Under the Weather but On Top of the World

This week was filled with challenges and joys.

Most of the children have been in various overlapping stages of a nasty respiratory virus which includes runny noses, coughing, head and body aches, fevers up to 103, lost appetite, lost sleep, and lots of whining/crying/sniveling. We have run through an unusual amount of homeopathic, herbal and allopathic cold remedies.

Gavin is the only one of the children to have avoided the virus up to this point. Bryan had his turn with it last weekend and I am living on Echinacea Elder tea and Vitamin C in hopes of warding off the bad bugs. We haven't accomplished much in the way of school this week, but the children have been fed and the house is clean, except for the drifts of tissues in the living room.

The wonderful part of the week included the birth of baby Jonah! His birth was my first as a primary-under-supervision (aka intern) midwife. It went fairly smoothly with just a bit too much bleeding while waiting for the placenta to detach. I must say it was a real confidence booster to be able to handle that situation quickly and efficiently. My lovely, supervising midwife was there, ready to step in if needed. Hmmm. All this time studying and apprenticing seems to be paying off.

There is still a long road ahead- I need to serve many more women to finish my training but as of today here are my numbers:

Births I have attended as
A participant: 6 (in chronological order: Mara, Gavin, Sirena, Madelyn, Sarah and Mason)
An observer: 5
A doula: 40
The apprentice or assistant: 19
The primary: 1

I have been the baby-catcher for 5 of these precious births. My smallest catch weighed in at 5 lbs 15 oz and the biggest "little" guy tipped the scales at 11 lbs 1 oz.

Boys: 36
Girls: 32

Small numbers, to be sure, but I have worked hard to get even these numbers and I am proud of them as a good start.

Anyone need a midwife? Have birth bag, will travel.