Megan's Birth(day)

Yesterday was Megan's eighth birthday! So, I thought I'd document her birth story here as well. Unfortunately, even though in some ways it feels like yesterday, a lot has become fuzzy, and some details I can't remember if it was with Lucy or with Megan. But I remember the important stuff :)

I got pregnant at the end of February 2005, and I emailed Rob saying "You have 35 weeks to buy a new truck". LOL. By week 5 I was terribly nauseous and that lasted until week 14. I even gave up coffee! Then I was terribly sick for two weeks with a sinus infection (this also happened at the same time that I was pregnant with Lucy). Then my arthritis flared up. And stayed flared up until delivery. It was a very painful pregnancy. My family doctor said "Take an Advil". I said "That doesn't work". She said "Take two". I finally got Tylenol with codeine, but that didn't help either. I had the same OB as with Lucy, Dr. C. and he just kept saying "Take it easy". Then he started to add "Don't do so much". That got me concerned, but I don't have anyone here to take over what I couldn't do, and Rob wouldn't, so I trudged on.

By around 24 weeks, I looked quite big--even though I had started at my lowest pre-pregnancy weight ever. I started having extreme heartburn/reflux again, and around week 36 finally got a prescription which worked wonders. The baby wasn't a very active baby, and if I went to the hospital every time Dr. C said "If you don't feel anything in 4 hours..." I'd be there almost every day (I don't think I ever bothered to go). But every night at 10pm when I got into bed, baby would wake up and have hiccups!


By the end of my pregnancy I was actually a little on the small side and people would be surprised that I had only weeks to go. My blood pressure had been so low this time that it was surprising to be smaller--high blood pressure is linked to smaller babies. I had one late ultrasound though that said I was within one week of EDD for size and was supposed to have another one but never did. I was just in so much pain that I actually wanted to get it done with.
At around 38 weeks I told Dr. C. that although I disagree with 'inductions of convenience' or before the EDD, I just couldn't take much more. Luckily my blood pressure was starting to go up and I had actually lost weight so that was reason enough to schedule an induction.

Rob and I went to the hospital early (8am, LOL) on Thursday November 17. He drove through the downtown instead of the by-pass, and went so slowly I was getting mad--we were late! I got put in a room and Dr. C came to do the induction (Cervadil again). He said I was already 2cm. I wasn't surprised--I had been having pains that felt like they were in my cervix, but weren't 'being kicked' pains. I had to stay in bed with the monitors for a while. The nurse was getting frustrated because baby was not active. She made me drink lots of water and juice but baby stayed calm. Finally I got to get up and walked around knitting. The head nurse was also a knitter and she went and found me a gown that has a pocket on the front, to hold the yarn :) I do have a picture, but it's not digital. The weather was a lot like today...blizzard one minute, sunny the next, but it was very cold. I had never wanted to be stuck in the hospital for labours, but there I was.

Not much was happening again. Around 2:30 it started to pick up and I started to have to focus a little. But no pain. They checked me and said I was 4cm. They knew about the quickness of Lucy's birth and were hoping I'd deliver before shift ended at 4. At 3, I was feeling the same way, so they said I could use the Jacuzzi. I had wanted to use it before, but it never happened. Oh, it was so nice! I have a picture of me in it too, but not digital. Apparently I stayed in it for an hour :) The contractions pretty much went away. Occasionally I could feel some 'tightening' but no pain. My arthritis had made me very concerned about dealing with the traditional (well, traditional in the sense of 'modern' medicine) delivery positions, but I was actually feeling quite good that day, and the tub certainly helped.

At 4pm they said I had to get out because Dr. C wanted to check me.
He said I was still only 4-5cm, and they were concerned because baby's heartrate was not variating with the contractions. He said he was going to break my water and put a scalp monitor on. I didn't want my water broken at only 4-5cm--like they did with Huey's birth because I knew it would make it a lot more difficult to cope (I wouldn't say 'painful'. You create what you fear.). But we went ahead. He seemed to take forever, and was NOT very gentle!
Dr. C stood up and said he was going to the ER for an emergency and would be back soon. The nurses said 'absolutely not; you are not leaving this ward, she's going quick'. That was the last coherent thing I remembered.

I was suddenly so overwhelmed with contractions that I thought I was going crazy. They did hurt and I was mad I was stuck in the bed which was so uncomfortable, not conducive for good labour but yet, I couldn't move. I really wish I had had a doula, or a labour nurse who would have stuck their face in mine and kept me together. Rob kept asking if I was okay! Dude! Not! With Huey, he had been in such a bad position, that I never felt the contractions in the front, I only ever felt like someone was kicking me in the butt with steel toe boots. I don't recall transition at all with him. With Lucy, we were alone, and I thought I was just going into active labour. This time, I didn't know what the H*ll was going on.

At 4:15 they gave me a shot of Demerol. This relaxed me between contractions but then I was unprepared for the onset of the contraction. I wanted up, but couldn't even open my eyes. If they had gotten me up/out of bed right after my water had been broken, I would have been better able to deal with it and focus, but the nurses were too busy chatting, and really, it all happened so fast, I don't think anyone really knew it was going to go like that.

At 4:30 I felt the urge to push, but they had me hold off for a few more minutes. I was a little uncomfortable in the position but I knew there was no other option there. I remember thinking that no one was helping me with the pushing. I had said I didn't want a cheering squad counting down from 10 with each contraction, but I really felt like I wasn't doing it 'right'. In the past, I had thought that women who scream during pushing were just not 'focused', but here's what happened with me. The Demerol made me loopy and spaced out. Then SMACK a contraction. Took a few moments to clue in and focus. At the end of the contraction, that focused energy has to go somewhere. Hence, the end of contraction yell. There still wasn't "pain" but a whole heck of a lot of pressure, LOL. I remember putting my hand down there to apply some counterpressure, but was pushed out of the way.

Megan Anne popped out at 4:47pm. She was only 6lb 9oz. So tiny!!

Once again, immediate relief and recovery! But I was so shocked she was a girl! I kept saying it over and over again "It's a girl? I had a girl?" Sometimes now, I'm still surprised, LOL. Especially since in the early days, she looked exactly like Huey!
The doctor said I needed an IV and I said no, why now? But he insisted. The nurse couldn't get it in and he took over, putting it in my right hand. I couldn't bend my hand to eat dinner! The next day though I had a huge bruise on my left hand that took awhile to disappear.

