Before we begin, please know that some episodes include language that may be sensitive for some people. Thank you for joining me for another episode of the Birth Portal. My name is Connie. Today's episode is about a woman I'll call Adrienne who is having her third child under my care. I remember when we first met for our interview to see if Midafree was in fact what her and her husband wanted. I offered to meet them at Adrienne's place of work after her shift. So after a full day of clinic, I walked into the establishment, and Adrienne and Tom were ready and waiting. We talked for about 20 to 25 minutes, and they both decided that they would like the services of Mitterfree. Today's story is about the birth of their third child. I woke up the morning of her labor with the plan of being off call for the weekend and traveling north to see my family. I was texting a colleague who was covering me, saying that I would come back on call a day early if Adrian didn't go into labor. My colleague texted me back right away, as she was sitting at the home of Adrian who was in early labor, and said, Don't worry about coming back early. I knew instantly something was up, or I had already missed the birth. It was a big, beautiful full moon the night before. On my way home from a berth, I remember wondering, what will this moon bring? Early in the morning, Adrian had felt two thunks inside down low, and then a pop as her water broke. This was about thirty minutes after Tom left for work. Adrian called him right away, and he was back home excited and ready for action. But Adrian wasn't ready yet, and needed to have the house cleaned, yet the cleaning lady wasn't to arrive until the next day. Adrian said to Tom, Call Samantha and rearrange for her to come now. It was seven o'clock in the morning. Adrian said she never seen the cleaning lady work so fast before. My colleague covering my on call was at Adrian and Tom's house around nine that morning, when she and I were texting and I learned that Adrian was in early labor. I wanted to join the party, as this would be my third time attending her birth. Adrian hears me talking to the midwife, and when she realizes I'm coming, she says out loud, Bring homeopathics. The homeopathic she was referring to was colophylum and simus a fuga, which can be used to thin and ripen the cervix and encourage contractions to increase in frequency and in strength if the body's ready. When I arrived to their home, Adrien is still not contracting regularly or strongly. And when I checked her cervix, she was halfway there, already five centimeters dilated. Adrien agreed to me doing a stretch and sweep as well, which caused her to crawl away from me due to the intensity of it. Then we saw very thin macone stained fluid leaving a small amount on the pad beneath her. Maconium staining means the baby has passed dual and it's mixed with the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby. We see meconium staining in approximately 25% of the time in women that are close to their due date. Most of the time this is not a concern, but for some babies it can reach their lungs and cause an issue. We have a discussion about the meconium and the recommendation to now transfer to the hospital for the birth. Adrian decided she would try homeopathics, and if not close to having the baby in one hour, then she would agree to a transfer to the hospital. Tom began to fill the birthing pool they had rented that was set up in their living room, and Adrian began taking the homeopathics, alternating them every fifteen minutes. By her fourth dose, Adrian was contracting every three minutes. She was doing lunges on the stairs as the pains were all on her back, and these lunges can help encourage the baby to move into a better position and stop the pains in the back. Ah, she moaned as she immersed herself in the pool. She floated like a frog. Three contractions later, Adrian is sweating like crazy, but not from the water. It was now 82 degrees in the living room. We were all starting to sweat. Her moans are getting stronger, and finally, Adrian asks for sterile water injections like she had in the previous labors. Sterile water injections work extremely well at blocking the sensation of labor pains in the back, which are the worst type to experience. Women report it feels like your back is breaking in two. How it's done is the woman is on her hands and knees or leaning over a bed or chair, and we inject four areas with sterile water right around the sacrum. The sterile water is injected under the first layer of skin to make like a water blister about the size of a pea. They feel like bee stings getting them. But the next contraction, they no longer feel the back pain, just feeling the contractions in the front. And it can be effective for about an hour to an hour and a half. In my experience, it only works if the woman says the back pain is way worse than the front. I run to my vehicle to get my kit of supplies, and when I return, Adrienne says she now feels rectal pressure. A common reaction just before an unmedicated birth. And then she releases that primal sound and grunts uncontrollably on her hands and knees, with Tom leaning into her at the side of the pool. The baby's head comes to the opening of the vagina and is crowning quickly and then emerges slowly and steadily to the chin. Two minutes later, the baby is born, with mom on her hands and knees in the pool. Keeping the baby under the water, I slide the baby between her legs until Adrienne to reach down and take her baby. She reaches down and gleefully lifts up her baby girl, leans on the pool's edge, and places her baby gently between her breasts. Dad seems paralyzed, looking at mom and baby in amazement, then joins them in an embrace and tears of love. Thank you for joining me for another episode of the Birth Portal.