So What do Student Midwives Do While Waiting on Babies?!?!

Well, I don't know about other midwives, but I do some very mundane things. If I am just waiting for a mom to go into labor, I get on with things in my life.

I clean my own house (see picture of lovely just cleaned kitchen?) I play with and care for my kids,

and I often write in my journal. I have filled several of these various notebooks and diaries over the last two decades of my life, and am an avid journaler. I also blog often (can't you tell?) Now that that technology is available.

I work on knitting or crocheting projects like this scarf pictured, its almost done yay!! And of course there is studying, and more studying,

and more studying! Paperwork too.

When waiting for a labor to progress we will visit with the clients, play board and card games (In a Pickle here we come!) Knit or crochet, study and read, journal if I have a chance to, and catch up on any paperwork at the clinic.

Right now we are just waiting on a mom to go into labor, so I am spending today cleaning and crocheting as well as writing in my journal when thoughts occur to me about my life. Oh and of course, I am blogging :). I haven't figured out how to get the pic in the appropriate spots via email, so I will have to rearrange it when I get to an actual internet connection. Until then!

What Amazing Women

Just as I feel myself starting to slide into depressive thoughts, or having what appears to be a really lousy month for many many reasons mounting on top of each other, one (or several) of the amazing women in my life pick me up, hug me (physically and figuratively) and remind me that I am surrounded by hope, and love, and prayer, and amazing, beautiful, women.

I have so many examples of these amazing women in my life this month, and if you have been one of them but aren't listed, it isn't intentional but simply the slip of an over tired midwife student and single mother.

1. The homeopath who is treating my oldest son. She is an amazing woman who gave me hope when I had none. She worked out payment that worked for me, and has been there for my questions whenever I had them.

2. Andrea. I cannot stress enough how amazing it has been to have Andrea in my life. Not only is she a fellow student midwife with a passion and vigor to match my own, but she has btdt on the single mom thing, and reminds me that it will get better.

3. My amazing best friend Verra, who listens to me turn into a big puddle of crying goo on the phone with her and yet still somehow manages to pull a giggle from me. Who, even when struggling in her own life, doesn't hesitate to listen to me whine about my own. Who reminds me, daily, that I am a strong and beautiful woman and I can do it (whatever "it" is at the moment). Who sends me smiles in the mail in the form of fuzzy socks and pretty dresses. I love you Verra, and I don't know how I would have survived the last decade without you.

4. Jen, the local Bradley instructor, who is quickly turning into a wonderful friend. Who listens when I need her to, and gives her point of view when I need her to. Who is there for me whether its a stress relieving lunch together just to bitch, or look for direction, or even for a distraction. I am lucky to have such an awesome new friend.

5. The amazing women I am surrounded by while working at the clinic. My clients fill my heart with Joy!

6. Brittany, who started as a client but is also becoming a good friend, who bailed me out with some babysitting when I really thought I might not find anyone, and who has turned into someone easy to talk to, and whose parenting ideas align with my own. Her son was my first "four handed" catch, and I have a feeling it was the buds of a lasting friendship.

7. My high school best friend Mary. We reconnected a while ago, but just recently really started talking more. I forgot how great we are together, and I miss her and wish we lived closer to each other.

There are other amazing women in my life, these are just a few, but they have very recently touched my life, during a very tumultuous month, and I just wanted them to know how much it really has meant to me.
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On a Midwife High!

Yup, that's right, a midwife high! No, our waiting mama has not had her baby yet (though that is a good guess since it typically puts me on a three day high!). But this is one for the books. While contemplating all the options our twins mommy has now that her girls are stubbornly sticking with breech/breech positions, we thought maybe we should try to contact midwives with much more experience than ourselves in such matters. While watching "Normalizing the Breech Delivery" we had the off the wall idea of trying to contact Rahima Baldwin and Valerie El Halta. Yeah, it seems off the wall. As far out there as contacting Bill Gates about a computer issue and expecting him to reply.

So today I decided to look on facebook for these two famous midwives. Wise women. Pioneers in midwifery. I expected I may find them, but at best I expected they may reply with a link or two to redirect me to...or at worst they wouldn't reply at all. I am so used to the catty midwife community that I have been engrossed in, that I really wasn't expecting a reply.

