No Longer Strangers

Not too long ago I attended a birth for a mom I had never met before. This happens occasionally. In fact, some of my favorite births (where we bond the most) I have not met them before. Funny how life goes like that. This particular birth the mother was expecting a certain woman to be at her birth who was not able to be present. She did not know this woman would not be present. We assessed her and admitted her into labor. She was well into labor when she came in. I came in and out of the room quietly without using many words. A word here and there of encouragement. I explained that we were not telling her what to do because she was doing exactly what we would tell her to do. You are doing perfect and making good progress. She nodded. She was very tired and had not slept the night before. Out of the tub. I squatted with her for a contraction. She breathes slowly letting the contraction build, relaxing into it. She leaned her head on my shoulder. I fixed her hair because she was hot and her hair was falling down. She was getting more tired. Would you like us to break your water? Yes. One hour later a baby girl born in the water. Mom cried. We took care of baby and eventually got her out of the water and onto Dad. I looked at the mother with a smile in my eyes and told her congratulations. She looked at me her eyes smiling as well and thanked me. When the time came for them to go home, she came up to me and joked with a smile, "Nice to meet you, Ashley." We gave each other a big hug and I said, "you too. It was an honor."

Sunday Afternoon

What a beautiful day out even though it is a bit cold. I wanted to take advantage of this and go on a walk. Chrissy and I were planning on going out to one of the trails in the late afternoon. So, I decided against my walk down to the library to return some cds. Instead, I filled my almost empty tank with gas and then drove to the library to drop off the cds. As I walked back to my car, I could not resist a walk around the block while I called Frederick on the phone. It was just too pretty out. So, I walked around downtown talking on the phone to him. And what do you know that I came across except for a bicycle race! Yeah, even though I am not a bike race fan or anything, it was something different. There were LOTS of bikers around. There they came over and over mostly riding in groups. The roads were blocked off for the race and there was a big "START/FINISH" sign. Pretty cool. I watched a few rounds then walked back to my car.

When Chrissy got here, we picked a trail off 8th Avenue in the woods. It was great to catch up. Afterward, we decided upon Panera instead of checking out the superbowl party. We enjoyed some soup and salad (me) or sandwich (her). It was nummy. Now she is on the road back to Ocala and I am about to enjoy some good reading. A nice sunday afternoon.