When Rob phoned home, apparently Huey was not too thrilled to hear it was a girl. But when Grandma and Grandad brought him (and Lucy) to the hospital...the look of absolute adoration on his face was priceless. He was smitten! I think he was mostly happy to know that it wasn't another 'Lucy' to wreck his stuff, that this little bundle was not at all what he thought a 'new baby' was going to be :)
It was fairly quiet at the hospital, but I was surprised at the treatment I got (or, rather, didn't' get) by the nurses. With the other births, I had been told to ask for help before getting out of bed the first time. So, by the time the IV bag was empty, I needed to go to the bathroom. The nurse seemed ticked off--she asked if I was dizzy or lightheaded, and I said no. She asked "So why do you need help?" Ummm...because the IV is empty, and I was told previously to ask for help. The other times, the nurses were great helping with the post-baby ....maternal accessories, LOL. This time, she pretty much just turned on the light!
I don't remember with which baby it was (Lucy or Megan), but I was holding her in the rocking chair, in the dark, with the door open. Just relaxing. This one nurse comes in, flips on the lights, and says "What are you doing in the dark? She could choke and turn blue and you wouldn't notice!". Ummmm...like, if I were asleep I would notice?

Megan was very sleepy, probably because of the Demerol so close to her birth. I didn't know what to do, LOL. I tried waking her up after two hours to feed, but she wouldn't. One nurse came in and said, just let her sleep. Going up to 4 hours once, would be fine. But I couldn't sleep because I figured she'd be up soon, LOL. Other nurses came in and were mad I hadn't filled out the 'eaten/pee/poop' sheet in enough detail. I had written 'about 5 minutes' for the nursing. She wanted to know exactly how long Megan had nursed. Exactly how wet was the diaper. The other nurses were like...you've done it before, just do what you need to.

 After the nurse left to go sign in and hang up her coat, someone from finance/billing, came and pulled Rob to the door to discuss something about the insurance not covering the room. I was freaking, being left alone, and Rob was like "Do you not hear what's going on in here? My wife's about to give birth. Go away". LOL.
My family doctor came in the morning and checked her out. Dr. C. came around lunch and said I could go home at 5pm--it had to be 24 hours after birth. It was so cold!
Because she was so calm/placid/sleepy I woke her every two hours to nurse. I never got too engorged (no pain this time) but man, did I leak :) The day after I got home though, all my pelvic joints were hurting. We went to IKEA and Megan had her first outing in her pouch. It was so nice, except for all the pain I was suddenly in. It's likely that the endorphins released during labour masked my arthritis pain and allowed my joints to be more flexible and moved too much. The pain I was having was different than the pregnancy arthritis pain, but I hadn't had it after Lucy's birth. It took awhile to feel 'back together'.
On the Monday after her birth we went to the family doctor's for a weigh in and she was actually up in weight. On Tuesday we went to the breastfeeding clinic and the nurses there noted she was quite jaundiced--which the doctor had said she wasn't. But there is a difference between 'breastmilk jaundice' and 'regular' jaundice. It took awhile for her yellowness to disappear.

Megan stayed very calm and non-responsive for a while. That's not to say she didn't cry! She just didn't respond to things like the stove buzzer, the dog barking, or dropped pot lids. We were concerned about her hearing, even though she had passed the tests. She loved her pouch, spending a lot of each day in it. Around 3 weeks she started with the reflux. Around 8 weeks, she 'woke up' and by 12 weeks was the typical newborn. She put on weight really well at the beginning, but by 5 months had slowed down. I never really did a 'naked baby' photo shoot because I kept waiting for her to get all chubby and round.

She weighed in just before her first birthday at 18lb 14 oz. Around 6 months the LC predicted 18lb at a year! The reflux had not totally gone away yet; it got really bad after starting solids, and gradually had become 'silent reflux' (or what adults call GERD--there's not much spit up, but it still happens). She had a really hard time adjusting to the new house, having a very early case of separation anxiety. She got two teeth around then, and about 2 months later, got 6 teeth in two weeks. On Tuesday I noticed the very start of her upper molars poking through. She's still breastfeeding, and thank god because she did not tolerate the milk trial! But with the reflux also comes frequent feedings and night wakings.
By 6 months we also noticed that her 'speech' was not hitting milestones, so by eight months she already had a visit with the Wee Talk program!

At 8 months she learned to crawl, and was up the stairs a week later. She started walking at 11 1/2 months.  She was quietly persistent, more likely to give up than get frustrated but that all changed over the years. She wasn't a giggly baby, but she loved Huey. At a year she still didn't blow raspberries or wave bye bye, but could sign for milk...at least, I think she was signing for milk. Maybe she was waving bye-bye, LOL.

At thirteen months, she finally made her first self-initiated, sign.  She went into the kitchen at my aunt's house, and there were about six dogs.  She looked in amazement, and signed "more" LOL!

She loved to be worn, could climb up onto things, and was attached to her 'hair' (a fake hair ponytail/extensions piece that I got her at 6 months when she started getting a little too attached to my hair).

(this entry was originally written for her first birthday, so I've left it in, it's interesting to see what I was hoping for the next year!)
What does the next year hold? Hopefully more speech development. It'd be nice if one out of the three doesn't need speech therapy! We've never had a trip to the ER, so I expect that at some point, LOL. And hopefully she will start sleeping through the night as her reflux diminishes more :)

