A HypnoBirthing announcement--Meara & Mike

Meara & Mike took my Thursday night classes in April/May 2010.

They had originally planned to birth their baby at Scripps Encinitas Hospital with Dr. Biter, but when Scripps suspended him, they decided to have a homebirth with Jamin Sylvada & have Dr. Biter be their unpaid doula. They also had the assistance of labor doula, Linda Goldsmith.

Here is the birth announcement for their baby. Meara promised to write up her birth story soon.

At 4:03am on Friday, May 21st, Sylvie Ines was born at home. She weighed a whopping 9lbs and measured 21 inches long... She's all leg, just like her big sister Elsa! It was an amazing experience, although it all happened much faster than we ever could have imagined. Our midwife arrived just 8 minutes before Sylvie made her grand entrance. My water broke at 3:25am, the midwife arrived at 3:55am, and Sylve was born at 4:03am. For a moment I thought Mike might have to deliver our daughter on the bathroom floor! My OB and our doula arrived after Sylvie had already been placed on my chest. Elsa slept through it all and wandered into our room at 7:15 am, after everyone had tidied and gone home, to find us in bed with her baby sister! What a magical moment... I think everything happened just as it was meant to.

It all happened so fast that I didn't really get to get into my hypno-zone, but I feel tremendously successful in terms of feeling really empowered and unafraid and this time I didn't push--just breathed my baby down and out and in record time! I'll share the full story in the next few days some time. I really do feel like our time with you helped in many ways.

With love,
Meara, Mike, Elsa, & Sylvie

For more info:

San Diego Midwive, Inc
LaShel Montgomery, CPM 760-213-7384
Jamin Sylvada, LM 760-809-9396
www.sandiegomidwife.com

Labor doula: Linda Goldsmith 760-815-3852

Going Home

Mr. T and I are finally going home. We are getting on a plane and returning to life in Marrakech. We have been away for 6 weeks, staying at my parents and now it's time to go home.

I have so many mixed emotions about it. The last time I was in our house, in our bedroom, I was crying my eyes out and in shock. When I left it was under such intense sorrow, I'm scared those feelings will come back when I get home. So it is with a knot in my stomach that I prepare to head home. Perhaps instead of dwelling on my anxieties I should think of all the things I am looking forward to about going home.

1. Seeing my cats, Mika & Tigerlily - and Tigerlily's new kittens, who are 1 month old now.

2. Being in the hot sunshine.

3. The palm trees.

4. Seeing all my friends again. Especially lunch and drinks with my girlfriends.

5. Getting started on building our house.

Hmm, that's a good list. *Smiling*

It's time for life to get back to normal (whatever that is). It's time for me to get back into life's rhythm. But the one thing I am really really really not looking forward to is going back to work!!! I suppose I have to sometime and perhaps it will actually do me good. Better go now and finish off my packing...

My First .

Not since I was 12 years old have I gone a month without the punctual arrival of Aunt Flo. But since my pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage I hadn't had a visit from AF since January. Now she's back. A very welcome visitor, for a change.

It's a weird feeling. First it's exhausting. I keep falling asleep. I have no energy and so I am just riding this wave out - getting over this pregnancy sometimes seems to be never ending! Secondly it's the beginning of the whole TTC palaver again. Something which I obviously want more than anything and there is no way I won't be TTC, but at the same time I am nervous too. When I got pg I thought yay, no more planned perfectly-timed sex, just sex for fun. No more crying when AF turns up and feeling down in the dumps all day, no more aching and feeling left out in the cold as the pregnancy and birth announcements roll in. But. I am back to step one. Back to getting egg and sperm to meet.

I have to admit I was totally and utterly naive and blissfully ignorant when I got pregnant. I HAD read all the pregnancy and birthing books (I had two years of TTC to get ready for this) but I still believed that once conception had actually happened then I would be fine. A miscarriage was definitely NOT on the cards for me. Now of course I know differently.

So. First step one. I know I will be very very upset if I don't get a BFP in the first few months. Everyone keeps telling me how quickly they or a friend or a friend of a friend got pg after a miscarriage - I am pinning so much hope on these rapid post-miscarriage pregnancies. I am trying to steel myself for another long journey but I just shudder when I think about it. So let's just not, okay? So let's just say for argument's sake that Mr.T's sperm are fine and we don't need to do another IUI. I reach step two. Egg and sperm have met. Implantation occurs, I POAS and get my BFP. Then I will be nervous as all hell. Every twinge, every ache. Mr. T is going to be a right pain in the ass - i say that with love. We are going to have to come up with some sort of strategy to get through it as when I reach step two it will all be about getting to that 3rd month and the scan. Head spinning anguish.

