Oops, sorry!

I completely forgot to update you all. Der.

Joshua James was born at 7:27pm on August 20, 2008. He was born at home, in the water, directly into his father's hands. I ended up with a third degree tear and a bit of bleeding, so I had to take an ambulance ride to the hospital, but everything worked out well in the end. I guess it turns out I'm a bleeder. Oh well.

Wondering why I tore? Here's a few reasons:

Josh was 10lbs. even, 21.5" long, with a 15" head. Big guy! Gabe was only 8lbs. 5oz., and he was 1/4" longer.

I will post pictures of Joshua and my project when I get time -- with the two guys finding time is kind of hard. Go figure. :-P

Adios, Ticker!

Today's the day! I'm far enough along that I'm cleared for homebirth. Woooo! That means, if I go into labor right now I don't have to go anywhere. Not that I want to go in labor right now, no way. Uh-uh. We still have way too much to do. Most of our supplies are gathered and we're picking up the Aquadoula on Saturday, but we're just not.ready.

That also means I'm removing the ticker from this blog. The baby will come when he's ready, so don't worry about how many weeks I am. I'll have the baby by mid-September. That's all you need to know. :-)

Everything is still going great. I'm measuring right on target, my blood pressure is great, and I have virtually no swelling. My GBS test came back negative (!!!) and my bloodwork was good. The only problem is I'm achy, crampy, and SORE. Ugh. None of it's a bad sign or anything, it just sucks.


I also have a project update for you. I haven't done a lot on it lately. We all had a stomach flu and then Matt was gone on his annual fishing trip for a week. I'm tired! Here's what it looks like now:


And here's the latest update (it's all Amy's clan!):


26. AmyLou -- Amy is awesome. She's a wonderful friend. She's also throwing me a mother's blessing party in a week. It's going to be so great. So, so great. :-)

27. Schenley

28. Jacob

29. Nicol

30. Shari

Thanks guys! Your block makes me smile.

Also, if there are any of you out there who still want to contribute yarn, now is the time. There's not much more time before the baby comes! If you want your section to be at least one complete circle, you should probably send 7-8 yards or meters rather than 3-5. It's getting pretty wide around.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed so far. It warms my heart to see all the different yarns working together. Love it!

An Updated Picture!

Here you go, the Matchbox van is for scale. :-) If I were to take it off the needles, it would be a big circle with a diameter of about 30". Still too small to be anything, but much bigger than it used to be. Right now I'm all out of contributor yarn, so I think I'll just go around and around with the main yarn until I get any more (if I get any more, that is). I haven't been to the Post Office since Monday, so if you sent something in very recently it may be waiting for me in the box.

Here's a close-up with the labels:

(click for a bigger picture in a new window)

17. Pam of teh interwebz :-)

18. Mona & Sara. Mona's one of my 76-er cousins, there were four of us born in 1976. Mona and Sara have a brand new baby girl, so everyone send out huge congrats to them. Rumor has it I'm going to get to squish her next week. I.can't.wait. Oh, and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mona today, too.

19. Shosh. Shosh is planning a VBAC very soon so she need some GO SHOSH!'s GO SHOSH!

20. Kathy. Matt's aunt and a wonderful woman. We love Kathy.

21. Rhea. Another mom of a Gabriel. :-)

22. Jos. Jos's yarn is all crazy and colorful, just like Jos. This yarn was really fun to knit in.

23. Gina & Michelle. Gina's also a 76-er, and it's also her birthday today. Happy birthday Gina!

24. Christina. I miss Christina. Move back!

25. Angela. Another great interwebz friend. Angela, you're a sweetheart.


So there it is. That's everyone. If you're still thinking about sending in yarn I would suggest you do it SOON. I'm 33 weeks today, which means time is ticking away. This Sunday we have a "get organized" home visit with the entire birth team and our home birth supply box is getting filled with all the necessities. We only have a few things left to get, including getting all the baby stuff out of the attic.

Time flies man, time flies.

