Run with the Dingoes during the Dog Days of August - Page 41

[doctorjen]

Originally Posted by mothercat

drjen, if I didn't know that you were at the hospital, I'd swear you were doing birth at home. How cool that you have staff that doesn't freak over stuff like this and that you are so willing to catch however mom wants to birth.
Totally understand the clothing situation. Can't tell you how often I end up with soaked clothing from some part of a waterbirth. Always look like a drowned rat. Thus no pictures of this midwife most of the time.

I'm really lucky in my hospital environment and staff. We are a small labor and delivery unit, doing about 220 births a year, and we have only 6 providers who attend births of which I am the busiest (not by much, my OB back up is just a little under me in volume.) Our nurses all trained here, and the culture is very pro-client and all nurses expect to do labor support. It is hugely different from my residency hospital, where the nurses' main goal seemed to be to get the patients to be quiet - usually by starting an epidural as soon as possible.
When I first started here 7 years ago, the nurses were already used to providing labor support and being very family-centered (the nurse manager was a certified doula, even) but while they encouraged all sorts of movement and position changes for labor, client were put to bed with their legs up for the doctor when it came to delivery. I wanted to do things differently (even though I had no experience either, having trained somewhere even more medical) and the nurses were very gracious about all of my "strange ideas." Now, the nurses are so used to all the upright positions we use that they don't bat an eye at anything. The primary nurse for my client yesterday morning is one of our newest nurses - she actually worked somewhere else for the first 2 years and just started with us a few months ago. Our unit's culture, though, immediately rubbed off on her. I've had 4 births with her so far, and she was reminding me of them yesterday - one standing on the floor in the middle of the room, one in the bathroom on the toilet, one in the bed with the squat bar, and the last one with the client standing on the bed with the big exercise ball in the bed with her. The nurse said she loves calling her old colleagues and telling them about my births!

I must run today. I wimped out last night because I was so tired from getting up at 4 in the morning. I'm supposed to do a speed workout today, and I think I'll try to get to the track to do it.

Geo - I'm glad that at least they moved the squirrel. We are 2 days into kindie here and dd is loving it - but she commented last night that the boys at her table just don't know how to sit still.

moonshine - I'm sure you can finish the 4m, but listen to your body and don't overdo it. Remember, you CAN make the changes you need to make, and even though it may take a while, the first step is taking the first step!

[tjsmama]

nickarolaberry~ Glad you're ok. That stinks though. I was rear-ended twice in two months and it's just no fun at all. Are you sure you need to replace the car seats? If the collision was low-speed and the air bags didn't deploy, you may not need to.

drjen~you and your hospital sound awesome. I wish I had you around here! I was fairly happy with my hospital/doctor experience (and I really do like my OB), but because I was induced, I was stuck in bed with monitors, which made me opt for the epidural much sooner than I had hoped for because I was so uncomfortable. Oh well, it wasn't a *bad* experience, kwim? Just not the ideal...


rr~Track workout is done. 300's this morning. I was in the middle group that had to do 10 of them (vs. 8 or 12). So we did 4x300 strong (100 recovery) with a full 400 recovery after the 4th one. Then 4x300 stronger with a full 400 recovery again after the 4th one. Then 2x300 hard. It was tough, but felt pretty good!


I just called the ceiling fan company and they are sending me a new fan, but it's back-ordered, so I guess it won't be up in time for my parents' visit. At least I only had to spend 15 minutes on the phone with them this time, as opposed to the hour+ last time when I was missing parts. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the darn thing...guess take the blades back off and put it in the garage for now. :

Off to get my haircut and then we have a playdate at the pool.

[mamabeth]

whiny boy (no playdate due to rain ) but just wanted to post 4.6 soggy miles with my neighbor. Whew.

[mothercat]

Originally Posted by doctorjen

I wanted to do things differently (even though I had no experience either, having trained somewhere even more medical) and the nurses were very gracious about all of my "strange ideas." Now, the nurses are so used to all the upright positions we use that they don't bat an eye at anything. The primary nurse for my client yesterday morning is one of our newest nurses - she actually worked somewhere else for the first 2 years and just started with us a few months ago. Our unit's culture, though, immediately rubbed off on her. I've had 4 births with her so far, and she was reminding me of them yesterday - one standing on the floor in the middle of the room, one in the bathroom on the toilet, one in the bed with the squat bar, and the last one with the client standing on the bed with the big exercise ball in the bed with her. The nurse said she loves calling her old colleagues and telling them about my births!

Sounds like when I was a student midwife at an IHS hospital. Almost all the nurses were Cherokee and not happy with the constantly rotating European-American providers. The nurses had their own ideas of how the women should be allowed to labor and birth and it didn't match the new ideas of the E-A providers. I think the nurses finally accepted me when the laboring and naked 18 y/o stood up swaying on the bed and then sat down to do her own perineal massage and delivered the baby and I just stood by and gave her space instead of trying to manage things.
Of course I got chewed out by the E-A peds for not controlling the situation, but mom seemed to be controlling things just fine. The nurses later told me that this is the Cherokee way with birth and they were surprised that this crazy white girl midwife would allow it.