No Need to Get Cranky

So, I actually got a comment on my last post. I can't get "copy and paste" to work, but you can go back to the last post and read it yourself. I've got it in a window so I can comment along... "Yu know those ebil monitors you and your ilk go on about--they would have detected a problem". Not necessarily. My last two births were monitor-free, so, Mother X, you can't assume she would have had a monitor on. Having an "ebil" (LOL, I think she means 'evil') monitor on probably did save my son's life, so to say I think they are 'ebil' just shows that you're here to troll and create controversy, because obviously you haven't read my birth stories! LOL. So, no feathers ruffled here (and gah, "ebil" is used more than once, and who is "your ilk"?). Monitors can be a very useful tool, but they are also over-used and studies have shown that they have probably led to more c-sections than were necessary due to poor readings and impatient doctors. If the labour is progressing normally, there is no reason to use a monitor continuously, and intermittent use doesn't always co-incide with when there is trouble happening. So, Mother X, to assume that being in a hospital would have prevented the death, shows that you have blinders on. Babies DO die in the hospital. "...people like you who refuse to see the benefit of medicine..." Oh, get real, LOL. Once again, her ignorance is showing. I have open files at 3 different medical doctors currently--cardiologist, endocrinologist, and family doctor. I used to have an OB/GYN and an internist before we moved. To say that I don't see the benefit of medicine would imply that I should have "let" my father die after his heart attack, or that I should ignore my hypertension, or that I should just suffer the consequences of Hashimotos Disease rather than seek MEDICAL attention. LOL. The woman wasn't having a home birth because she valued the "story" of her birth more than the health of her baby. She had a homebirth because for most of the world, it is the safe, normal, natural way to give birth. She had no indications that there would be trouble. Some women are willing to trust birth and accept any risks because they know the chances are so remote that there will be a problem. Other women won't accept even the slightest risk and feel that a hospital is the best choice (although it should always be noted that a hospital is NOT fail-safe). No woman should be insulted, belittled, or interrogated because of whichever choice she makes. Especially not a woman who has just suffered a loss like this. And, for what it's worth, I didn't SAY that Dr. Amy said that the mother had turned the birth/death into a spiritual event, I said that the mother had said that and Dr Amy interpreted it (to suit herself). So, my final comment still holds true. How is Dr Amy's post going to help the mother deal with her grief? How does it even further her "birth is a medical crisis" ideology? It's not about home birth vs hospital birth, Mother X totally missed that. The woman could have had (and many do) the EXACT same feelings about her son's death, no matter WHERE THE BABY WAS BORN.

Shouldn't Have Gone There....

In the natural birth blog community, there is a woman known as Dr. Amy. She trolls around, looking for home birth blogs especially, so she can 'make an example' of anyone who has the slightest trouble at a home birth. She is (was?) an OB, with 4 kids, but her head so is so far stuck up the medical model of birth that she has lost sight of what a normal birth is. I see reference to her on many blogs I visit, but I have refrained from actually checking her out myself. Until today. Argh. I wish I hadn't gone there. People like her are not interested in changing their opinion to one based on acredited, substantiated research. No matter what research you show her, no matter what your own personal experience was, none of that matters if it differs from her views. Sad. Her post I read today irked me: skepticalob.blogspot.com and scroll down to March 24 2011 (I don't want to directly link there case I don't want to get embroiled in anything). This post is about a woman (not a theoretical woman, but an actual, live, grieving woman) who had a homebirth and the baby died due to his arm pinching off the umbilical cord during birth, long enough to cause lack of oxygen. The mother feels that her baby's birth was not in vain--his 'job' was to faciliate her spiritual growth (interpretation by Dr Amy). Dr Amy called her selfish and immature and goes on to lambast the mother for making a choice to homebirth. I don't know anything about the cause of death, however, I do know that in a hospital, monitors are not always used, and if they were, they are usually removed during pushing (unless something was detected). I don't know how someone in the hospital could have seen inside the mother's womb to know that the umbilical cord was pinched. Dr. Amy does not provide any info on how to diagnosis this, prevent, or 'treat' this condition that is NOT limited to homebirth locations. All she does is pile her brand of dog manure onto the mother. Depsite Dr Amy's belief that women are planning their homebirths so they can star in their own 'show', I do believe that women want the best for their birth. When something bad does happen, they need to reconcile that in their OWN minds, and piling Dr Amy crap on top does not help anyone. How is that mother going to feel now? Better? Umm, no. (I still can't get spellcheck to work)

Strange Things in the Land of Oz

The kids are still not feeling well, so I'm downstairs again to watch my soap....I'd much rather record it and watch it later without commercials. Instead of channel surfing during commercials, I'm cleaning, LOL, and blogging.

One show I can't stand to watch "live" (and it's on at a bad time anyway), is Dr. Oz. Now, I do quite like him and what he's doing for health awareness, even alternative health practices. However, after what he just showed, and said, I'm not too sure anymore.

On March 11, he did a segment about incredible 911 calls. The first one really was incredible (a woman who got the call for a lung transplant, but when she got on the highway, there was a traffic jam and she risked running out of portable oxygen and the short window of time to get there). The second call irked me SO much though. And because it's a fairly routine occurance, the misimformation that was given is much more of an issue than if it had been an odd incident. What was the 911 call about?

A woman giving birth in a car. In one way, I think that's great--minimal interventions! However, the 911 operator told the dad to take his shoelace and tie off the umbilical cord (to prevent transference of the mom's blood to the baby). Gah! Gross! If that wasn't bad enough, Dr. Oz's response was unbelievable. He actually said that doing that probably saved the baby's life. What? The baby was already crying! If anything, he put their lives AT RISK!

A few points...it's becoming more common now to let the cord stop pulsing before clamping it. This allows baby to get ALL the blood possible from mommy. It's a GOOD thing. There are people who actually leave the cord attached to the placenta until after the cord naturally detaches from baby. They keep the placenta wrapped up and elevated above baby for a day or so. This is called a lotus birth. Same call it hooey, but whatever, as long as it's kept clean, it's probably not harmful.

What IS harmful is the use of a potentially dirty, grimey, floor dusting string to sever the intimate connection between baby and momma. Picture this...shoelace has invisible germs, it's cinched tight around the cord, perhaps breaking the membrane and coming in contact with blood. Where's that blood going and what is hitching a ride? Ewwwwww.

For a great read about this topic, check out the ever imformative Navel Gazing Midwife. Also check out the Unnecesarian for a post, and read the comments and then read the follow up post. Apparently it's pretty difficult to change the official protocal, they won't take info from experts that are not in the academy of 911 dispatchers. Dumb. So, if you know someone who is a 911 dispatcher and would be sympathetic to this cause, let them know their advice is outdated and unsafe and give them the links so they can pass on real info to their academy.

I'm just so surprised at Dr Oz's reaction to this, how wonderful it was, a great idea. Did he not check it out at all? Did he not even think about it for a few seconds?

(I can't seem to get spellcheck to work....hope it's all okay!)

Am I Really Different?

Recently I found a website that is a reader-written blog, by new (and some not-so-new) mothers. The aim of the website is to showcase post-natal bodies and support other moms as they come to terms with their new bodies. Sounds great. But there are some common themes new moms write about that really irk me.

