A baby and a bag

Remember my friend Saci from Hungary?  Well, this morning at 6:40am she had her little baby boy.  I was so fortunate to be with her and husband for a second time as they welcomed this sweet peanut into their family.

Her labor was about 3 hours start to finish, Jared was born in two pushes! Sarah, their older daughter was not so accommodating...so I was glad this time was easier for her. "Easier" is of course a relative term.  Labors that are short tend to be fairly intense.  Saci did a beautiful job of staying calm and relaxed while her body did some major work in a short period of time!  I have been doing this doula thing long enough now that some of my moms are having baby #2 and that is so fun for me.  I was tickled to again be present at such special moment and, of course, had a few happy tears for them.

(left to right: Stephanie-birth assistant, Me-birth assistant/doula, Saci, and Dzhan-midwife)

I wasn't on call this morning but was glad to be invited.  And hey, these short little 3 hour in-and-out births are fun. I could get used to those. However long they last, it doesn't seem possible that I will ever tire of being a small part of such a miraculous event!

And, last night I finally snuck in some sewing.  I have still been carrying around this bag and the wool fabric was all wrong for spring. 

My new favorite color is yellow.  I was trying hard to find a color combination that allowed me to have some yellow without being too annoying.  I wanted the bag to be something that would go with almost anything.  I used the pattern for the Pleated Beauty Handbag from Bend the Rules Sewing.  I bought the fabric and then realized when I opened the book that it was very similar to the one in the picture.

I like the way it turned out and especially love the little button that I added for a closure at the top. (I like my bags to close...you never know what might fall out of it :)

Anyways, we are gearing up for a freezing cold weekend.  The weather was unseasonably warm last weekend and now tomorrow we may get snow.  I was planning to move my seedlings outside this weekend- but maybe I'd better wait.  No matter, there is more sewing to do!

contentment

Another birth last night.  The call came just as I was getting out of the shower at 10:00pm last night.  My instructions were to get there as soon as I possibly could.  The adrenaline began flowing immediately.  I think that I toweled off, changed my clothes twice (I should just get some scrubs because trying to figure out what to wear to these deals is so stressful) slapped on some deodorant, brushed my teeth, kissed my husband (explaining where I was going whilst walking out the door) and made it to the birth center in about 17 minutes.  The baby was born at 10:37pm.  No joke.  A very quick birth.  I was home and in bed by 1:30am.  My confidence is starting to build and I am so thankful for the people who have been patient with me as I learn how to fit in as a birth assistant.  It has been (and this will sound corny with cheese on top) like a real dream of mine coming true. Told you.

The girls were home sick today.  Tough winter for us and germs.   I thought with the warmer weather upon us (sort of) that all this flu stuff would be over.  Not so much.  They were not miserable however, and if the truth were told- I loved having all 3 of them with me for the entire day.  The pace of life slows waaaay down when we are not rushing here and there around the school schedule.  Something that I desperately needed.  A slower pace. A pace slow enough for "dining room table forts" made from blankets- perfect for some reading.

A pace slow enough for elaborate train tracks and imaginary travels.

And cookies, cookies are always good (especially when most of the crew did not have much of an appetite- more for me!!)

I highly recommend Bob and his Little Red Mill- the yummiest stuff is made there.  This muesli mix is tasty on its own...but on the package there is also a super easy recipe for cookies using this cereal.  Throw in a few mini chocolate chips and you have a small bite of heaven.

We were in our pajamas until 4pm. Pretty sure that no one brushed their teeth before then either.  It was jus one of those days where I felt totally and completely content. Me, us...at home. No place I would rather be.

review

I am sorry for all of you out there who aren't really interested in this topic...but I really have birth on the brain right now! I officially have my own "on call" days at the birth center now.  Before, I would just pop in whenever one of my students invited me to be their Douala in labor.  Yesterday I spent the afternoon in training-- going over the emergency procedures with the other assistants at the birth center.  I learned things like how to prime an IV bag, how to draw up pitocin and methergine in syringes for postpartum bleeding, how to switch the regulators on the 02 tanks and how to set them up.  It reminded me that out of hospital birth is really safe for low risk candidates. I already knew this for myself...but it confirmed to me that we are indeed equipped to handle emergencies.

The conversation amongst my company turned to this movie.

It is the movie that Ricki Lake produced called, "The Business of Being Born".  It is now available for viewing via Netflix.  You can either have them send you the dvd or just stream it on your computer- which is what I did last night (I just signed up for the free trial offer and planned to cancel after the trial period was over.)  It was riveting.  I felt as though it perfectly articulated all of my frustrations with the way we handle obstetrics in this country.  I highly recommend watching it and I highly recommend that you get your friends to watch it.  It is very thought provoking and sweet at the same time.  There are several births shown..c-section and otherwise.  I have a hard time watching the sections.  Gruesome.  All in all, a great documentary about the state of birth in our country and what some women are doing about it.  Watch it and let me know what you think!