Belly Picture at 32 weeks

I've been busy being exhausted and cranky, so I haven't updated in a while. I took a little break on my project while I rushed to finish some baby gifts for friends, but hope to have an update for you this week with a new picture.

While you're waiting, here's my huge belly at 32 weeks. This was right before Matt and I went out to celebrate our anniversary a little early:

What a bargain!

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1779338,00.html

For only an extra $15,000 out of pocket, you can now get a doctor to act like a midwife. All of the "special treatment" practices (save the massage) are part of what you normally expect from a homebirth midwife -- at a fraction of the cost.

The world is CRAZY.

Speaking of great care, we had a prenatal yesterday morning. Yes, that would be a visit on Sunday morning. Everything looks great. All tests on me (urine, bp, etc.) are fantastic. We've turned in our Aquadoula contract and have ordered the kit of supplies for the birth.

Baby boy is doing fantastic. He's still measuring big, he's going to be tall like his brother -- maybe taller. He's happy and active, even putting on a nice kicking show for everyone. We have our next visit in two weeks. The third trimester is in full-effect and we're racing toward the finish line.

I hope to have an updated project picture tomorrow night. :-)

A Picture!

It's the end of the term for my students so I've been really busy tutoring. Working most nights of the week means when I get home, I want to sleep. That means I've made slower progress on my project. BUT, I do have an update for you:

(As always, click to get a bigger version)

Here's the list of wonderful people in this update:

13. Pam (Gabe's Nana Pam). Pam also has two boys, so she's a good resource about what's to come. . . .

14. Dan, Rosey, and Cameron. There are three different colorways here, though I'm not exactly sure which belongs to who. I guess I could ask. :-P

14. Fred (aka, Capt. Tuna). Matt's dad did something really special. He found some yarn that belonged to Matt's mom. This was a rough section for me, it took a while because there were a lot of tears. Thank you Fred, you really made this part special.

15. Amazing Rhonda. Rhonda was an incredible source of comfort and support after Gabe was born. She went out of her way to help me, and she's someone I love dearly.

16. Lindsey and Eva. Sorry this is kind of curly. I need to switch to a bigger cable needle, so everything is getting pulled funny. I love the green ribbon that Eva picked out. You'll get a better view of their section after I get some more rows knitted.

I still have a bit of yarn to work in. Pam, Mona, Kathy, Shosh, and Rhea are in line next. Hopefully things will settle a bit so I'm not so beat at the end of the day and can get more done.

The pregnancy is coming along fine. I'm feeling the 3rd trimester slow-down. I catch myself getting frustrated for being so tired and slow, but then I have to remind myself that this is par for the course. There's not much pregnancy left, which is so hard to believe. This Sunday will be our first "every other week" prenatal visit. :-O

Belly Pictures, sorta

Gabe and I made banana nut bread this afternoon and Matt got a couple pictures. You can kind of see my belly, so we'll call these 27ish week pictures. ;-)

Oh, and Gabe is going to be an excellent cook. Most definitely.

My Brave Little Guy

Gabe slipped and fell at the playground yesterday morning and got a nasty gash on his forehead. He and Matt were giving me some time to myself on Mother's Day, so Matt was there all by himself at the time. Poor guys. Matt jumped into action and took excellent care of little Gabe. I met them at the urgent care center and they rejected us and our son with a cut on his forehead down to the bone because of our insurance. Grrr! [insert rant #37 about the heath care system in this country]

We ended up driving all the way down to Children's Hospital, where Gabe got excellent care. They really are wonderful there. Gabe was in great spirits and handled everything like a champ. He's all sewn up now and barely notices it at all, though Matt and I are severely traumatized!

So, thank you to the wonderful staff at the Children's Hospital ER. I know it probably wasn't the most exciting part of your day, but your attentive care and kindness made a horrible situation for US a lot more bearable. Not quite enjoyable, but as close as possible.

Oh, and we have not stopped thinking about how with another boy on the way this is not likely our last experience of this sort.

