Welcome Carese

Carese and Rebekah

Ruth hired me back in October to be her Doula for her April due date. I have never been hired so early before. It was fun to follow so much of the pregnancy with her.

Mommy and Daddy get to look at their newest blessing. Together for the first time.

Her labor started Thursday evening and when the contractions were 2 minutes apart for 5 hours we headed to the Birth Center. We were there for 5 hours Friday morning, then they sent her home because the contractions stopped.
All weekend I kept waiting for a call for her delivery. She called Sunday evening and was back in the hospital.

Helping Ruth nurse in the recovery room. 

 We had a slumber party! We stayed up until 4:30 AM talking and laughing. I did give a pretty good foot massage and made sure she was comfortable. I even took care of her husband's headache. Most of the night/ morning was spent eating M&M's.  However, Monday morning after shift change the Doctor shocked us all and changed the course of action. In a matter of minutes he decided to stop any type of induction and send Ruth home.

I love my job! 

After her doctor appointment on Tuesday it was decided to go ahead with the induction and admit her that day.  I was called back to the hospital,  Ruth said that her contractions were really picking up, at 5:30PM.
We tried to get her body to go into labor and even with a high dose of pitocin she was only having mild contractions. They decided to go ahead and break her water to see if that would speed things up. Again, it only mildly worked.  Just a little before 1:00AM she stood up so that we could go for a walk. She had another significant gush of water and felt some pressure.
Her husband has been praying that this would be her easiest labor ever. I was amazed at the thought that perhaps she was complete, with almost no labor. Unfortunately, the pressure she felt was cord prolapse. From the time they diagnosed the prolapse until the baby was born, was 4 minutes! I am amazed at the quality of care she received.
I have done a lot of deliveries with this doctor and she was able to bend the rules to accommodate me! I was able to go to the special care nursery and take the baby into the recovery room to grant the mother's wish of skin to skin contact and breastfeeding as soon as possible. I am so thankful that the doctor's have great judgement and are able to perform lifesaving techniques as quickly as they do. Their sweet baby girl weighed in at 4 lbs 14 oz and was 18 3/4" long. She spent only a short time in the special care nursery and did not even need help breathing. She had strong muscle tone, beautiful color, and amazing reflexes! Praise God for his provision in maturing Carese's lungs and perfectly forming her body to be equipped to be born bore her due date.
This was definitely a different birth experience. I learned a lot and am even more convinced that we should trust our intuition, it is a gift from God.
Congratulations to Darryl and Ruth on the birth of Carese Faith!