MANA

I spent the last weekend at Asilomar in Monterey for the Midwives Alliance of North America. Asilomar is a full campus with hotel style rooms and meeting spaces throughout. The best part? The meals are included! I think G and I ate more balanced regular meals this weekend then we have the entire pregnancy. Here's the building I stayed in, along with some gorgeous shots of the ocean.

This was my view the majority of the weekend, there was a lot of sitting and knitting. I learned a ton, some of which applies to my practice and some of which applies to ME and our impending birth. Best of all? Our midwife was there!
By the way, that is the very beginning of G's first knitted blanket. It's made of organic cotton and incredibly soft.

Baby 151

Many of you probably don't remember my earlier post about #109 but I will never forget her. Usually with something like a fetal demise many families opt for a different provider with subsequent pregancies simply because of the heartache and familiarity of the loss that arises just with being around the same provider. This wasn't the case with this couple. We had bonded and worked through the work up and grief of the loss together. Several months after she was back and pregnant again, she chose to continue with me for this pregnancy and although she was rightfully anxious, as was I, I assured her that I would take a special interest in her and would be at her delivery NO MATTER WHAT. I never do this with my current practice simply because it goes against the nature of the group; but this couple was special and I selfishly wanted to be the one to hand them a crying baby. I got the privilege to do just that this morning. Their baby girl was born just after midnight and is a tiny little miracle. As much as I love handing babies to their mothers for the first time, this one held a special meaning and will never be forgotten.

You might also notice that I've gotten over the 150 mark, no including cesarian sections, I count those but seperately. My goal for the year is to hit 200 and I'm well on my way with another delivery anticipated later today :)

Our fall decor

Disclaimer: this post involves whining and a bit of frustration

I would like to announce that I have just missed 2 deliveries in a row...yes TWO. The first was in no way my fault. The pt arrived complete and delivered within several minutes. The second wasn't ENTIRELY my fault. The nurse says, "she just went from 6 to complete so quickly" um yeah, she said she took quite a bit of cohosh...who knows what she's going to do...plus this isn't her first baby...uhhhh! What is a midwife to do with these nurses. I had called 1.5 hrs prior and was told the pt wasn't really contracting and would probably need pitocin and then this....GRRRR.

And now on to our regularly scheduled fall decor:
Up first a few outdoor shots (we have a cute little flag as well but it was too dark to see it well)

can you spy the little dachshund shoe scraper hiding behind the pumpkins?
and a few up close shots of the indoor decor:


Now for the full effect:


Did anyone notice the white cable in that shot above?? ONLY allowable during football season!Here's the hubs not really understanding WHY we need to interrupt the evening tv programing for shots of the decor...oh babe just humor me. (ps, this is a typical pose for him)

Before I go. I realize that if I had just stayed at the hospital the entire time my patient was there I wouldn't have missed that second delivery. This patient had frustrated me quite a bit earlier in the day and I wasn't really looking forward to hanging out with her, if you know what I mean. I do however find it ironic that I called just a bit before to check on her (intuition) and was told everything was A OK and not to worry she wasn't doing much of anything...lession learned, trust MY instinct and don't listen to those nurses from afar!

Good bye Accent :( HELLO PROMOTION :)

Today we said good buy to my good old Hyundai Accent! It was still driving but the lovely state of California requires smog checks every 2 years and of course my little green car just wouldn't pass. Since we refused to put anymore money into it we were at a roadblock. Thankfully Dominic found out about the buy back program here, they gave us $1000 for it!!! WAHOO!!!!! We estimated it was worth about $700. So, in memorial to a great car here are a few shots of my little accent just before I turned it in.

For all of you wondering what I'll be driving....I'll let you in on some big news...DOMINIC WAS PROMOTED!!!! that promotion comes with a company car so we didn't need 2 anymore! As an extra bonus, we don't have to pay insurance on 2 cars either! This just gets better and better. Now if only that stimulus check would make it's way into our account.

#109

Last weekend I had the pleasure of doing one of the toughest deliveries I will ever be a part of. I realize this statement seems like a contradiction, but I really feel lucky to have been chosen by this family to be with them through such a difficult situation. After doing many deliveries some become forgetable, although this seems hard to believe it's true, and this delivery will be one I remember forever. So to the family, I wish you tears of happiness the next time around and I hope everyone is so lucky to find a love like the one you share.

Some people don't listen.

As I've been with this practice longer I've started having repeat patients...I still refuse to 'give out my card' which means the hospital can contact me NO MATTER whether I'm on call or not. I have one patient in particular who keeps telling me she'll refuse to push if it's not me...I've tried telling her that isn't the way this office works and she just ignores me...LADY, I'm not going to wake up from my beauty sleep if I'm on on call, I have a life. I feel like planning a vacation just so I have an excuse. UHHHHHH
On a better note, Dominic is in line to be promoted at his office, the one only a mile from our place, as soon as his current boss leaves for Nevada. Problem is her house is a short sale which means this could be a while...Come on lady we really need that company car!