In other news, we had a midwife visit yesterday afternoon and everything looks blissfully boring and great. The pregnancy is chugging along, moving faster every day. We got our contract for the Aquadoula rental, which is making things seem more real. Our next visit is in three weeks and then we switch to every two weeks after that. Can you believe it??

I haven't done much on my project this week. Matt was on travel for business most of the week and I was just too worn out at the end of the day to do much more than brush my teeth and wash my face (though I skipped the face washing most days :-P). I hope that after all the drama of yesterday, things calm down and we can get back into a more regular routine. Until the summer, that is. Hey, I'm going to enjoy our regular routine for as LONG as possible!

24 WeeksToday!

Time keeps marching on, doesn't it? I haven't updated in a while because Gabe had a cold and then I had it. Now Matt's home early from work with it. Good times.

Things are moving along fine. I'm no longer in so much pain I'm in tears, my hips and pelvis seem to be working better now. I'm so relieved, I was panicking about things just getting worse and worse as I got further along. A breather is very nice. I just have to remember to wear some shoes while I'm cooking and doing dishes on the hard floor of the kitchen. *grumble*

The blanket is coming along great. I have been thrilled to get more yarn from all around. The notes and messages that have been included have been wonderful. I can't ever tell you how much it means to me.

Here's what it looks like so far:
I'm out of yarn again so I'm stalking the post office. Here's who's been worked in since my last update:

8. Yve (who sent the most sparkly yarn all the way from England!)

9. Kathy (the one from Colorado :D )

10. Aunt Marilyn

11. My mom

12. Yuling

(Click for full-sized photo)

Every contribution is deeply special, but I have to mention Yuling. When I pulled her package out of the box I squealed right there in the post office. Yuling and I spent countless hours together in graduate school. She was my mentor and my friend. She finished her doctorate (so she's one WAY up on me!) and moved to northern California. I haven't seen her in years, and we haven't talked in ages. Seeing her package warmed my heart and made my day. Here's a lesson to you all: if there's someone you really love out there, don't be an idiot like me. Keep in touch with them!

Progress!

(click for larger photo)

It took me a while to get this thing going. I had so many problems getting this on the needles. You'd think it'd be easy, especially since I've done this type of thing many times. It wasn't. It kept slipping off, I messed up the (embarrassingly simple) pattern, I dropped needles. It took me three days to finally get it going!

Once I got it going, however, it really started moving. This is my progress up through Sunday night. That was when I ran out of contributors. I have been working in the yarn I've received in the order that they have arrived, once I got past my three guys here at home. So far this is who is worked in:

1. Matt (He actually picked out his own yarn at the store! Have I mentioned how much my husband rocks?)
2. Gabe (I picked one of my stash yarns that he always wants to carry around, close enough)
3. Rocky (Yarn that's basically the same color as his fur, again: close enough)
4. Jenny
5. Fran
6. Michele
7. Tabitha

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. I am really, really touched and am THRILLED at how it is coming out. True, it looks like a really ugly puffy hat right now, but that's because it's big enough that I need to swap out the cable for something longer. Trust me, it looks good.

I have to give a quick plug to the knitters out there. When I ordered my yarn I got a set of size 8 Harmony wood needles for my Options interchangeable set from Knit Picks. I am in LOVE with these needles. They are super pointy-sharp and smooth while still giving you the grip you'd want from wood needles. I couldn't be happier. Plus, they're really gorgeous. Now I need them in all the sizes! Plus the DPN's!

21 Weeks and All is Well

We had another prenatal visit with the "real" midwife this morning and everything is going great. The baby is doing fantastic and seems to be happy as can be. My blood pressure has dipped nicely and my insane craving for RED MEAT has settled in, so that means my blood volume is increasing nicely. Everything's just great.

Not much other news. Boring pregnancies are a gift, for sure.

As for my project, I am *this close* to getting it on the needles. I have one more i-cord tie to put on a baby gift that I won't describe, since there's a chance this little girl's mommies are going to read this blog. I'm just happy I'm going to finish on time! Too bad the OTHER part of the gift is stuck in limbo and will probably arrive after the baby. Oh well, points for trying, right?

