10/20th Birth!

Another Night Shift... This birth reminds me of the song "I am My Own Grampa"...even though it has nothing even closely tied to that song... I guess, in my mind, it was because I changed it to "I am My Own Assistant"...you see, I was!! Only Ate´Estef and I were there, and with 3 other labors going on, even she wasn't there except for the bare necessities, and charted the birth, and gave Pit. That was all!! I did the rest!!!

So....I charted a birth right after Shift started--another 1st year handled!! It is so neat to see these up and coming midwives deliver their first babies!!! What a joy! So reminds me of my first..

I was 4th up, and with 3 labors admitted, I was next up. I have only gotten maybe 12 hours of sleep since Wednesday (over 5 days), and so I actually broke down and of all things, got myself a Monster (FYI: I very much dislike Monsters--maybe even hate them..so for me to get one, is like to choose to drink Pepto Bismol.) I don't want to be slacking on a night shift because of lack of sleep, and so I figured if it came to that, I'd drink my Monster and get on with life. Praise God, I didn't need to drink it tonight..so it's waiting in the fridge for next time.  :)

Since there was nothing to do--everything was already stocked, and no one needed labor/delivery help, so I decided to take a quick nap (praying that I would wake up if a labor walked in). Praise God, I woke up-instantly and quite alert when my labor walked in at 2:23am. She was 28, G3P2, and her contractions were strong, every 2-3 minutes and lasting about 30 seconds.

I did an IE at 2:50am, showing she was FULLY dilated and effaced, and +3 station, IBOW!! She had no urge to push, which we found was because she lacked the money to pay for the supplies bill right now (her bana works for the PNP-Philippines National Police). Ate´Estef talked to her about it, and she got that off her chest, she all of a sudden felt like pushing!! :)

3:10am, she started pushing, and baby was out at 3:24am. A little girl--Althea Andrew--with APGAR Scores of 8,9 and a 200cc EBL. The mom had a minimal 1st degree tear, with no need to suture. Praise God!

Baby weighed 5lbs 15oz and was 20" long.

I learned so much from this birth--having to suction and stimulate baby, check APGARs, and watch for  any gushing of blood, etc. at the same time...lots of things to do!! However, it actually wasn't that difficult--just lots of multi-tasking.

The last 3-4 births have been like this too--me being my almost assistant (though this is the only one where it is actually charted officially--before it was a 1/2 to 1/2 job between me and my Ate´). I truly believe God is allowing me this experience, to help me get fully prepared for work in the mountains, where I may not have any official 'help'...