. We're even bringing pom-poms. Yes, we're nerds. :nana:
Annelizabeth
I also love the chant! 
for your kids! You must be so proud! 
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: Please forgive me.
: I through out a ton of stuff. I am working on decluttering our house - piles of books to donate to the library, some stuff for the church flea market, some for Sally Ann - and I have to figure out how to sell some of my mom's furniture and paintings for her. I don't want to keep it all but I am clueless about how to go about getting a fair price for her stuff, especially living in a rural area.
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