This story just in from MFM placement student Emily Welch.
It’s true, I’m officially a baby catcher. I delivered my first baby yesterday, June 2nd, at 1:11 am. This is how the story goes: Maria Luisa, who isn’t due for another three weeks (but Odilia predicted she would go early) called Odilia with contractions. When we got to Maria Luisa and Jacobo’s house, Maria Luisa was so calm and not making a single noise during contractions. Her labor was almost the opposite of Petronila’s. I provided labor support, showing her moves to do on the bed and standing to speed up the process. Odilia was still numb from the injection she had received that afternoon, so I did a lot of the demonstrating and physical support. I loved being more involved in this birth. When she was fully dilated around 1 am, she only pushed for a couple of minutes before the baby popped out and into my arms. It was a truly incredible moment and full of adrenaline! I wrapped it up in blankets and put it on Maria Luisa’s chest after clamping the umbilical cord and cutting it. I couldn’t believe how tough the umbilical cord was to cut through. Odilia did some feeling around and the uterus was still very large – that’s because THERE WAS ANOTHER BABY INSIDE!! All of a sudden Odilia held up two fingers to me with big eyes and told me there was a second. I couldn’t believe my luck! The mom had even gotten an ultrasound and they couldn’t tell there were two babies. What an incredible surprise to us and the family. I felt bad because Maria Luisa had to push again after she had already had one baby – but after more pushing out came a second one! Odilia caught that one because she knew it would be smaller and might not be breathing right away. The two minutes before it started crying was scary but she was a normal color and looking around curiously so I felt safe that it would start breathing quickly. After being wrapped up and put on mom’s chest, she delivered the placenta (only one) with a division in the sac and two umbilical cords. Very cool to see! Twin baby girls, what luck!! The first was born at 1:11 am and weighs 5 pounds and the second was born at 1:43 and weighs 4 pounds. And they are soo adorable. The whole family was so happy about the twins – after the birth the girls’ aunt and grandpa came in the room and were shocked there were two newborns crying. and both girls latched well and breastfed. It was the first time Odilia had ever delivered twins at home and she’s been a midwife for 15 years! So there you have it – my first birth story. Before the birth Odilia and I taught Jacobo, the dad, how to use my camera so we have some pretty awesome action shots.
