First Birth

Because doulas are pretty much unheard of in Perryton, I scheduled an informational meeting with our hospital administration and director of nurses this past Monday. The meeting went well. I would say they were receptive, but skeptical. I also had my first prenatal meeting with the mom and dad last Thursday, so they had a better idea of what we were getting into. We planned a second meeting to go over comfort measures, etc...but that turned into a "working meeting" when mom went into labor on Wednesday - a full three weeks before her due date.

I got a call at 1:10 a.m. on Wednesday morning from the dad saying they were on the way to the hospital. So I jumped in my clothes and grabbed my doula books / bag and headed to the hospital. Of course, my bag wasn't packed, and I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked, because I thought we probably had at least another week. But, we went with it!

Moms labor was long and each time we entered a new phase, I would reference my materials, and we would work through her contractions. We all knew ahead of time that this would be a "training" birth, to kind of help me get my bearings. I really was pleased with how we were able to work together. And, a healthy baby boy was born after 14 hours of labor.

I learned a lot from this birth, but more importantly, I was honored to be a part of such an important part of a family's life. JOY!