Many moms mention celebrities and how they feel they should be able to look like them just as quickly after having a baby. I NEVER thought that. Why would I? I'm not a model or celebrity. Those women are who they are partly because they are genetically unusual, LOL. The benefit of being in the tiny statistical abnormal group of women and then a celebrity, is the abundance of money. Surplus money can easily be used to 'buy' time and people. They can pay for nannies, cooks, drivers, assistants, cleaners, personal trainers. They don't have to focus on primarily being a new mother, if they don't want to. They can afford, both financially and hence time wise, to spend 4 hours a day in a gym.
I can't do that; it never occured to me to think that I should be able to. And hence, that I should look like a celebrity--post natal or otherwise.
Of course, being the person I am, I see the other side too, LOL. Those celebrities do what they do post-natally partly because it is their career...it is a self-perpetuating cycle, if they want it to continue. To be a celebrity, they must maintain their form; being a celebrity allows them the freedom to do so.

The other common theme that drives me bonkers is women who put on 30, 40, 50 or more pounds during pregnancy, and expected to lose it with birth. Seriously, many women expect to come home from the hospital looking like before the positive test. I just don't see how they thought it was possible, even if they put on only 15lbs. Baby averages just under 8lbs, placenta is 3lbs, uterus is 2lbs, increased blood is 2lb, increased fluids is 2lb and suggested fat increase is 5lbs. That's 22lbs. Not all of that can be lost with birth. And if you put on more than the average 11lbs that can be lost with birth, how do you expect to suddenly lose it? Even the ones that think by 6 weeks they should have lost 30lbs make me want to shake my head. Women are horrified that by 6 weeks they still have a soft tummy, stretch marks, and extra weight.

Now, I was a little sad with my post natal body, LOL, but I never expected to look 'perfect' after the birth, or by 6 weeks, or even by 6 months. I don't understand how these women are coming to the conclusion that all evidence of pregnancy should be eliminated by 6 weeks. They usually say 'the media' lead them to believe that would be possible and NORMAL. So it comes back to celebrities again?

Am I unusual that I don't form my ideals, ideas, or values from strangers that the media has decided are the idea of ideal? Why is it I don't look at Angelina and think I should look like that? Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't want to emulate these strangers.
Then there are days I am surprised everyone else doesn't want to babywear. And days it surprises me that some knitters don't knit socks. And other days I get a reality check when I hear a 3 year old talk like an adult.

We all have our own realities; why would I try to emulate that of a professional perfectionist?

Why is Birth a "For Profit" Event?

Even though healthcare in Canada is not "For Profit" (as in the US), many of the same mindsets appear here. I do not understand---other than greed---how a country has let birth become a money making event.
One area of profit for hospitals is epidurals/pain relief. There was a great blog post yesterday about this: http://wonderfullymadebelliesandbabies.blogspot.com/ Look at October 7 (I can't get it to make a simple link to the actual post). Doctors getting plasma TVs for having the most number of medicated births in a hospital?

I think it would be a great idea if doctors, especially OBs, and hospitals had to make these things public. You know how books give you a list of questions to ask your doctor....what about "What sort of bonus do you receive from XYZ drug company" or "What have you received in the past 6 months from Similac?" Even better would be a doctor-disclosure pamphlet which details c-section/VBAC/vag breech/epidural/pre-date induction rates, with costs, income, and bonuses clearly stated.

The saddest thing is that birth outcomes in the US do not indicate that 'for profit' birth is better than non-profit birthing countries.

Birth Sounds Beautiful

I was reading a birth blog today and she had a great post about vocalization during labour. I knew all of this already, and in fact, when labouring alone, in the hospital, with Lucy, an nurse coming in to go on shift heard me and could tell that it was almost time. Birth noises are surprisingly cross-cultural similar. Women who believe in their power and allow it to happen, almost all make the same sorts of noises (and it's not the he-he-he-he-he-ho of Lamaze). However, the blog had an amazing video of a woman in transition SINGING, while someone (her husband?) played the guitar. It was the epitome of the power of vocalization during labour. Why don't ALL women know they CAN do this?

More Interventions

THere's a great post to read about a new labour 'device' being marketed....it clips right onto the cervix and screws into the baby's head! I have had a scalp monitor put in before, and it was NOT fun. I can't imagine having something clipped right to my cervix.
Isn't there something for men the medical business industry could focus on? Erection meters? Continual prostate monitoring?

Happy Birthday Huey!

Today is Huey's 8th Birthday. I didn't write his birth story last year as I had just had the surgery so I will do it today :) It's much different than the girls' birth stories and is a great example of how one intervention leads to another and sometimes doctors should just back off and let a mom do what her body is telling her. There's alot about my pregnancy here, because it was my first :) and most well documented, LOL.

I wanted to get pregnant in early fall 1999 (OMG...that was another century ago!) so I would be due as close to the end of the school year as possible (but not in the summer break)--I was working as a substitute teacher so wanted to get as much in as possible, but I didn't want a summer break baby. I got pregnant the very first month, on the Labour Day long weekend while visiting families :) on our way out of the country for our last good road trip holiday. We told everyone right away, before six weeks even. My journal gave me a due date of June 1, the ultrasound said May 27, the doctor's wheel said June 3, and the delivery nurses said he looked a little 'overcooked'. I think if he had been in a better position, he might have been born a little sooner.

The first trimester was pretty good, although when I went for the first visit around 12 weeks, I was a little surprised at my weight gain! It would become a trend that I put on weight in the first trimester, but not much in the second. During week 19, after arriving back home from visiting families for Christmas, I came down with influenza. The onslaught was sudden, quick, and total. I was bedridden for several days, but did manage to get out of bed and powder my face for the big Y2O New Year's (Y2O? Y2K? whatever. It was long ago and the world obviously didn't self-combust). We took a pathetic picture at midnight while awaiting the catastrophic collapse of the modern society. Then I went to bed for another day or so. It took nearly 6 weeks before I felt 'normal' again. I would later learn that fever in the second trimester is associated with developmental issues.

Despite putting on weight early on, I seemed to take forever to look pregnant, and finally put on 'real' maternity pants around week 26. Around 6 weeks later the cashier at Zehrs asked me when I was due. I was pre-occupied with bagging the eggs, and thought she had asked about the 'due date' of the eggs, LOL. She was the first stranger to ask me out of the blue so it took a moment to register that she meant me!