I always had in my mind that I would be one cool relaxed mama, just groovin' along with pregnancy and baby stuff (when it eventually happened) - I guess reality had a strong cup of triple espresso waiting for my delusional caffeine-free self. And so the TTC countdown begins again. Hmm feels familiar. Kinda like going back to school after the holidays...

Phew

Just a quick post. I had my final post D & C check-up and scan yesterday. I was so nervous going in. Last time we were there the doc had scanned me and she thought she saw a rather large fibroid protruding into my uterus, just above where the placenta was. As a result it was twisting my uterus into a weird shape.

But. Thank God. There is no fibroid. My uterus has gone back to its pre-pregnancy shape and everything looked absolutely fine. No boomerangs. Or bananas. Or anything else weirdly V-shaped. Lining was good. I have the all clear. Phew.

The TTC wagon will be swinging by soon. I guess all I need to do is jump on. Hmmm not sure how I feel about being on that wagon again.

My Island Time

I'm back and a whole new woman!

Island life really made me whole again.

The warm turquoise waters washed away my emptiness.

With every footstep the powdery white sand softened the ache.

The wind rustling through the leaves of the palm trees soothed my soul and seemed to whisper 'Everything is gonna be alright.'

But it was underwater where my heart was really healed and I remembered how beautiful the world still is and that there is so much to be thankful for....

The critically endangered hawksbill turtle. It was just him and me for a full 15 minutes swimming around the reef until he took a few gulps of air and disappeared into the deep blue below.

An ethereal eagle ray glided past us - its beauty and grace were really a sight to behold.

White tip reef sharks. The first time I have ever seen them. At first it was just a baby one. And then a fully grown adult. Your heart beats a little faster and the excitement is a rush.

Many black tip reef sharks. At one point on the reef Mr. T and I saw four of them swimming together we just stopped and stared in awe - just exhilarating.

And the dolphins... ah the dolphins... they jumped, spun and splashed their way into my newly-mended heart.

Thank you the Maldives!

It was just the medicine the doctor couldn't prescribe.

Bring Dr. Biter (aka Dr. Wonderful) Back!

Hi all-

Dr. Biter (aka Dr. Wonderful) has been suspended from delivering babies from Scripps Encinitas as of Friday at 5 pm. His patients are being told by the hospital to show up in labor & have one of the on-call OBs attend their birth.

Scripps is supposed to be one of the most mother-baby-friendly hospitals in town. How can they get away with taking away women's right to have their care provider attend their birth at the hospital they want to birth at?!?

Dr. Biter has a back up plan & has contacted the perinatologist group at Sharp Mary Birch. They have agreed to transfer his patients to their care while in labor & he will attend their births as an unpaid doula. This is the level of commitment this man has to his patients.

Scripps will not provide an answer as to why he was suspended. The last birth Dr. Biter attended was Friday morning. The birth required a c-section & when the c-section was being done, meconium was found in the amniotic fluid. No meconium was found prior to the c-section. According to the parents, the baby's Apgar score at birth was a 7 and then a 9. She gave a good cry but then needed respiratory assistance. The baby was taken to the NICU, but 3 days after her birth, she is already breathing on her own & eating on her own. The parents have no complaints against Dr. Biter & specifically chose him to attend the birth of their 1st baby because they did their research & wanted a doctor that would be present & would support their choices. The parents are shocked & distraught that something so drastic as suspending him would possibly be related to the birth of their little girl.

Please come support Dr. Biter, natural birth & a woman's right to choose where to birth & who to birth with.

Where: Scripps Encinitas hospital 354 Santa Fe Dr. Encinitas, 92024
When: Friday, May 14th from 1:30-3:30
Why: We want Dr. Biter reinstated immediately so his patients can have continuity of care & so they can be reassured that they can have the birth experience they want.
Who: You! Bring your family, your friends & neighbors! We want a really large group of protestors. The more the better!

Ricki Lake, documentary-maker, author & actress, will be there as will Anna Getty, author, actress & great-granddaughter of John Paul Getty I. Possibly more celebrities will be attending in support of Dr. Biter.