Love those truly mother centered births. Good for you for having the courage to let moms lead.


forward motion report: 15.2 miles on the bike. Ankle is fine with bike and swim. See the doc tomorrow.

mothercat

[sacredmama]

New here. I've been lurking for a while.

I live at 8500 ft and run 2-3 days a week. I've made it up to about 5 miles, including lots of hills on trails through the beautiful Rocky Mountains!!

I want to increase my mileage, but I'm having such a hard time running further. To run further on the trail I run on would mean I'd have to run up a steep hill at my halfway mark before I turn around at about 2.6 miles. It's hard to wrap my head around such a task before I have to run back the other 2.6 miles that is mostly a gradual uphill.

Does anyone have any advice on what I could do to increase my energy or something? Should I eat a special way before I run? Should I try to bring water or food with me? Should I slow my pace down so that I might find the uphill part less daunting?

Any advice from you running goddesses would be greatly appreciated!! TIA!

I'm planning to go down to the "flatlands" (6,500 ft) to do a non-hilly run this weekend. I'm excited to see what I can do down there!!

[JenLove]

Do we have any mamas in the St. Louis area? I will be down there late on the 4th-7th.

sacredmama

nickarolaberry~ I am glad that you are okay. Sorry you have to deal with it though.

Planning on yoga at some point today. I got most of my to-do list finished already, so that makes me one happy girl.

[JayGee]

JenLove ~ alas, I was in St. Louis area until last summer. Enjoy your visit there; it's a great city .

Welcome sacredmama ~ just keep adding a little more and a little more each day... and before you know it, you'll be turning at the TOP of that big ol' hill rather than somewhere in the middle of it. Happy running!

mothercat ~ you remind me of my MW; she also worked for the IHS when she first began her life in midwifery .

tjsmama ~ your track workout sounds like a good one. I miss training with a group... And I'm glad you're getting the fan issues straightened out.

I took today off, basically because with the Y closed for annual maintenance and an evening of parent meetings (soccer and preschool coop), there is literally no time to run, bike or swim. Oh well...

[grnmtnmama]

hi from san diego still. dragged one of my clients out for a 45 minute walk along the bay this morning - very nice to get outside and hope to repeat it tomorrow again before i spend all day sitting on a plane back to the east coast.

sacredmama - when i trail run i normally just walk up the big steep hills, unless i'm trying to do hill sprints or something. simply resume running at the top. consider carrying a water bottle if you'll be gone for a long time but you'll have to decide if it's worth the PITA-ness of carrying it.

[Penelope]

Weary hello here, and I got a huge out of my DDDDC - thanks!

I haven't run since Saturday - combination of crazy workiness and exhaustion. And my insomnia is back, big-time. So I was all set last night for running this morning, but dh had to catch a super-early flight, so no dice. And now he's out of town. So I can probably sneak something in Friday morning, and then I'm doing a trail run Sunday so hopefully I'll get back on track.

I'm not lazy, I'm just tapering.

[Plady]

Hi Dingos!
I haven't caught up at all but just wanted to say for the record that both Megs and CherylAnn are even sweeter, cooler and more drop dead beautiful in person. I loved meeting them on Sunday, it felt so completely normal to be with them. And I loved Nevie. She is a sweetheart and a cool little daredevil. I got to do some wading with her and she was totally game on for going ever deeper into the crisp cool river (in which Megan was one of 3 swimmers not to need a wetsuit for buoyancy btw). And both CherylAnn and Megs have sweet hotties for dhs.

Okay, my dad and sm have only just arrived so I'd better get on with it.

[doctorjen]

So here's a dilemna: my hospital has jacuzzi tubs in every labor room, but we DO NOT offer waterbirth, and in fact I have been repeatedly lectured by management that I am not to catch a baby in there. Okay, so far no one has really wanted to anyway, the tubs are kind of small, folks start feeling claustrophobic, and they tend to get out of their own accord. Right now, I have a 17 yr old first time mom in the tub pushing, who says she's not getting out. She had an anterior lip when she got in - we were trying to convince her to get upright as she has been lying down and the anterior lip has persisted and persisted and she agreed to get up only if we let her in the water, so no problem, to the water we went. So now she's pushing, and I assume the lip has vanished as she didn't have an urge before, but she's adamently not getting out. We'll see how this one turns out . . .

[Megs_BK]

Originally Posted by Plady

Hi Dingos!
I haven't caught up at all but just wanted to say for the record that both Megs and CherylAnn are even sweeter, cooler and more drop dead beautiful in person. I loved meeting them on Sunday, it felt so completely normal to be with them. And I loved Nevie. She is a sweetheart and a cool little daredevil. I got to do some wading with her and she was totally game on for going ever deeper into the crisp cool river (in which Megan was one of 3 swimmers not to need a wetsuit for buoyancy btw). And both CherylAnn and Megs have sweet hotties for dhs.

Okay, my dad and sm have only just arrived so I'd better get on with it.

I just love how Geneva took to you guys like old friends from the first instant. There was ZERO warm-up time -- and that is not her typical response! It was such a blast.