On May 13, Rob's parents came up, and at one point in the afternoon, things shifted and it hurt to sit down. Walking was suddenly slow too and we went for a long walk. I had been having quite a bit of feet and hand swelling, but it wasn't horrible. This back pain continued, but about 13 days before he was born, it got worse. Way worse. I'd feel this horrific pain on either side of center in my back pelvis, like being kicked with steel-toed boots. I realized it coincided with when he was awake. The doctor just said it was probably his head. Well, yeah, but why? My books never mentioned a pain like this! Pain at the front where the pubic bones can separate, but not this back pain. It turns out, as best we can figure, that he had his head sideways and would rock his head back and forth on my pelvic bone--rubbing/banging against the SI joints on either side of the spine/tailbone. Oh, I wish I had known about http://www.spinningbabies.com/ back then. If I had been seeing a midwife, it's possible she would have clued in to what had happened, and recommended ways to lift him back up and rotate his head. But, maybe not.

I had lots of labour signs around May 25, so I think if he had been in position, it might have happened sooner.

On June 2 Rob took the afternoon off and came with me to the doctor's. I wanted to be induced because I was sure I was overdue and was in so much pain. The doctor said no, not due yet, wait another week. We left and went shopping at Zehrs. We decided to get big, thick, juicy steaks for the barbecue. Oh, they were SO good!!! I had heard that high fat meals can send blood vessels into contractions---heart attack---so I thought maybe I could start labour :)

At about 11pm that night, I noticed bleeding and mucous. All that meant was that baby would come in the next TWO weeks. I tried to go to sleep. At 11:50pm I had a contraction that felt different than in the months previous. Ten minutes later, I had another. I got up and walked around. Ten minutes later, another one. The contraction didn't hurt, but the pain in my back was intense, and sporadic and made it hard to tell when I was having a contraction and when I was just having pain. Then the contractions moved to about 8 minutes apart, as best as I could tell. Around 4am I woke Rob up and said "I'm having a baby!" He said "No" and rolled over, LOL. I had a shower which felt good, but it was really hard to time the contractions, which had been at 5 minutes since about 2am. We left for the hospital at 4:30 and had to stop at the bank and Tim Horton's, although I couldn't eat.

At the hospital I had the monitor on for 30 agonizing minutes, and they checked me at 5:50am and said I was JUST beginning to dilate! OMG, I was stunned I wasn't at 4cm already! It wasn't painful (just my back), but later I learned that that's just how I am in labour.

At 9:30, they checked me again and said "Stretchy 5cm". How did I go from nothing to 5cm in 3 1/2 hours? I had been all prepared to want warm things---the jacuzzi, hot water bottles/pads, etc. The only thing I really liked was Rob rolling a frozen water bottle on my lower back as hard as he could. I was up and walking around and apparently doing great.

I spoke with the anesthesiologist about the epidural, and about how I really didn't want one, but the back pain was so bad (and poor Rob's hands were frozen, LOL). He thought I was doing super and didn't need it! He said he'd check back about an hour after they break my water, which they did around noon. Contractions were much stronger, and apparently I got Demerol, according to my notes. I sort of remember that--but why did I agree to Demerol with Megan? I don't remember the anesthesiologist coming back; I think the nurses told him I was doing fine although I didn't think so.

Around 4:30, I was fully dilated with just a little lip remaining (something else that would happen the other times too; and around the same time of day!). But I didn't feel an urge to push. This had been a concern of mine before---how do you know when to push, and everyone says "You'll know!". I don't think I heard that it was also normal for the body to take a break at this point. The doctor (not my family doctor; this was an older doctor that the nurses didn't really know, and I had never met) decided I should get the epidural and rest for awhile. Then he left for dinner. I wonder if he knew it was going to be a difficult delivery--when he retired there was an article on him in the paper, and before the OBs came, he was the difficult birth doctor. Around this time someone told the families that if there were problems, or if I didn't deliver soon, I would be airlifted to the nearest hospital (45 minutes by car) for a c-section.

As soon as he left, I wanted to push! The nurses wouldn't let me because I was supposed to be getting the epidural. But that doctor had been called into the OR for an emergency and I had to wait. And wait. And wait, and not push. Oh yeah. No pushing. OMG, it was agony. Finally, around 7pm, the anesth. (Dr Cino) came in. He started right away, but because of the contractions, it took him almost 45 minutes to do the 10 minute procedure. Rob had to leave the room because he felt so bad for me. Finally, around 8pm, the lights were dimmed, I plugged in my CD player, and listened to Peter Gabriel's "The Last Temptation of Christ".

At about 9pm, I noticed that the beeping on the heart rate machine had suddenly slowed, and instead of just more than two beeps per second, it was beeping just slightly faster than the second hand on the clock. I looked over and saw 80. I knew that wasn't good. A minute later it happened again, and then the door flew open, the lights were turned on, an oxygen mask was slapped on my face, I think I was rolled over, then the nurse yanked the mask off and put a larger one on, the doctor flew in, Rob was right behind (they had actually been on their way in when the alarms went). It was a big blur of voices and commands. I couldn't feel anything but they wanted me to push. They got the vacuum, but the nurse couldn't seem to co-ordinate with the doctor and he got mad. Rob was getting green. Then I could feel something go upwards inside the birth canal, and then downwards. Cord around the neck was shouted. And baby was out. It was strangely very silent for a moment or two once baby was out. Rob was sitting on the floor by this point I think. The doctor was pretty white too and just sat back on his little stool and didn't say anything for a few minutes.

The baby was immediately taken to the warmer and a nurse said "He sprayed me" and when I looked over, she had a blood splatter from her waist up. There was also a true knot in the cord, and the doctor said it was probably the longest cord he had ever seen, and that probably saved his life.

Over the next two days I got more of the story. After the vacuum, the doctor took a scalpel and gave me a quick and long episiotomy (it took almost 45 minutes after the birth before I was 'cleaned up' for family). He inserted his fingers, stuck them in Huey's ears, and pulled him out. He was born at 9:13pm, 7lb 12oz and 20 1/2" long. The IV was kept in for most of the night, and I was not feeling good.

That was a Saturday night, and we got to go home mid-day on Monday. By the time we left, my feet started swelling up. They got REALLY bad. On Tuesday the public health nurses came for a routine visit and said everything was going great and I probably wouldn't get engorged. We went to Brampton for the afternoon; it was so hot. We were checking out at Costco and everything started to go blurry and I nearly passed out. My mom had stayed for the week, so she cooked liver for dinner (iron). I don't mind it too much if someone else cooks it, LOL.

