Birth Story II

Baby number two came on Wednesday. This time was so much easier than the last one. It is still scary and the most exciting thing I have ever witnessed.

This time we went in around 9:00 am with regular contractions. The doctor examined Mom and she was dilated to 3 cm. So doctor told her to go for a walk and to come back in about two hours and they would check her again.

At about 1pm we went back. Her contractions were getting stronger and now she was dilated to 4cm. The doctor said with her Russian accent, "I think we'll have a birthday party before midnight."

They took us to a room and we got settled in. The nurses were in and out for the next few hours monitoring the fetal heart rate and contractions. And everything was going smoothly.

A little after 6pm the nurse came in and said that she was going to have the doctor examine Mom again and see how she was progressing. By this time the shift was changing and a new doctor came in. He didn't introduce himself he just said that he was going to check her and then he said that she was still about the same and sent the nurse for something. She handed it to him and as he is inserting this thing he said that he was going to break her water and get things moving. Then he told the nurse to get some Pitosin and he left.

Now Mom was in tears. This whole pregnancy had been very good until this point. She had seen the same two midwives for all her regular exams. Now, on the day that she goes into labor there is no midwife on call. So not only is she stuck with a doctor that she has never seen before, but he is also a jerk.

I got the nurse and told her that Mom was very upset about that doctor and asked if there was any way to get a midwife, since that was the plan from the beginning. She said that she understood and she would see what she could do to help.

A few minutes later she came in and said that she could not get one of the midwives to come in and Mom was sobbing by this point. I asked if there was any way that the Russian doctor could do it because she was very nice and took the time to explain things and listen. The nurse went to check. Within seconds the Russian doctor and another female doctor, Dr. B, came in. The Russian explained that her shift was ending in a few minutes but Dr. B would be there and she could do the delivery so that we did not have to see Dr. Jerk again.

Dr. B introduced herself and said that she had trained with the midwives and would do everything possible to have the same type of delivery as we would have with a midwife. Then the Russian said that she would be only a few minutes away and would come in assist as long as the attending allowed her to come in. But, after checking with him she came back and said the she was not allowed and she assured us that Dr. B was very good and that she would do a great job.

At about 8:30 pm, Dr B. came in and examined Mom. She was completely dilated and +1. "It's time to have a baby," she told us. She predicted that that baby would come in 10 to 15 minutes.

Mom started pushing and by the second push I could see the baby's hair. Thirty minutes into pushing Dr. B said that the baby will come with one or two more pushes. They brought in the pediatrics team and the attending physician and she pushed one more time and out came baby's head. Dr. B suctioned the mouth and Baby screamed. One more push and we had a baby girl--a beautiful pink, screaming baby girl. Dr. B cut the cord and handed her to the pediatrics team. They checked her out and she was fine.

This was not as scary as Baby One's birth. He was blue when he came out and it took a while for him to cry, but he is now a very healthy two year old.

Baby Two and Mom get to come home tomorrow.

Smokers stink

Last week I was driving with my son to the hospital to visit my mother. On the way there I was behind a car driven by a woman who was smoking. We would stop at a traffic light and then start up again and I would have to drive through the cigarette smoke. At the third stop I noticed something move in the back of her car. I got a closer look and saw that there was a baby in a car seat in the back of her car.

This got me extremely angry. I was thinking that it should be illegal to smoke in a car with a child. It's not--but it should be. There was a police car stopped at the light on the other side of the intersection and I wanted to stop and ask if there is anything that he can do about this woman forcing cigarette smoke into her child's lungs, but I knew there wasn't anything he could do.

Then we arrived at the hospital. With my 2 1/2 year old son holding my hand, I approached the entrance which was surrounded by people smoking. By the time we reached the door we smelled like an ashtray. And right there on the door was a big sign which read, "smoking prohibited within 50 feet of this entrance." Yet, there they were just 10 to 15 feet from the door.

I don't care if these people smoke and kill themselves. Smoke in your car or home (with the windows closed and no children present). I do care that I have to breathe their disgusting smoke and that they force there children to breathe cigarette smoke. We should not even need a law, people should just know better.

Update

OK, so I wasn't really in jail. I just needed some reality.

So here's what's been going on:

I have a happy, healthy 2 1/2 year old who keeps me busy and entertained. We are doing Kindermusik right now. I'm not a big fan. I've done several of these music classes for babies and toddlers and this is my least favorite one. It could be because it is sponsored by a church and they throw in a few Jesus songs. It could also be that there are about twice as many kids in the class than there should be.

Oh, and we are expecting baby number two in a few weeks!

What else? Well, I am still running my own business. It is going pretty well. The best thing is that I can pretty much work as much or as little as I want.

We joined an organic community supported agriculture (CSA) farm. It is great! I highly recommend it if you can find one in your area. We get a big box of fresh organic vegetables every week. It is fun to see what's in the box and then trying to put together a menu for the week based on the box.

That's all I have time for right now. More later.

Back from the dead

I just got out of prison and I am back online. I look forward to seeing my online friends again.