Wear green to unify the group & bring signs that say:
This is not Mother-Baby Friendly!
Bring Back Dr. Biter!
Bring Biter Back!
Hey Chief of Staff! Bring Biter Back!

If you can't make it to this event, we will be holding mini-rallies Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday in front of the hospital from 9-11 am. Feel free to bring your children!

If you can't make it to any of these events, please show your support by writing on your car windows: Bring Dr. Biter Back!
The more people see this & ask questions, the better.

Thanks so much for any support you can provide.

If you're on Facebook, please join the I love Dr. Biter fan page for up-to-date info & RSVP to the event so we have a good head count.

If you're not on Facebook, please visit www.bringbiterback.blogspot.com or www.bringbiterback.com for updates.

Please share this information with anyone you think can help support our efforts to get Dr. Biter back to doing what he does best--supporting women & their partners to have the best birth experience they can have.

Hope to see you at some of the events!

Carol Yeh-Garner
www.AWellLivedLife.Net

A Labor & Delivery Nurse's HypnoBirthing experience

Gail & Matt took my HypnoBirthing classes at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center on Tuesdays starting in April 2009. She is a Labor & Delivery Nurse at Sharp Mary Birch. She's seen every intervention used at Sharp Mary Birch, some as standard procedures for laboring moms & some for special circumstances. She knew that when she was pregnant that she wanted a natural birth & that she didn't want interventions for her birth. She chose to birth with Dr. Biter & at Scripps Encinitas.

Here is her birth story:

Hi Carol--

I took your suggestions for Evening Primrose, acupuncture, and prenatal massage last week and started having surges the same day as my acupuncture and prenatal massage treatments at Indigo Dragon. That was Thursday. I had surges that lasted the whole day on 8/20 until 9 pm and then they subsided and I had the best night's sleep I'd had in about a month. The surges started up again on 8/21 after breakfast and continued until after my appointment with Dr. Biter. I had surges the entire time even when he checked my cervix and found that I was dilated to 1.5 cm, completely effaced and the baby was low at -1 station. Dr. Biter offered to strip my membranes which I declined. Then he said I'd probably go into labor very soon and said that he'd see me either that night or sometime over the weekend. I laughed and said that I'd probably see him at my next appointment which was scheduled for Monday.

The surges stopped as soon I left the office and my husband and I went out for dinner with his parents. I settled in for bed around 9 pm but couldn't sleep because my little one was kicking me hard all night.

Around 5 am, the surges started again but this time they felt different. I tried to use my breathing and visualization but it was very difficult. I used the ball, a bath, and took a shower to cope with the contractions. In the end, moaning and making noise distracted me. At 7 am, the surges were really strong coming about every 2-3 minutes and I couldn't talk through them. We started preparing to leave for the hospital and finally left at 9 am.

We got to the hospital at 9:30, got into the shower around 10 am. The nurse checked my cervix when we got there and I was 3 cm dilated. I started seriously thinking about an epidural. My nurse, knowing that I was using HypnoBirthing techniques, called Dr. Biter and he came in to talk me through labor. He asked me to get into the shower and "ride the waves one at a time". That visualization worked and I stayed in the shower for about 1 hour. He came back when I got out of the shower and checked me and found that I was 8 cm. 1 hour later, I was ready to start pushing. I'd been feeling the urge to breath my baby down since 5 am so this was great.

I pushed my baby out for 53 minutes. We didn't know the sex of the baby until she was out. Delilah Rose was born at 12:53 on August 22. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. She was very alert and calm. She's absolutely adorable and we're totally in love.

Thanks for the class. It really helped us achieve a non-medicated and calm birth which is what we wanted.

Gail and Matt (Tuesday class in April/May 2009)
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Thank you Gail & Matt for sharing your birth story! I think it's really great that you were able to have the non-medicated, calm birth that you wanted. You had a lot of visuals to "let go" from being a labor & delivery nurse! I think it's important for future HypnoBirthing moms to read your story, knowing that you still made noises, but not out of discomfort, but rather to distract yourself. So many moms want their birth to look like the videos we watch in class, but sometimes you need to make noise to release all of the energy you're feeling inside or like in your case, to distract yourself.

Happy early 1st birthday to Delilah Rose!

All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com