That night, around 11pm, my breasts turned to rocks. OMG. It hurt. I was leaking everywhere, but Huey wouldn't latch on. The nurses had given me some formula samples and a finger feeding syringe because I didn't want to use bottles. That helped him, but what about me? A shower felt good, but didn't do anything. My breast pump was still in the box because everything had said not to pump before three weeks. So, 1am, I'm wandering around the kitchen sterilizing a breast pump and bottles, while leaving a snail trail of liquid gold on the floor. Finally I could pump and OMG, was there a lot. The cycle of course started again, but not so bad, and at least I could give him breast milk with the finger feeder. It was a long night....that Rob slept through.

That next day (or maybe the next?) another public health nurse came over, and finally, right at the end of her visit, thought maybe a shield would do the trick to get him to latch again. She didn't like using them, but it worked, and had NO affect on my supply the entire five months I used it! He nursed alot, and after a couple weeks, the reflux started. Then other things started showing up......and I'll go into his Sensory Processing Dysfunction journey on another day.

It wasn't the birth I had planned. Much of that was because of having the stranger doctor and no one felt really comfortable with him (including the nurses--who were great with me). If they had just let me push when I wanted to, it might not have turned into such an emergency. However, I might have had to push for three hours--the time I laid there and tried not to push--he did the moving down on his own. So, I guess I got the labour I wanted (but no jacuzzi), but not the delivery I wanted. Oh well, he's here, and he's EIGHT! today!

Statistics

Read this startling article from Crunchy Domestic Godess. Here's an excerpt:

The maternal death rate in the United States is the highest it’s been in decades - 13 deaths* per 100,000 live births and, even more startling, for black women 34.7 deaths per 100,000, in 2004. Gaskin asserts it also may be seriously underreported. According to the Center for Disease Control in 1998, “there is so much misclassification in the US system of maternal death reporting that the actual number could be as much as three times greater than the number officially published each year.”Perhaps by raising awareness and demanding more information, we can turn the tide in this country.
Another great article worth reading on Refuse To Be A Womb Pod: Top 5 Most Underreported Birth Stories of 2007

Statistics are an interesting thing. On a blog I've just started reading, there's a debate about the safety of hospital births in the US. Many respond with how the US has one of the highest maternal and neo-natal death rates in the industrialized world. Others respond back saying it's not that bad, at 'only' 5 deaths per 1000 births, it's just 'one down' from countries like the UK at 4 deaths per 1000.
Well, you might say, that's not so bad! Only 5 deaths! But wait! That's per 1000 births. Do you know HOW many babies are born in the US every day? Every year? My little local hospital has about 500 births per year alone. While simplifying the numbers to the lowest possible denominator might make it look not too bad, it really doesn't show the broad picture!

And really, in the broad scheme of things, is the number the important thing, or the attitudes that create the numbers? Is 5 deaths per 1000 worse in the US because it's industrialized, or is it worse in Uganda because it's NOT industrialized? (Note---I just picked Uganda out of thin air. I have no clue about it's actual rates, although I assume it's not the same as the US). Are those in Uganda happy with their numbers because they could be worse while the same numbers in the US create fury because they should be better?

And do statistics help birthing mothers? If I know my baby is posterior, do I want to hear that my chance of a c-section has gone up by 75%? Or do I want to hear about www.spinningbabies.com and how to rotate the peanut? Do I want to know that my hospital has a 30% c-section rate or do I want to know how to prevent a c-section for myself? Do I want to know that 25% of women who have an epidural get a spinal headache, or do I want to learn how to birth without numbing my body? I don't think it's naive to ignore the statistics; or rather, the better option is to learn the statistics but to learn what to do about the situation. Just because the hospital has a 50% epidural rate doesn't mean I have a 1 in 2 chance of having an epidural.

Knowledge is power; what you fear you create; what you focus on expands.

Twins!

No, not me. Did I scare you? We're all sick right now, and websurfing is filling my time as it's close to the bathroom ;) I came across a fabulous semi-surprise twin homebirth story. She had decided to not care for the woman at 38 weeks due to some disagreements and she thought there might be twins. But then re-considered, and then changed her mind about the twins. Until labour. The mother was in denial too, LOL. Fourteen pounds of babies. Wow.

Birth, American Style

I've been reading a lot of blogs/websites lately about the issues surrounding birth in America. I wish I could find similar Canadian blogs. Does it surprise anyone that about 95% of babies in the States are born in hospitals, yet the US has one of the highest maternal and neo-natal death rates in the industrialized world? In most other countries, as many as 95% of babies are born at home, c-section rates are a reasonable 5-10%, AND they have better survival rates. Not many women seem to realize that while birth is a normal physiological event, having a birth in an American hospital INCREASES your chance of death.

One recent story I read is at Mothering Dot Com. At first I went there by following a link about an UC (unassisted childbirth) that transferred and went horribly wrong. The baby had been OP and got stuck on her pelvic bone. Fairly common, usually easy to correct, and it was in this case and the baby was born. However, the on call doctor came rushing in and demanded that the placenta be delivered immediately (not sure why). She yanked and pulled on the cord, despite the incessant pleading of the mother to stop. She yanked out the placenta...AND the uterus.

There are some interesting terms floating around in cyberspace regarding these types of birth stories. Pushed birth, purple pushing, birth assault and birth rape. How horrifying that such a wonderful event is used by doctors (and even midwives) to assert their position of all-knowing godship. What happened to birth being a woman's event, not a time for the medical establishment to insert their ideology where it doesn't belong? How can it be remedied when there are women electing to have c-sections (does the name Britney sound familiar) so they don't have to push, or because it makes them feel like they are in control of their birth (like, somehow, they can be in control when strapped down, half naked, separated from the 'sterile field' that is their divine femine landscape?), or because they want to schedule their life.

Women don't need to be afraid of giving birth (why do so many pregnant women get asked if they are 'nervous' about the upcoming birth); they need to be afraid of those who supposively know more than the ageless, global, female conscious that has sustained our existance for milleniums.

WTF Happened?

Apparently Cara linked to my blog? I just looked at hers and I didn't see anything. I know she's extremely pregnant and hormonal, but I don't think she's mean or hurtful, just taking my ramblings WAY too personally. Nothing I have been writing here is about her! Wow....where are all you coming from?