What I got was not only a reply, but immediate contact information, and what seemed like a genuine interest in helping us help our mom have her natural birth and avoid a c-section! I am soo happy, and have a renewed faith in the idea that not *all* midwives are catty to each other!

I will let you all know what wisdom I glean from her!
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The Count Down Continues

The count down continues...as seems to be the center of my life right now. We currently have 17 clients due before October, and I need 15 more in order for me to sit for my NARM exam in February 2011. I pray on a daily basis that these numbers appear out of no where for me. I pray that we have a full 10 months with lots of beautiful births. I pray that I find a way to save the money for my Skills Assessment with the QE (it will be $700) and then that I also find a way to save the money for the actual exam (another $700). I pray for the ability to absorb as much knowledge as I can all at once.

Andrea needs another 20 on top of the numbers that we have, and I am hoping they come quickly for both of us. We really do need to get this finished and get our licenses. If I had the money, I'd just go to the Philipeans and finish my numbers there, but that is just not possible in my current life. So, let the women keep coming. They seem to keep coming.

I have a slow week scheduled for this week, with not much planned on non-clinic days. I will spend most of the week just trying to finish the MTB moodle website, I am almost there! I only have 5.5 more units to go live, and then I can start doing more nitpicky stuff on it!

Our twins mommy needs your special prayers right now as well. We are praying that these babies begin to cooperate and turn to the most desirable head down position prior to her next ultrasound which is February 2nd. Please pray for this family!

We are currently waiting on one mom who could have her baby at any time, but whom we do not expect to go into labor until mid week next week. Pray that she has a beautiful, easy labor and a healthy baby!

Until then!

The Workshop is Over

Yesterday was the last day of the workshop. I do have to say, this workshop was quite a bit of fun! The girls were very outspoken and fun to be around. We got a lot accomplished at the workshop but I do have to say that if we ever did another basic skills workshop again we will have to make it three days long instead of two. Once we added in the few extra things, two days just wasn't long enough. We were pressed for time and working hard to cram everything in, and it isn't always a small chore to keep 8 women on track (once you include myself, Andrea and Linda). Sadly, I do not think that Linda will be hostessing anymore of the basic workshops. Andrea and I love teaching them, and love meeting other students from all over, but without Linda we can't do them on our own. So, perhaps once Andrea and I are done getting our CPMs I or both of us will hostess more workshops. I don't really see this as an end to helping midwifery students learn new skills, and instead see it more as a "to be continued at a later date."

I don't really know what the status is on the April advanced workshop, and I will, of course, give the students whom it affects a heads up as soon as I know. The workshop really is at the mercy of Linda's will, and I cannot take responsibility for it being held nor for it being cancelled if it ends up cancelled. All I can really suggest is that if you were planning on coming you email Linda and let her know how much it means to you.


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Running Perpetually Late

Some of you know me very well, and for you this will not be a surprise. Some of you only know me as a fellow student, and some of you only know me as your midwife. For you it may (or may not!) Come as a surprise that I am a very organized, and punctual, person. There is no "fashionably late" in my world. If I run *on time* I feel late. I get to my appointments and other commitments early by at least a few minutes if my arrival is only dependent on me. That said, on days when I am running late, I seem to run perpetually late, and it seems to mess up the undercurrent of my whole day.

Today I woke up running late. I was having a bad dream, that I was running away from something but had concrete blocks on both my feet and couldn't get anywhere. I awoke and realized *why* I was having the dream. It was 0630 (I needed to be up at 0600) and my oldest son was already up, dressed, and sitting on my feet. So I get up and get them off to school, but ended up having to get ready for *my* day afterwards, causing me to continue to run late.

I got to the clinic (late!) And faxed some stuff, then started working on MTB. A little ways into it, around 1045 I found out I needed to go check on a client while on the way to lunch (lunch was supposed to be at 1200) this caused me to have to call and make lunch 1220 instead, as I was running late. The client is doing ok, and I headed to lunch, in an unfamiliar part of town.

