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Labor Part III

After about thirty minutes of these stronger contractions, I told my husband to call the midwife. It was about eight in the morning. Once the midwife and her on-call nurse arrived, they checked my progress. I was still only about three centimeters dilated but my cervix was now anterior so there was progress albeit still slow progress in the last eight hours of labor. Soon after the midwife and nurse arrive my contractions continued to get stronger and more painful. The contractions seemed to be right on top of each other. With every contractions I reached for my husband for … Continue reading →

10 Reasons Why We Chose a Midwife

My quest for a midwife was largely motivated by my dislike of shots, needles, drugs, and hospitals. After reading a large number of books and several articles comparing and contrasting birthing options, the benefits of using a midwife for the pregnancy and birth of our son was undeniable and 100% desirable. Here are our top ten reasons for choosing a midwife in no particular order: Reason Number One — More Control: Instead of being a passive participant with things happening to me, I was actively seeking to ensure the best possible outcome for both pregnancy and birth. The midwives supported … Continue reading →

Integrating Someone New into Family Rituals

One of the issues that come up for single parents who begin dating is when and how to integrate a new adult person into established family rituals and activities. It is seldom just a simple matter of having someone come along or join in. There might be some resentment and annoyance on the part of the child or children, you may wonder if rituals will be changed or ruined by adding a new person, and there might also be concern as to whether it is appropriate or not. I think that this can be such a touchy and tough subject … Continue reading →

What’s in the Stars for Your Pets in ‘08?

That’s what I wanted to know after writing about pet horoscopes. It was fun to see which stars my pets’ dispositions might fall under since I don’t know any of their exact birthdates, but what about a year ahead forecast? Was there such a beast? The Elusive Year Ahead Forecast I’ve found plenty for humans. Those are easy. But I haven’t come across any year ahead outlooks for pets. I thought I did when I found Petroscopes, but upon closer inspection their weekly and yearly horoscopes haven’t been updated since 2005. (But their general description of each Zodiac sign is … Continue reading →

Coping Strategies for Transition

Transition is the end of active labor. During this phase, your cervix will dilate from 8 to 10 inches. At the end of transition, you will begin to deliver your baby. This is the most intense part of labor and it is the one that pregnant women tend to fear the most. You can prepare for this phase of labor to reduce fear and add a few coping strategies to your repertoire. During transition, the contractions are much stronger than earlier in the labor. The contractions come about every two minutes and last one minute, so you don’t get the … Continue reading →

Let’s Talk Interview – With the Midwife

I conducted an interview with Eileen Denomme, a local homebirth midwife, to get an idea of what midwifery is all about. Here is what she had to say: Me: What led you to midwifery? Eileen: I think it was a combination of having 4 children born at home, and noticing the huge contrast between those and the hospital births my friends and family members were having. Eventually, people were asking me to attend their home births, and after 3 years of observing the senior midwife’s role during prenatals and home births, putting in my college studies and reading midwifery text … Continue reading →

10 Things to Know When You Find Out There’s More than One!

Before starting this blog, I just want to offer a congratulations to Pattie who is recovering from just having had her baby! I plan on guest blogging here for a little while about pregnancy with multiples. We are all wishing Pattie the best with her new little bundle and look forward to her return here at the Pregnancy blog! I knew from the very beginning that I was having twins. I can’t really explain it, I just knew the pregnancy was different. My husband on the other hand, was skeptic. He thought I was just getting older. But I knew, … Continue reading →