"My heart flows over with good words. I sing my songs to the King. My tongue writes the words of a good writer." Psalms 45:1
We found a midwife, horay!! We went with our heart and even cancelled the other appointment we had with a different midwife for a consultation because we felt like God really drew us together.
Even the secretary, Jaime, is the sweetest lady and is also a doula. She already has us down for baby play dates for when Ariella arrives into the world!
Our midwife's name is Dr. Kimata and she is the cutest thing that I've ever seen. Her energy and spirit are so wonderfully positive. I don't think anyone at her office wears a bra (freedom!) and everyone takes their shoes off when entering the clinic so we walked around barefoot.
You can learn more about her here.
We are having a home water-birth and I am so very excited about it! Dr. Kimata will bring her portable tub to our house/condo, and she will fill it up with water in our living room. The great thing about home-birthing is that I will get to go through labor and give birth in an environment where Brent and I feel most comfortable, and afterwards, I never have to leave. Our midwife will bring all the supplies that one would need when birthing a baby, including medications, oxygen, clamps, etc. For emergencies, there is a hospital nearby.
She also sat on a work out ball during our entire appointment, except during the time she was teaching/showing me how to loosen my pelvic joints and muscles.
These exercises included:
-figure 8's
-circles
-"jiggling" the booty (yes, essentially Shakira belly dancing style!)
-pelvic rocks
-pubal coccygeal (P.C. or Kegel) muscle squeezes, with a deeper relaxation
Apparently, P.C. exercises were practiced way long before Dr. Kegel decided that he invented them and should be named after him; therefore Dr. Kimata only refers to them as P.C. exercises. :)
The way she explained this particular P.C. exercise was to put more effort on the relaxation of the muscle than of the squeeze. So pretend that you're in an elevator. If squeezing the P.C. muscle takes you to the 2nd floor, then when relaxing it, you should go back down to the ground floor, and then to the basement.
I am at almost 28 weeks, so at this stage, I need to be loosening stuff, not toning up. Since she used to teach yoga for many years, she knew to tell me that I need to be doing the opposite of what yoga has taught me to do to my bottom area. You can tone up again after the baby gets here! She explained to me that toning up the pelvic region will only work against me during labor. When I surrender my muscles to letting the baby through the birth canal, everything needs to be relaxed. I thought, goodness this makes perfect sense, why didn't I think of that! So all those exercises that I mentioned above should be done with a completely relaxed pelvic region, and with as much jiggling as possible. Now this is definitely where my Arab genes come handy :)
I wish I had gotten photos of us dancing in the room. Brent was cracking up.
Brent asked her to give him some tips on what he is supposed to do while I am in labor. I wrote a post about Brent's role in the birth here if you would like to read it.
Her answer was so simple. She said, "Become her nurse, not her doctor." She told him that his main duty is to just watch a great miracle occur. Basically, get me things that I need, water, food, relaxation. Don't ask questions unless it is absolutely necessary. Don't have too many clocks around the house so we're not constantly watching time. Surrender to God, and let Him work the miracle of what our female bodies were meant to do.
She taught us how to palpate for the baby's position. Brent already knew how to do this but I think he always gets fearful that he's putting too much pressure on my tummy so he shies away from it. This time, we all got to feel her little head which is in the down position, and her little hands and feets. Her position was R.O.A.- right occiput anterior. Meaning that her head is down, facing my hip, with her body kind of twisted towards my right side. She was squirming all over the place when we were feeling for her, it was such a sweet moment!
What I love most about all this is the time that Brent and I got to spend getting to know the person in charge of making sure me and our baby are both healthy. Even in less than 3 months, Dr. Kimata, Brent, and I will really get to know each other. This is so vital because some decisions that she will make will be based on what she knows about me and my personality. Especially since every one is different and giving birth is something so personal to each and every one of those individual women.
She told us a story about a momma who gave birth yesterday. She had been in labor for about 4-6 hours, and at this point her surges were getting so strong that the momma was sure that she was about to go into the transition phase. Well when Dr. Kimata checked her, she found her to be only 5 cm dilated. She didn't tell her the exact number because this momma was super Type A personality, so instead she said something general like "you're almost there" and provided her with more words of encouragement. She knew that if she would have told her that she was "only" 5 cm dilated that the momma might have mentally exhausted herself. The momma also wanted to get in the tub at this time. Dr. Kimata said that although normally she doesn't let moms get in the tub until they're in the transition phase, she knew the tub would probably really help this momma out. As soon as she got in the tub, she went from 5 cm to 10 cm, transitioned, and actively pushed her baby out in 30 minutes! Amazing, aye!
This is why building that relationship is so important!
I am so giddy right now.
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that not only is our midwife super knowledgeable, she is also a naturopathic doctor.
I told her I loved her the first time I met her because I firmly believe that it's never "too soon" to tell someone you love them when you really do!
"If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking."Happy living y'all.
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