I managed to get to lunch at 1220, the newly scheduled time, but I still felt late, since it was originally scheduled for 1200. While at lunch (yummy sushi!) I decided that my day had managed to defeat me and that I was doomed to be late all day (as is the norm if I start out such!) So darn it, I was *not* going to rush my lunch. I had a nice, leisurely lunch, that lasted until 1340. Then I left to get the kids.

Amazingly I was on time to pick up the kids, and on time for Tommy's appointment as well. So I guess my day actually somehow managed (by the Grace of God most likely) to *end* on time. Miracles will never cease eh?

Tomorrow Andrea and I will spend the day at the clinic getting ready for the workshop which starts Friday. We have some shopping to do, and then some planning and set up to do. I have some billing stuff to do, and some MTB moodle stuff to do. Tomorrow starts the busy part of my week, and I am tired just thinking about it.
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Twins Update

Today I had the pleasure of positioning the twins when the mom came to the clinic for her Bradley class. Though she has a belly FULL of baby (now almost 34 weeks!) I am pretty positive that baby B is still breech. However, I am 75% certain that baby A is head down. Yay! Hoping to get an ultrasound earlier than planned to tell what the babies positions are so we know what to do from here. She is just glowing however. So healthy and happy looking. It is amazing how great she looks so late in her pregnancy with twins!

Here is the Weekend!

I won't be working much at the clinic this weekend. I will check up on the twins mommy to see where we think the babies are this morning, and I'll see the Bradley instructor for a few minutes as well then. But unless we have a call for labor I won't be back to the clinic until Monday after this morning. Once Monday comes we will meet with a new client, and then I will spend the rest of Monday and most of Tuesday and Wednesday alternating between working on Phase three in Moodle, and preparing for the workshop.

We have a fairly light clinic day Thursday, with only two appointments scheduled, and students will begin arriving at the clinic some time around four PM central. The students are excited about the workshop, and I am tired just thinking about it. I do love the workshops (hence the reason I plan them!) But they do take a lot out of me.
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Friday at the Clinic

Yesterday was such a busy but fun day at the clinic. Now we are mostly just getting ready for the workshop next week. We have one client that is 37+ weeks and could have her baby at any time. Thus starts our busy time!

In the mean time I am busy crocheting hats and working on moodle. Documenting my life in hand written journals and blogging. Dealing with workshop paperwork and questions from students. What fun!

If It Isn't One Thing, It's Another!

Well, at my father's behest, I upgraded my firefox version this morning to see if it remedied the issues I was having with my firefox yesterday. 'Lo and behold, my problems with firefox have ceased since the upgrade, but now I am having internet connection problems. It's a clear sky, so who knows why. Today and Friday are my last two days to work this week on moodle, so I'd really like to get a bunch done. Especially since next week I am super busy with the workshop, and I won't get to work on it much.

Tomorrow is a busy day with lots of clients. This weekend is suppose to be nice, so hopefully we'll get some outside time.

Updates to my blog!

So, MOODLE was driving me crazy today (or rather, my firefox on my netbook was) and so I decided to spend the day fussing with my blog. For a self-taught website designer, my blog looked pretty shabby, and shameful! LOL! So now, introducing my new and improved "look" with my very own custom made header even!! Yup, those three cuties up there *insert up arrow* are my kiddos, the littlest is Bobby, the middle is Tori and the oldest is Tommy. That picture was taken outside of St. Jude Catholic Church in Chattanooga on Tommy's First Communion day last year.

I will be back at MOODLE as soon as I can figure out what is wrong with my firefox. Might have to have my guy look at it.

Tomorrow Andrea is coming to the clinic, mostly because she misses us LOL! She had been sick so has been gone for a few weeks. But now she's feeling better!

Thursday we have a busy clinic day. Yay for busy clinic days!!

countdown till the next workshop? 10 days until the next workshop!

29 more clients needed for Andrea and I both to sit for the NARM! 18 more for me to sit!

(what an exciting post! LOL!)

Back at Moodle!

So, I am back at working on MOODLE now after taking a break during the winter holidays. I have felt so overwhelmed with everything, with life, that I really just needed a break from it all. Lily's beautiful birth was invigorating, and now I feel like I can start conquering my life again, one step at a time. I am already thinking of ways to improve the moodle environment, and I am not even done uploading the initial curriculum. It has ended up being something to keep me busy, entertained, distracted, and focused all at the same time, at times the work I need to do on moodle has been a Godsend.

