RM - thanks for being such a good neighbor, in every sense of the word. I'm glad those babies had you.
Geo - ugh on the school stuff. My older dd had all sorts of issues getting going in school. I'm glad the teacher is paying attention and working with you, though - that can make all the difference. Are you ever coming back to the APS again?
Megs - Yay on your tri! I cannot imagine finishing one. Of course, I can't swim and breathe at the same time, so that might make it harder. You tri mamas are my idols.
mothercat - get that ankle checked out, asap.
I didn't run again last night. All the kids went to bed early last night, exhausted from the first day of school - I was going to run when dh got home from a meeting around 9 pm, but I uh, got a better offer. Did burn a few calories, though!
At 4:20 this am my phone rang. I scooped it up and said hello and the reply was "You need to get here, now!" I recognized one of the labor nurse's voice, so I jumped out of bed while asking "why?" She said my client due late next week had walked in the door saying she needed to push. They hadn't done anything with her yet - no exam, no hearttones, the client was still dressed in her own clothes. The nurse would later say to me that this client definitely had her game face on and she didn't think she should wait on calling me! This is a third time mom, who labored only 4 hours total last time, and who is a friend as well as client. I definitely wanted to be there to meet this baby (and find out the gender finally!)
So, I levitated out of the bed, grabbed the nearest shirt and pants, and ran out the door. I sped and rolled the stop signs all the way there. I sprinted from the parking lot through the hospital and up the 2 flights of stairs.
I arrived to find my client laboring in her sports bra on the bed, kneeling with her upper body draped over a big exercise ball on the foot of the bed. I know from experience she doesn't like to talk in labor, so I touched her arm and told her I was there, but otherwise just stood back. She had a contraction and moaned through it, breathing hard and shaking, and then she looked up at me and said "if I'm not having the baby right now I want pain medicine right now!" I told her I'd have to check her if she wanted pain meds. She worked through another 2 contractions and then flopped down on her left side with her right leg up on the ball. "I hope this works, because this is all I'm moving" she said in a fairly grouchy tone of voice. It's actually easier to check someone lying on their right side for me, but I was not about to argue with her, and anyway I figured it was way too late for pain meds. A quick check confirmed what I'd suspected - she was completely dilated and the baby was very low. This was the only exam she ended up having, as the nurse was afraid to check her before I came - afraid she'd find her completely dilated and would end up catching by herself! I told her the bad news was no pain meds, but the good news was that she could just push the baby out.
She scrambled back onto her knees, resting her hands on the ball, still at the foot of the bed. With the next contraction, she groaned and yelled through it, and I wasn't sure if she was pushing or not, but a quick peek behind her showed the bag of water bulging way out, so I quick scrambled for gloves. As I was pulling my gloves on, her water broke and she let out a yell as the baby started to crown. I whispered "SROM" to the nurse (they like to chart that stuff) and sat down on the bed behind my client (so I was at the head of the bed and she was kneeling with her hands on the big ball at the foot of the bed.) She put her hand down over the baby's head in the front, and I rested my hand under the baby's head so I could catch as the baby was born - and suddenly, mama stood up on the bed, still with her hands resting on the big ball. Her dh moved in on one side, and the baby nurse on the other to keep her from falling off the bed. As baby's head was born, there was a little hand against the face, and then the whole baby slid down and into my hands. Dad let out a little yell, and mom said "oh my goodness" and quit yelling, and the baby waved her arms and looked sort of stunned. I passed the baby between her legs as she was saying "well, what is it, what is it!" and the dad said with tears running down his cheeks "It's a little girl!" I set the baby on the ball, mom, who was still standing on the bed, scooped her into her arms and looked around sort of confused about where she was. We flopped some dry pads on the bed and helped mom sit down with her baby. Baby was born at 4:50 am, 30 minutes after she hit the door, and 2 hours 20 mins after her mom woke up from sleep with contractions
The baby is gorgeous- 8 lbs 9 oz, dark hair which will probably be curly (the other kids have gorgeous curls) beautiful pink skin. Mom cuddled her for a while and finally directed her attention out a bit and focused on me. "So, did you know you have shirt on inside out?" she said in a conversational tone of voice. I looked down and laughed - I had my shirt on inside out, no bra, and unmatched socks. I laughed with my client and said "You're going to put this in the baby book, aren't you?" and she said "You bet!"
Last year I went through a very painful 2nd trimester loss with these folks - one of the saddest things I've dealt with as a physician, during a week in which 4 of my clients lost desperately wanted babies. It was so sweet to catch this healthy baby girl this morning, likely their last child - and thankfully they weren't a big picture taking family so my crazy outfit will just be written about!
kidding mama, IKWYM!)
clearly there are plenty of worse things, but it was no fun at all.
:
: You were only a couple of minutes slower than my time in my oly, so don't feel bad at all! JayGee is just super smokin' fast...Taking into consideration the fact that you didn't get to train as much as you had hoped, you did GREAT. And you finished, which is more than most people can say! 
: Oh and I didn't update my sig yet, but I'm 16 weeks today. 
: She promised to bug me about it everyday until I took care of it. She and her DH are also triathletes.
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