As soon as I post this I'm going to settle into the big chair and knock out that tie, assuming my little monster doesn't cut his nap short. I hope to have pictures of the project actually on the needles tomorrow. Wish me luck!

It's here!

My yarn arrived! It's gorgeous and it's silky-soft. I can't WAIT to get started. I need to get my husband to pick something out because I want his yarn to be at the center, so I think I need to go stash diving to give him some options. I can't imagine him going to a yarn store, no way. I wonder if they sell yarn at the tackle shop? ;-)

The only problem with the yarn is I'm not the only one who loves it. I may have to sacrifice a ball . . .

My (Hopefully) Last Shadow Care Experience

I went in this morning to get a nurse to check the TB test I got on Wednesday. The nurse pointed at my arm and exclaimed, "Is THAT where they did it??"

Uh, no, that's a MOLE.

And that's the end of that chapter [tosses scarf over shoulder]

Yarn Update

So, apparently the yarn I ordered is on permanent backorder. :S The other colors I liked are gone, too. Curses!

I was able to get another yarn, it's similar to a yarn I used for my nephew's baby blanket two years ago, so I know it's very nice. It's a 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal mixture. I've used the sport weight version before, but ordered the worsted weight for this project. After talking with the company on the phone for a while, I decided to go with Shine Worsted in Reef. It's not quite the aloe color, but it should still be nice. It'll match our house better, as those who have been there can attest. ;-)

It should be here on Wednesday and I can FINALLY get this thing going!

My first package!

I got my first package on Tuesday! I was so excited. Jenny sent me a beautiful skein of variegated yarn and a beautiful necklace she got at her own Blessingway. I can't tell you how much that meant to me.


MY yarn, the yarn I ordered, is backordered! I am so excited to get started but I'm in limbo. I really hope it comes soon. [grumble]

In other news, I went to my (hopefully last) shadow care appointment last night. This time I got less than five minutes with the midwife and she was twitching on the edge of her seat to leave the whole time. There was absolutely no joy in the appointment. At no point did anyone seem, I don't know, excited that a baby was coming. I'm halfway along (20 weeks today!) but it was so very impersonal and clinical. Is this what it's like for the rest of you in hospital practices? I'm just so used to seeing a midwife who knows me really well and is genuinely happy with the progress of the pregnancy and the amazing potential of a new life.

I noticed last night that no single person has looked over my chart totally. Different tests and visits are all done by different people who input the results into a computer. If something is out of order, the computer will flag it. Otherwise, there isn't a single person with a bird's-eye view of the pregnancy. That made me really uncomfortable. What if things are technically in the normal range, but there are enough things edging high or low that it might catch a person's eye and move them to work on prevention? Does this get missed until something is clearly wrong? Just more thoughts.

Anyway, last night my blood pressure was fine and the baby's heart rate was 150 bpm. I made the mistake of telling the midwife about the hip and pelvic pain I've been having and got interrogated about WHY I had PAIN. Well, hell, I don't know. Maybe I was hoping YOU had some suggestions. :-P

Thankfully I already had some good suggestions from my chiropractor and "real" midwife. Heh.

Here it is!

Here's info about the big project:

http://www.geocities.com/smack103/support_knitwork.html

I can't wait to get started!

It's a boy!

Yes, another boy! I should have known. :-)

Everything looks great. The placenta is anterior which isn't the best news ever in terms of positioning, but it's away from the scar and the cervix, so that's good. The little guy slept through the whole thing and couldn't be bothered to be woken up. Hey, maybe he'll be a better sleeper than my first little guy ( a mom can hope!). He's measuring about a week ahead, which is not surprising to us at all. He'll probably be a tall guy like his brother.

The other news is I got my PO box yesterday so I'm all ready to tell you about my project. I'll post about it this afternoon, including what you can do to help.

Hey, found a belly picture

I did find a belly picture. It's from two weeks ago, but you get the idea. Ignore the ratty hair, 'kay?