I only wrote in her comments "What a beautiful baby belly! I was never round, just stuck out and then flat. Why will you know the date and it'll be before 39 weeks? What's wrong with going into labour when your baby/body wants to? It's usually a much easier labour :)" I HAD MISSED HALF OF HER POST ABOUT NEEDING A C-SECTION due to computer malfunction. I APOLOGIZED in an email to her. Then she wrote about strangers offering advice just because of a pregnant belly, and I thought that was funny, and well put!

I'm not trying to start a birthing war. I'm not trying to educate anyone (right now). I WAS JUST REFLECTING ON HOW I NEVER HEARD HORROR STORIES.

Yes, blogs are public. But would you start butting in on someone's private conversation in line at the bank? Just because you can hear/see a conversation does not mean you need to put in your two cents. But there's nothing wrong with discussing it later with others! Reminds me of the week I spent every evening in the ER and came home and told my husband all the gory things I heard through the curtains. But I was not about to open the curtain and tell the guy with the boil on his butt (true story) that he should have stayed in Florida instead returning here and costing our health system money considering he'd had the boil for three months before moving back to Ontario. I love having people read my blogs (especially the knitting one; this is NOT the knitting blog), but it is a little bizarre to me that strangers are coming here to insult me over a misunderstanding by SOMEONE else. Good grief, I think some people need to get back to knitting.

On the other hand, I would love to hear more about how a personal filter changes how you view something. Do you have anything to share? As for believing in "The Secret"....I believed that what you focus on, expands; for YEARS before I had ever heard of "The Secret". I just knew that if you focus on good things, you will see good things more easily. If your personal filter is negative (like my husband's usually is), you will have a very hard time seeing good things that aren't so obvious. What's wrong with that? THink of the "Serendity Prayer". I'm not religious at all, but there's a lot to be said for it. I choose to view life through a positive lens. That's not to say nothing negative has ever happened to me....assults, miscarrages, near-divorce, no career, lost friends, traumatic birth....but I don't view them as horror stories. And I don't want anyone to tell me that they are!

That's all there is. I wish Cara well, I never would want anything 'horrible' to happen. Birth is unpredictable and any mom-to-be needs a positive framework for the event. I understand not wanting to have a million comments about what could go wrong, or did go wrong, but those aren't horror stories. Those are babies.

Now, excuse me, I have to go put my horror to bed :)

Or, sorry, I believe I was wrong, and the words are "Evil" and "Opinions".

Thanks for all the positive comments too. I didn't think I was all that crazy. Although, I don't really care if others think I am, LOL. However, I will NOT be sharing about peeing in my pants, and the therapy thing just didn't work out ;)

Just a Little Extra

I have more I want to say, but it's busy here.

Contrary to what Cara believes, what I wrote is NOT about her. We had already exchanged a couple emails (my computer had farted and I missed her original post on having a c-section and not wanting to hear bad things, and I was clueless of that when I asked why she was having a c-section and then proceeded to send her the Spinning Babies link and wrote about what I'd do in that situation). I thought I had made it clear in my email that it was about what I would do. I'm sure she's done research; I really don't think I said or implied (in my post or emails) that she hadn't (but many doctors have no experience with doing things like holding a flashlight to the belly to convince a baby to turn). It doesn't matter to me.

My last post here was germinated after reading the funny bit about how having a pregnant belly means you're fair game for advice (but truly, it's not limited to that.....mention to someone that you have high cholesterol, and suddenly you hear about their husband's sister's aunt's husband who was about to have a quintuple by-pass when they started taking castrated yak semen pills and suddenly they are cured), and then by her declaration of not wanting to hear horror stories.

I wondered why I had never heard horror stories. And I realized it's because I don't view someone else's historical retelling of such an important event as 'horror' or 'helpful'. Cara needs to stop internalizing what others are saying about themselves. I could really care less how Cara gives birth; it's not my concern.

But....then I started thinking some more. Having had a traumatic birth, I began to feel judged by her ignorant labelling of my birth story as horror. I don't go around telling it to pregnant strangers, or even pregnant non-strangers. I do share it sometimes with the message of education, empowerment, and entertainment. There's a lot that others could learn from my birth story. But to have it labelled as a horror story by a stranger is a little much.

It's no secret that I'm a believer in "The Secret". What you focus on, expands. However, if you ignore educating yourself (NOT DIRECTED AT CARA, just a general 'yourself'), you will actually feed the fear. You know there are things to be fearful of; by not knowing what those are, and what you can do, you are NOT going eliminate fear or those events. To eliminate fear, you must attend to it, allow it to exist and be acknowledged. Then you can not worry about being consumed by it.

There was a show in Canada, similar to TLC's "Birth Story". One woman was hyper-fearful of having to have an episiotomy. She spoke with her doula, but she couldn't hear and absorb what the doula was telling her....she was stuck in being afraid of her fear. Once she was in labour, she got dilated to "9 3/4cm" but just 'couldn't' make it to 10cm. She 'had' to have a c-section. Coming out of recovery, she was filmed saying "At least I didn't have to have an episiotomy!". OMG. That was very avoidable--both the c-section and possibly the episiotomy.

THAT was my point of the past post. It was a post about VIEWPOINTS and how looking at something through the horror lens may create horror; choosing the filter you use is important.

For all of those women, who like me, have a "Horror story about birth" and want to share it...just email me and I'll post them here! With your own commentary, or mine; up to you. It's NOT about trying to scare someone; it's about retelling your personal story in the hopes it brings healing to yourself and information to others. My filter is education, not 'scare the pregnant chick'.

Viewpoints

One popular blogger is expecting a baby very soon, and is having a planned c-section. She asked that people don't post comments with horror stories about c-sections. She doesn't want to hear anything negative, and wrote:

"I'm sure someone somewhere has done a study on the phenomenon I like to call "let's scare the crap out of the poor pregnant girl who doesn't know what she's gotten into but because I've done this at least one time I have all the answers to every question about pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood, etc and know EXACTLY the RIGHT THING this poor pregnant girl should do if she loves her baby just a little bit." Have you had any experience with this?"

