Free showing of Business of Being Born!!!

Date: February 28th at 7:00pm
Location: Salt Lake Community College Larry H Miller Campus
9750 S 300 W Sandy, UT 84070
Cost: Free, registration required as seats are limited
To register contact our office at (801) 565-3755

Dr. Joseph Humpherys
Medical Director
Healing Solutions Pediatric Center
Phone: (801) 565-3755 Fax: (801) 565-7171
www.healingpediatrics.com

Silly little birth story!

I just thought this was too cute to not share!

The "Middle Wife" by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it,they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, andI'm going to tell you about his birthday.""First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord."She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh,Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)"My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino 's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this." (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)"And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!" (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands mimingwater flowing away. It was too much!) "Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, so there must be a lot of toys inside there."Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat.I'm sure I applauded the loudest.

Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another "Middle Wife" comes along. Now you have two choices...laugh and close this page or pass this along to some one else to spread the laughs. I know what I did!!!

Hypnobabies

I have recently had the priveledge of attending a Hypnobabies class taught by Laura Lund in Provo. It has been an amazing experience for me. I actually attended and used hypnobirthing with my last child and found it to be effective but lacking somehow.

As I have attended Hypnobabies I have found what that missing link is! Hypnobabies not only teaches deep relaxation, but also hypno anesthesia and talks directly about interventions and their necessities (or lack there of). Had I taken hypnobabies with my last child I KNOW that I would have had a completely different birthing experience. While hypnobirthing worked for me to an extent, it did not prepare me for the interventions I was faced with and even chose for my last birth.

I am very excited to attend births with hypno mommies. I know that the class they are taken gives them the tools to choose the birth that is ideal for them.

Why I chose to birth unmedicated!

I thought that it might be fun to let others know how I came to have babies without epidurals. When I became pregnant with my first son, my husband and I approached birth completely unprepared. We attended a short class at the hospital and learned about the process of birth, but we had no clues about interventions, or what to ACTUALLY expect from the labor process. When I woke up one bright May morning and realized that my "water had broke" I paced around the house completely dismayed, I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to do. After cleaning and packing I woke up my husband and told him that we might need to go to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 7:30 in the morning and it was determined that my water had indeed broke! We were quickly admitted to a labor room and left alone. We remained in that room for 4 hours with not so much as a peak from a nurse or my CNM. Eventually the contractions became very intense and not knowing what was to come, I pushed on the call light and said "Uh... this hurts." They sent in the anesthesiologist to administer my epidural. I would love to thank that anesthesiologist for doing such a HORRIBLE job! The placement was very not typical and after 45 minutes of his prodding I was left with an epidural, however, I had accidentally been given a spinal as well. I was completely limp from the waste down. When he was finally finished it was determined that I was complete! So there I sat... waiting to have enough feeling to push out my son. The staff suggested I take a nap! 2 hours passed and they finally decided that I should try to push. About an hour and a half later I had my son. Completely pain free, and completely empty. It was so strange. Here was this beautiful baby who had apparently come from my own body, but I felt nothing.

In October of that year, just 5 months after my son was born, I realized that I was pregnant AGAIN!! I decided to go to the same midwife practice where I mentioned that I wasn't sure if I wanted an epidural this time. My pregnancy was a fun emotional roller coaster for us all and when it was finally time to deliver my son an angel walked through the doors to attend us. She looked in my chart and read that somewhere along the way I had said that I wanted to try and go "unmedicated". That was all she needed and the birthing began. She was like a doula, never left my side! She helped me change positions, use the birth ball, get in the tub, breath, dance, whatever was comfortable. I never asked for medication and SHE NEVER OFFERED THEM!! I knew that if I asked she would be HAPPY to get anesthesia there immediately... but I also KNEW that she knew I could do it! It was an amazing and exhilarating experience. When my second son was born it was the most surreal moment of my life. I had birthed my baby all by myself. No IV, not strapped to the bed, it was as natural as I could imagine birth ever being! It was beautiful!

I have since given birth another beautiful son... 5 years after my second son was born. The thought of an epidural never crossed my mind. I had gained great faith in my body and the birthing process (and so had my husband) from experiencing it in all it's glory. I also chose to take a hypnobirthing course for this birth. The class taught me so much about relaxation and I delivered my third son after a 3.5 hour labor which was augmented by pitocin due to an impatient care provider. The experience was very exilerating however, I missed the support I had recieved from my previous midwife. Her belief in me and determination to help me achieve my goal is what got me through the previous labor, and it gave me the strength to know that I could do it the 3rd time around.

I believe in birth! I know that woman are strong. Birth can be hard, there's no question about that, but a lot of things we do in life are hard. It is the hardest challenges that reap the greatest rewards, and hey, I'm always up for a challenge!