Bad Preggo!

I'm eating a pizza with bleu cheese, onions, and pears on it. I have a salad with gorgonzola waiting for me in the fridge. Sorry, can't really help it.

Oh, and my prenatal went fine on Sunday. It's too early to hear the baby with the fetoscope so we just did the normal clinical tests (everything's great) and I'm measuring right on.

I have my sonogram Friday morning. I'm adding a poll -- vote on the gender, if you like. :-)

A MUCH Beter Prenatal Visit :-)

Yesterday we had our first "official" visit with the midwife and her apprentice. We'd already met with them twice before for a few hours each time, but this was the first real visit. Everything is great. The baby is happy and my uterus is measuring just right. My urine didn't have anything in it that it shouldn't have, heh.

The baby was a lot more cooperative with the doppler than at the hospital practice and we got a good listen to the heart. The heart rate was in the 160's and sounding good. We probably won't listen again until a bit past 20 weeks when we can use the fetoscope. The midwife prefers the fetoscope and, quite frankly, so do we. It just seems better to not be shooting too many high-energy waves at a developing fetus.

Amazingly, my blood pressure was actually really good (120/78). I think this is the first time in over a decade I didn't have white-coat hypertension. My blood pressure is almost always 135/80 when measured by a medical person, but not this time. I'm taking this as a very good sign!

It was a very midwife-y day yesterday. Meredith, our midwife for our last pregnancy, was here visiting from Israel and we got to spend a little time with her at the park yesterday. It was lovely to see her. It really was an exhaustingly fun day. I even tutored my husband's boss's daughter in the evening.

I still have this awful cold and am hoping it gets better SOON. I'm tired of feeling sick, and even more tired of whining about it.

It looks like Aloe has won as the color for my project. I'm happy about that. It was my secret favorite. Thanks to everyone who voted. As soon as I finish a baby hat for my cousin's baby, I'm going to get going on my project. Stay tuned!

Pants on Fire

Last night I had my first "shadow care" appointment. Shadow care is when you seek additional prenatal care from more "traditional" sources so that your insurance company will pay for things like lab work and testing. We didn't have to do it last time because our PPO would pay for whatever the midwife ordered. We have an HMO now, and we're doubly concerned that, should we transfer to the hospital again, the insurance won't pay unless we've established care with an approved provider. *sigh* So, off to a hospital practice I went.

I chose a group of midwives that "deliver" (pet peeve, right there -- MOM delivers, duh) at the major university hospital where I had my son. This would be the most likely place for transfer again since that hospital is Baby Friendly and the least hostile to homebirth transfers.

It took over an hour for me to see the midwife. AN HOUR. I've never even waited a minute for a homebirth midwife. The nurse told me to strip down and put on a hospital gown. I told her that I would like to meet the midwife with my clothes on, thank you very much. I didn't need a pap and wasn't having any bleeding or pain, so there was no reason for anyone to be sticking their hands up anywhere. By this point, is it any wonder my white-coat hypertension set in?

The midwife herself was really great. She was encouraging and supportive. She definitely believes in VBAC and was very excited about my prospects. Except for not having a vaginal birth before, I met all the criteria for an ideal shot at a VBAC.

Here's the problem: the hospital. The hospital "allows" VBAC's, but only with some pretty severe restrictions. Mom has to be on the monitors the entire time and there are no telemetry units (those are the monitors that are wireless and allow some degree of freedom of movement). I'd have to have an IV the whole time -- no heplock (that's a "port" they put in your hand so they can get an IV in you quickly if needed, but doesn't have you tied to a pole the whole time). She said the IV was going to be necessary anyway since I wouldn't be allowed anything by mouth when I arrived, not even water.

I asked if I would be free to walk around, and was told I would be. But with the monitors, my range of motion would basically be as far as the wires from the belts to the machines. So that would leave me pacing back and forth in front of the machine. Fun! This also means no water -- not even a hot shower to help with the contractions, let alone a warm bath.