I thought it was funny at first. And put that way, I do still think it's funny. But I view things differently. I don't know if it's got anything to do with being Canadian, or what, but women never told me horror stories, or gave me unsolicited advice (except for the Italian nona in the greenhouse who said Huey should have a hat on...in June....it was 30C outside the greenhouse...). I NEVER had any backlash or comments about breastfeeding in public either. On line, especially in parenting groups, we share birth stories, and quite often offer unsolicited advice though. But I've never thought of it as a horror story to scare the uninitiated pregnant lady. I view it as that person's story of an important event. I hear they might have unresolved issues, I hear they want to share their experience, perhaps to enlighten me, perhaps to save me from what they went through. And I APPRECIATE everything anyone has ever told me---even if it was a little scary from their view. If my baby was breech, I would be THRILLED to have someone point out the Spinning Babies website to me. If I was going to be induced with Cytotec, I'd be ecstatic if someone told me that it's not approved for use as an induction drug. If I mentioned I had trouble latching my newborn on when my milk came in, I'd have kissed the person who told me about Medela nipple shields. If I planned a c-section before my due date, and someone mentions that it might short-change my hormone system and breastfeeding might have a rocky start, I'd start calling around for LCs and talk to my OB. If these bits of advice came because someone else had a 'horror story', I don't really care--it's not an omen of my experience. It's not casting a shadow on my experience---if anything, I will be more prepared, more educated. And what's wrong with that?

I think it's doing yourself a disservice to ask for only positive comments about something so serious as a surgery. In this case, it's not just a birth; it's a major abdominal surgery with complications possible for baby and mother. Yes, it might be preferred to a vaginal birth in many circumstances, but to get mad because someone mentions that THEY had XYZ happen and they just want to share that so others might be more aware, or because someone shares a website about how to turn a breech baby?
Man, if I hadn't seen photos of breast reductions with incisions that had opened and other complications, I would have been a nutcase when it happened to me.

I wasn't scared BECAUSE others had shared their stories. They weren't horror stories, they were actually lifesaving stories.

More News About Human Milk

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081102-16879.html

I sometimes go to a Yahoo thing called "Yahoo Answers" or maybe it's "Yahoo Questions" I don't know. I posted the question--"If women know breastmilk is best, then why do so many choose not to use it?" Of course, there are the smartypants who say "What about the moms with cancer or who die in childbirth" but c'mon, really....that doesn't account for a miserable 70% breastfeeding rate. Others say "What about the ones who just weren't able?". Well, I know some women who 'just weren't able' and I know some women who spent their whole waking time trying everything possible to succeed and then were 'just not able'. Even putting these two groups together, that's still only 10% of moms who are medically exempted. I was inquiring about the other 20%. The ones who say "It's my choice to feed what I want" or "Formula is fine or else it wouldn't be sold in mass retailers".
I just don't get it. If they KNOW it's the best choice, and biology has made it so they have to choose to NOT breastfeed, then why not choose to? You can always change you mind later, after really giving it a try for at least 6 weeks. So many women give up at the first sign of trouble in the first couple weeks....if they would only perservere through a rough patch it WILL get easier. But the ones who sadden me are the ones who claim they know what's best, and yet their babies don't get even one drop of breastmilk.

Would You Come Out to This?

I've been reading an interesting blog lately, and she had a funny 'birth video' posted. Oh my, LOL. When you think about what we/they do to babies as they are born! Who'd want to leave their little sanctuary?
On a related note, there was an article in the newspaper about the doctor that delivered Huey. He's retiring. And,apparently, in the great days before OBs, he 'specialized' in difficult births. So how come my birth was so misguided?

A Plea for Help

This is a Forwarded Message FromBarbara Harper:

I cannot yet imagine a world without the voice and work of WaterbirthInternational - we get calls and emails every day from women who needhelp convincing one hospital or another to let them labor or birth inwater. If we die - a big part of the movement dies. Waterbirth hasshown us all that women know how to give birth and babies know how tobe born. Waterbirth gave us "hands-off", sit back and let the baby out. I see waterbirth mentioned on Blogs every single day, not tomention Baby Story on the TV.
I took Waterbirth International to ACOGtwo years in a row - and was the ONLY booth showing birth films toobstetricians and especially to student physicians. There were tears, laughter and outrage - just thething to stir up those young crop of doctors.

I am finally realizinga life's dream. But now I am faced with letting this dream go. Perhaps I have done enough. Perhaps it is time to quit. About 18 years ago, maybe it was longer, when Mothering Magazine wasfacing bankruptcy Peggy did a heartfelt plea asking their readers toconsider ordering a Life-time subscription. I think the subscriptions were $1000 or $1200, I can't remember now. I do remember that Icouldn't imagine not reading my Mothering. So, I bought two and gaveone to my obstetrician' s office. How can you help us stay open to take the next phone call? - to convince the next obstetrician to incorporate waterbirth into his/herpractice - to work with the nurse midwives to install pools in theirfacilities? To educate an entire hospital on the benefits of allowingwomen freedom of movementin the water.

How much is it worth to see waterbirth become the normin the US, like it is in the UK? I think we only need a few moreyears to make that happen. Do women really want waterbirth to be an available choice in every hospital? I think so.

Can you help us by getting the word out on blogs and lists? I had tolet go of all of the staff except one person to process orders. Miraculously, we made payroll today, but we can't hang on much longer. We need a miracle. If I need to call every single waterbirth parent personally, I will. I don't want 25 years of work to end over a measly $200,000. The work that we have done the last few years has been phenomenal. How God arranged for me to teach in hospitals and medical schools around the planet - Taiwan, Venezuela, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Holland, Portugal, China, Trinidad, Croatia - I'll never figure thatout. I laugh out loud sometimes when I get up in front of an audience of physicians in a medical school overseas - who all want to hear about waterbirth and the incorporation of Gentle Birth practices and principles into their routines.
Think about what you can do and call me if you want to chat or if you have some great ideas on how we can quickly move into the black andkeep waterbirth alive and thriving. We need your help. Barbara Harper needs your help. Thewaterbirth/gentle birth movement needs your help.

Blessings,BarbaraBarbara Harper, RN, CLD, CCE Founder/DirectorWaterbirth International www.waterbirth. org
503-673-0026 -office (out of US or in Portland)800-641-2229 - toll free
503-710-7975 - cell phone

We LOVE helping women get into Hot Water!!

Semantics

Hey, I really didn't mean to have two pro-breastmilk posts in a row, but I find Hathor very refreshing! Her take on semantics and breastmilk is too the point, LOL.

And her post about the top 5 horrifying birth stories of the year? OMG. Birth is a normal event, common interventions in the name of 'safety' often does more harm than good.


And I wish I had known that Boxing Day was the Action Day for Normal Births!