We have a few new clients here at the clinic, and our count right now is 14 clients through August! I only need 18 more, Andrea needs 23 more, and we combined need 29 more by October in order to get our paperwork turned in on time to sit for the February 2011 NARM exam!

The twins mommy went to the accupuncturist on Saturday, and the good news is she *thinks* they have both turned back to head down!! This is great news, and we will confirm it by palpatation and finding FHT's by doppler in a few days. Ultimately we will have confirmation by ultrasound in another 3 weeks (she goes for monthly ultrasounds) and at that time, she will be able to have the babies at any time!!

We have a busy clinic day this Thursday, we are up to five clients coming now on that day. I love busy clinic days!

The workshop is next week! I can't believe it is already time for the next workshop. I have a surprise in store for these students, and am giddy with anticipation over it! I love doing these workshops, but they wear out Andrea and Linda and I. I will be glad to start it, but glad for it to be over too, so that we can focus on planning the next one!!!

More snow?

It is snowing again! Thus far we have only gotten maybe a half an inch of accumulated snow, and it has just been flurrying off and on now for days. I did see my guy last night, but not for nearly as long as I had hoped, partly because my cell phone wasn't working very well apparently. My children are thoroughly enjoying the little bit of snow we have, and have managed to make wee tiny snow balls with some of it.

My week this week looks fairly busy. I have lots of work to do on moodle for MTB plus work for the workshop, plus a busy clinic day on Thursday. Our next "due" mom hits 37 weeks on Wednesday, so it will be back to sleeping with my cell phone once again! My next break isn't until April, when we go to the conference in PA.

I do really need a vacation. Maybe I will actually manage one this summer. We'll see!
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And the Snow Just Keeps On Falling......

Falling falling falling.....

Sigh.

So, I love the snow. I really do. I am not as much a lover of the cold. I know you must have cold to have snow. I hated the fact that in Florida, it never snowed. Despite it getting below freezing. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. So we got lots of snow. I have such fond memories of building snow forts and igloos and snow ball fights and snow men. I love the snow. However, why did it have to snow today? Why not Sunday instead? Sigh. I was suppose to see my guy tomorrow, and on through Saturday. The longest amount of time we would have spent together probably since June, when we took a trip to Florida. Here me whine. Here in Alabama (and very southern central Tennessee) they are not prepared to handle snow. Which makes for lots of black ice on roads. Which makes for cancelled dates :( *whine* I am watching it snow outside. We have about a half inch accumulated right now. I am sure it is less in Alabama. I would still *probably* be able to drive into Huntsville tomorrow even if it sticks up here, as long as it is more clear down there. I don't cross any bridges until I am well into Hazel Green Alabama. However, if it is snowing this much up where my guy is staying (with his parents atm, in New Market, on a rural road up a mountain) then he will not be able to drive into Huntsville. *whine*. ah well. Such is life.

That said, the snow has also caused the schools around here to shut down for the day. There was no school today in Lincoln county, and Fayetteville city. I also heard that Madison county schools closed (which probably means Hazel Green and meridianville are also closed, since they are near there, and north of it). I have to giggle at how people react to the idea of a little snow fall here in the deep south. But I understand that black ice is dangerous, and that they do not salt the roads here, which leads to more instances of black ice than we usually had in Ohio. All of our clients declined to come today, and rescheduled for next week. It makes next week a full week, but that's ok, I *LOVE* busy clinic days, it was one of my favorite things about working with Christina back in the day!

So, clinic news? I haven't started working on moodle again yet. I have had issues getting motivated, but need to get on the ball for it. I did open my own website ( a free one) for midwifery, hoping to bring in a few new clients. I have also been visiting the local book stores and slipping business cards into the pregnancy and baby books. Neither has worked yet. LOL! I also have been doing some billing work, trying to get Linda paid (and at least 50% successful thus far) from the insurance companies. It really is pathetic how hard it is to get them to pay. It is like squeezing water from rocks. I kid you not.

