One of the joyous things being a nurse-midwife can have is when the parents name their baby after caregiver's name. I felt so privileged and honored when I learned that my patient decided to name her baby after me. I did asked them many times though if they are really sure of it. They were 100% sure. The baby is very cute like me lol... She is super cute but she had a hip dislocation and was referred to the doctor for it.
During this holiday seasons, I am reminded of the twin babies that I delivered 7 years ago. I wonder how they are doing. I hope they grew up well and in good health. It was a surprise twins. Actually, the day before the patient was in labor I did her prenatal exams and found out that her fundic height is much larger than her Age of Gestation. I referred her for an ultrasound to confirm my suspicion. Due to lack of financial resources, she did not have one. So when she came in labor, I thought that she only has one big baby inside her. She denied to have history of twins in her or her husband's family. I was so surprised when the baby came out very small. I suddenly looked at the tummy, it was still very big. So I did an IE and there was another baby. The second baby came out after 20 minutes. We did resuscitated them both but they recovered very well. To God be the glory. Everything went well.
This was one of the days when we had no patients. We do crazy things. Sometimes we pretend to be patients or patients' husbands. These are my colleagues doing synchronized- pushing on supported squatting. I really love them. They are so great!
After a long night shift, nurses and midwives got hungry after delivering babies. We usually treat ourselves with noodles! It is so much fun eating noodles early in the morning when we have time to eat. There are many nights that we can't even sit for a minute or two because we are busy catching the miracles of life.
When we got a chance to sleep we sleep when there are no laboring patients. It is just very seldom we got this chance though. Mostly we are awake during our night shift. Sometimes I am wondering why babies loves to come out to this world during night time. If we could just schedule them when to come out, life would have been easier. It is okay though because the moment baby comes out, all of the doctor's, nurses' and midwives' tiredness and muscles pains will be gone. Babies are so amazing, it seems like they bring magic to the world. They melt hearts.
Overall growth is rapid this month and the baby grows as much as a half pound per week. At eight months of pregnancy, the baby may weigh 4 to 6 pounds and is gaining about half a pound per week. Layers of fat are pilling under her skin. Soon she will turn head down in preparation for her coming birth.
Oh, I could still remember this shift. Only three of us working on 24- hour shift. Only two of us were catching the babies because the the other midwife had a severe back pain. It felt like we were catching babies forever one after the other as in non-stop. It was very exhausting but very fulfilling. Actually there were 10 laboring patients that came in but only 8 delivered. The two other patients were about to deliver their babies but we cannot handle it anymore, so the the people who were on next shift got on shift earlier than usual. After 30 minutes both of the patients delivered. Wow! that was crazy and very hard. I think I slept for 24 hours after that shift.
Aside from delivering babies, we also do immunization to the babies. It is not easy on our part to inject them but it is our job to do it. We just have to remember that it is for their protection. Even though newborns have protection from their mother and from the breast milk, both are only temporary. At birth the baby should be injected with Hepa B vaccine. The next dose will be after 4 weeks. In the Philippines setting, the baby should be given a BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) a vaccination to protect the baby from Tuberculosis. It will be given once at 0-6 months but the earlier the better. OPV (oral polio vaccine) will be given at 6 weeks, the same with DPT(Diptheria, Pertusis, Tetanus). Then at 9 months they will be given MMR(measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.
Yes, we are crazy. Very obvious that this time we do not have patients in labor. My friend and I have fun doing crazy things in the birth room like checking each others heart rate. We are very serious and professional though when we have patients. But sometimes we do things that makes the laboring patients laugh. I think it is also helpful to do it sometimes. We know when to throw jokes and when not to. As it is said that laughter is the best medicine.
When I tell the laboring patient about their labor progress, I am very excited to tell them that they are already 10 cm. Mostly, they are so relieved and more excited than the midwives. 10 cm cervical dilation is the time that the patient will push her baby out. Pushing before 10 cms will make the cervix swell making it hard to open more so that the baby's head can pass through the opening. When the cervix swell it make the labor longer and more painful.
A dramatization of what the facial expression of a laboring woman who is told that her cervix still 1 cm open. Only 1 cm dilated in 4 hours of labor. Usually, when the pregnant woman who is not in labor yet her cervix is closed. Cervix is the part of the uterus that is serves as the first passage way of the baby to come out. As the labor progresses it will dilate more and more to 10 cms before the patient will push her baby out.
You baby is coat with fine downy hair called “lanugo” and comes in about 6 inches in length and 6 to 7 ounces.
Did you know that on the 2nd month you can see the the fetus can be seen as a human being already? The second month of fetal development the heart starts beating at 6 weeks, all other organs starts to develop. Facial bones, eyes, and eye color, and fingers and toes start forming.
In my profession, I found out that there are still many people don't know that life begins at fertilization period. They thought that life begins when the baby kicks in the womb. Fertilization is the time when the sperm and egg cell met. It is the beginning of life process. It is the beginning of the miracle of life.