Anndddd yeah, Dan is darn cute

Originally Posted by doctorjen

So here's a dilemna: my hospital has jacuzzi tubs in every labor room, but we DO NOT offer waterbirth, and in fact I have been repeatedly lectured by management that I am not to catch a baby in there. <snip>...but she's adamently not getting out. We'll see how this one turns out . . .

Oooooh...! Keep us posted!

[grnmtnmama]

Originally Posted by doctorjen

So here's a dilemna: my hospital has jacuzzi tubs in every labor room, but we DO NOT offer waterbirth, and in fact I have been repeatedly lectured by management that I am not to catch a baby in there. Okay, so far no one has really wanted to anyway, the tubs are kind of small, folks start feeling claustrophobic, and they tend to get out of their own accord. Right now, I have a 17 yr old first time mom in the tub pushing, who says she's not getting out. She had an anterior lip when she got in - we were trying to convince her to get upright as she has been lying down and the anterior lip has persisted and persisted and she agreed to get up only if we let her in the water, so no problem, to the water we went. So now she's pushing, and I assume the lip has vanished as she didn't have an urge before, but she's adamently not getting out. We'll see how this one turns out . . .

:

[babybugmama]

ditto Mandy

[HomeBirthMommy]

Also anxious to see how this turns out. I have to hand it to the 17 year old. At that age I was so trained to do exactly what adults told me to, that I wouldn't have even considered doing what I wanted in that situation. Heck, when I had my first at 26, I didn't stand up for myself and what I wanted. Good for her.

[CathToria]

I'm assuming that baby is out. I hope DrJen didn't get in trouble, LOL. I would imagine that since you get most of your clients out of the tub intime for delivery, that you can claim innocence on the rare exceptions ("we tried to get her out, and she would not listen")

ANd us moms thought that we were the only ones who had to fight against the system for our natural births........

My update.... I'm trying to mentally give my self a break on weight loss. Bottom line, I have too many days that I consume too many calories. I need to stay 1200-1600. I know how and what to eat, I've very nutrient savvy, and have never really eaten the SAD. For me, I think daily tracking of my food makes my more obsessive about food and led me to eating more. So I'm taking a break from tracking. If I am eating something new or eating in a different pattern, I will track here and there.

I have to stick to my own brain. I have the knowledge and strength to do this. I have to accept that I have to make teh choice to not eat extra calories.. like chocolate chips, choc covered raisins, ice cream. If I want to lose, I can't afford 200 calories every day on things like this. maybe every once in a while, but not every day.

I also am keeping my coffee pot off on teh weekdays. I was drinking too many calories in milk in the mornings and in cream in my afternoon iced coffee. I'm having tea instead, where I only need a few tbls of milk to make it yummy.

I'm also going to try to reduce my dairy and wheat intake.

I have not gained anything this week, and I hope to be changing my ticker soon by just sticking to the basics.

[Nickarolaberry]

DrJen, so curious to see how things turned out!
Cathtoria, I can relate. No useful advice because I'm not so great on the willpower front, but s

I did get a nice 3-miler in yesterday afternoon. Lot of traffic that time of day though, I had to stop at all the lights but when I go in the early a.m. I rarely do. : Oh well, at least I got out.

I seem to be well and truly stuck at 3 miles though. less and I don't feel I've done anything, but doing more seems unbearable. Any thoughts how to break the barrier? Unfortunately I don't have a partner to run with which is a bummer.

Uh oh ds got into dd1's glitter makeup again.

[JenLove]

doctorjen - I'm wondering how it all turned out! Can't wait to hear the ending to this birth story...

Yesterday all I did was bike to the Y and back to watch my nephew's flag football game. I was feeling really sluggish, and I'm not sure why yesterday. I'm trying to figure out if recovering from working out is really taking that much out of me nowadays. Even last night, I still slept like a rock and had a hard time getting out of bed.

[doctorjen]

Sorry to be so mysterious - I was too tired to post last night and mdc was down when I got up this am. My client had her baby - in the tub - not too long after I posted last night. Beautiful, but bald, 6 lb 14 oz baby girl with excellent Apgars. Client was thrilled to death with her birth and says that the next time she has a baby she's planning a waterbirth. This time, she was actually planning an epidural, but went from 2-8 cms in an hour so we told her we thought it was too late to get one in and functioning in time, and then she ended up plateauing at 9 ish for while until we talked her into getting up and she insisted on the tub if she was going to get up. She hardly pushed at all for this baby, and was funny and talkative while she was pushing - at the very ended she pushed the baby all the way to just about crowning in one push and then stopped and looked at me and said "Oh no, I changed my mind, I'm not ready to have a baby" and relaxed and the baby sort of sucked back in. On the next contraction, though, the baby was born. She ended up birthing the placenta in the tub, too, while we were still trying to get organized to get out. And oh, to be a teenager - she easily climbed out of the tub, walked to the bed, and not too long after took herself to the bathroom walking like nothing every happened. So far, nobody seems to be too mad at me around here, so hopefully it'll stay that way!

[JenLove]

Aww it sounds beautiful! And no one should get mad - it was the best place for her to birth because that's what she chose. You tell them I said that.