We just had one student cancel for the January workshop, which is a bummer. I am hoping to fill the spot, but not sure that I will be able to with such short notice. I did not have a waiting list this workshop, which was sort of surprising, but I did not advertise as heavily as I did the last time, so maybe that is why.

I do have *four* pregnant mommies coming for the workshop and I know the students will have a great time with that. I also think that Lily's mom may bring her for the newborn exam demonstration. Yay! The workshop is coming together nicely! Andrea is coming Monday so we can go over everything that we will cover, and just to visit (we have missed her, since she has been sick!)

I have also started a count down for Andrea and I for sitting for our NARM exam to get our CPM certification. Because of the rules that NARM has set forth, we have to have all of our paperwork turned in 6 months before our planned date to sit for the exam. We were hoping to sit in October this year (the last exam of the year) but that is not going to be feasible. Therefore, we are hoping now to sit by February of next year. In order to do that, we have to have all of our paperwork turned in by October of this year. In order to turn in all of our paperwork, we have to have all of our births documented (and post partum exams, and newborn exams, and initial exams, etc, but those come much easier). Right now we sit at 13 clients currently here and due by August. I need an additional 19 before October in order for *me* to sit. Andrea needs another 24. Combined (so both of us can sit in February next year) we need another 30 *total*. This is because some of the births we can share, and others we cannot. Hence the total amount that we need is less than the combined number we each individually need. Here is hoping that a bunch of pregnant ladies come raining down on us over the next few months!!!

Twins update!

The twins seem to be growing well, and are measuring approximately 4lbs and a little bit by ultrasound. Unfortunately they both have turned breech (as opposed to vertex/vertex the presentation they have consistently been in, and the best position for a vaginal delivery). She is now 32 weeks and we are not wasting any time to try to get these babies to turn, and we have an appointment Saturday with Dr. Mike Neeley (the local accupuncturist who helps us out at times). Hopefully we will get the babies to turn to a more desirable position.

In the mean time, my fellow apprentice who has been down for the count for over a week with the flu is finally feeling better, and will be back Thursday (yay!). We have a few appointments Thursday, and I'll spend the rest of the day getting ready for the workshop and working on insurance claims and other boring billing stuff.
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Happy Birthday Baby Lily!

Baby Lily decided to make her appearance on New Year's day, which also happens to be my preceptor's birthday. Lily is the first baby that Linda has helped deliver that was born on her birthday. After a fairly fast 4 hour labor, and only 24 minutes of pushing, Lily Grace was born!

I just love this picture of baby Lily and her daddy!

Her mommy and daddy are proud first time parents, and the clinic is now filled with birth energy. Linda and I spent yesterday cleaning up around the clinic, but today I am taking a day of rest. Tomorrow starts the first work day of the new year. My children go back to school on Tuesday, and my guy, with any luck, finds out if he will no longer be laid off sometime this week. We're all praying that he gets put back to work by his employer, and that he works a contract here in Huntsville, instead of having to move.

We have a few weeks "off" here at the clinic, and then it's back to sleeping with my cell phone! Our next baby is due on February 4th.

A New Year Full of Promise

Today starts the year 2010 and my new year holds a lot of hope and promise both for my midwifery studies and for my personal life. I am busily preparing for the Basic Midwifery Skills workshop which is in a mere 21 days! It has really snuck up on us. We will have six students at this workshop: three from Texas, one from North Carolina, one from Memphis area, and one from Orlando! Our student from Orlando may stay the month of February on a short term apprenticeship as well.

Right now, at the clinic, we are waiting on one baby, who decided she wanted to be born in 2010. Perhaps so doing the math might be easier for her age later on?? Lol! She is now post dates, and we are hoping she decides to make her appearance this weekend!

We also met with a new client due in March, which officially makes our March most likely as busy as our February. Hoping that our two April moms deliver in March or very early April as the three of us are making the trek to the Midwifery Today conference in the middle of April. The count down has started! We have 12 clients thus far, and I need 21 more to sit for my NARM! Hopefully they really start pouring in by the half dozens, since I only have until October to turn in my paperwork in order to sit in Feb of 2011!
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