Labor has to progress rather briskly, a period of two hours without cervical changes is "arrest" -- and that means either augmentation with pitocin (which I would refuse because it greatly increases rupture risk) or surgery. Lovely.

Basically, the midwife is not happy with these restrictions and suggested I get a monotrice (a doula who's also a midwife) and labor at home until the absolute last moment. She would want me to come to the hospital pushing, basically. Doesn't THAT sound like a lovely car ride?

So, in all, I think there are more than enough reasons why I am NOT switching to hospital care. The differences between the birth environments are like night and day. In the hospital I'd be tied to a machine, hungry, thirsty, watching the clock, pacing back and forth in a range of about five feet, and only occasionally getting support from the staff (whether or not I get a VBAC-supportive nurse is entirely the luck of the draw). At home I will be free to move about, take a shower, get in the tub, eat when I'm hungry, drink when I'm thirsty, will have constant support from a team of women I know very well and who have been chosen for both their expertise and confidence in VBAC, and will be a very short drive to several hospitals in the small chance we need OB care.

Does anyone really think that's a hard choice?

The upside is I have my orders for my blood and urine tests, as well as the sonogram. I'll get these done and then tell the midwife we are going to transfer care to a homebirth midwife. I really don't think she'll be surprised after the discussion we had last night.

But yeah, I'm a big fat liar. Oh well. :-P

(We have a prenatal with the "REAL" midwife on Sunday and I can't wait!)

The Cat's Out of the Bag!

Ack! We're telling people IRL today. TODAY! It's 13 weeks today and we're leaving the first trimester behind so it's time to tell.

It seems like a long time to wait, but in a lot of ways we'd like to wait longer (can't really, not when people see my little belly!). I think most of our family will be happy and supportive, but I know the VBAC (HBAC) issue will come up. We have one family member who made some extremely hurtful comments when we were planning my son's birth. I still get a little tug of sadness when I think of the things she said. I am dreading what she's going to say this time.

I have another family member who has already basically told my mom that I'm going to rip apart at the seams if I am silly enough not to plan another c-section. I wasn't even pregnant at the time and it took a while to peel my poor mom off the ceiling.

The rest of the family is a crap shoot. I really don't know what they'll say. Hopefully they'll realize that my husband and I would NEVER do anything to put our baby's life in danger -- or increase the risk that my babies will grow up without a mother. Hopefully they'll know us well enough to understand that we make the choices we do because we believe they are the safest and sanest around. Hopefully.

So, if you can, think of me and my husband over the next few days as we start collecting reactions. We've practiced our responses and have our strategies, but it SUCKS that we're feeling so apprehensive and, well, sad about telling our family such wonderful news.

Oh, and pray none of them have read that stupid ACOG statement! Jeez!

Stages of Recovery from Birth Trauma

http://observantmidwife.blogspot.com/2008/02/gray-grey-messenger-recovery.html
(Possibly NSFW pic in header -- lots of boobies)

Navelgazing Midwife has a beautiful post on her blog about the stages of recovery from a difficult/traumatic birth. It's really a beautiful post, and I highly recommend it for any of you out there who have been through a birth that tore at your heart.

This midwife is a local midwife and is very active with our local ICAN chapter. I remember calling her out of the blue one day about a year ago when I was deep in the middle of my "Sadness for Experience" stage. She reached out to the blubbering strange woman on the phone and gave me some really powerful words. Those words settled into my heart and nourished it, pushing me along to reframing and accepting my son's birth.

I like to think I'm in the "Preparation" stage now. I guess this blog is part of that. I want to help other mothers, but I realize that everyone has their own path to walk. If they want my help, they will reach for it. I'm also gathering a cocoon of support for my next birth, something I don't think I've ever done in my entire life.

So, go read the post. Tell me what you think.

Picking Colors

I'm getting closer to telling my big plan for my support project, but I still have some details to iron out. Let me just say that it's going to be a blanket/shawl similar to the blanket I made for the midwife for my son's birth. You can read about it here on my other, infinitely more irreverent (are rarely updated) blog. I'm not going to do the improvised ribbing, nor am I going to have the yarn doubled. I want something that will be a bit more "auto-pilot" because knitting with a 2 1/2 year old running around is different from knitting with a 1 1/2 year old. I'm sure you parents know what I mean.

Right now I'm trying to decide on a color. Obviously we don't know yet if the baby is a boy or a girl, but this is for me, not for the baby. I've picked a few colors and am going to have a poll in the margin for voting.

The yarn I have chosen is this: Swish Superwash by Knit Picks. The colors I am considering are: Ballerina, Fired Brick, Wisteria, Deep Ocean, and Aloe.

Go, take a look, and vote. :-)

Midwife Questions

We've been working to find our perfect midwife. In fact, we believe we have found her! Yay! I'll let you guys know who it is after we get everything settled (she's reviewing the records from my son's pregnancy and birth and we're going to have one more meeting before getting it set in stone). I thought it might be interesting to share with you the list of questions I prepared for our interviews this time.

I started with questions I found online, and then added more (and removed a few). I didn't ask about licensing and experience this time, since I found that information on everyone's website. Last time we figured out pretty quickly that the answers to these questions below told us what we needed to know about the midwives' experience and general "plan of action." There are some questions that relate specifically to my situation with my son's birth, and other questions I ask as "screeners" to get a clearer picture of what the midwife believes about birth and pregnancy.

If this this is your first foray into homebirth, you'll probably want to ask more questions about safety and how the midwife deals with issues during pregnancy and birth. We asked tons last time to the six midwives we interviewed, but didn't feel the need to this time. Having been through the wonderful homebirth midwife prenatal care and birth support, as well as transport to the hospital, we feel pretty comfortable with how the process generally works.

How many births have you attended as primary midwife?

What is your basic philosophy about birth?

What do you think about unassisted birth? What do you feel a midwife adds that a mother cannot provide on her own?

Who attends births with you? Do they also come to the prenatal appointments? Do I have a choice in who assists you at my birth?

Do you have a relationship with a physician should we need to transfer care or arrange a consult?

What are your feelings about parallel/shadow care?

What kind of childbirth education programs do you recommend?

Are you familiar with the Pink Kit?

What are the things that will risk out a mother from homebirth?

What is your fee?How are payments made?

What are your feelings on waterbirth? Do you have a tub that clients can use?

What do prenatal visits consist of?

Where do these visits take place? How often?

Do you require any internal exams during pregnancy or labor? Do you strip membranes?

What are your thoughts on VBAC? VBA2C?

What, if anything, is different when caring for a VBAC mom? Is the fee the same?

Do you have an opinion on single vs. double-layer stitching?

How do you feel about fathers catching the baby?

What is your protocol if a client goes past her due date?

When do you come to the home during labor? At what point do you decide to stay?

What sort of monitoring of the baby do you use during labor? Are you comfortable using a fetoscope during pregnancy?

How often do you listen to baby during labor?

What happens if you have two clients in labor at once?

What are your expectations of clients during pregnancy and birth?

What complications require a transport to the hospital? What is your role during a transport and once we're at the hospital? Have you ever met any resistance from hospital staff?

Do you have a preference for transport hospital?

What is your transport rate? Cesarean rate?

What experience do you have with resolving malpositions? Any experience with deep transverse arrest (as either the midwife for the malpositioned baby or as the midwife for the next baby)?

What tests do you require prenatally? What tests on the baby after the birth?

How do you assist a woman through the pushing stage? Do you do directed pushing?

When do you like to cut the cord? Are you comfortable with waiting until the placenta has been delivered?

Do you have a limit on the number of clients you accept a month?

How do you feel about siblings at birth?

What do you provide as far as postpartum services (breastfeeding support, newborn care, etc.)?

What are your thoughts on jaundice in the breastfed baby?

How do you feel about having a doula at a homebirth? What role, if any, do you think a doula plays at a homebirth?

Are there any books you strongly recommend we read (or DON'T read)?

Do you have any experience dealing with moms with white coat hypertension?