settling in with babies

i'm liking the life that is emerging up here.

there are so many wonderful people that i get to be around.

i've got two new midwives that i've been working with now. i had my first day with peggy the other day. it was fun. figuring each other out.

i have deficits. charting. palpation. physical exam. holding babies. i can be awkward. damn not giving birth can sometimes pose a problem.

tangent #1: i was talking with christine ( friend, house-mate, amazing woman, birther, mother, baker and oh so much more) the other day about choice of birth providers and about the ability of a provider to give care when they have not birthed themselves. christine conceded that giving birth doesn't qualify someone to attend a birth, to be a good midwife, but for her, the way her care provider birthed was important. interesting to think about what women want versus what they need.  


there are other skills i need to focus on. 


working it out with new teachers, mentors, preceptors, mother midwives (whatever you want to call them!) is interesting. 


louisa is great. she gives good feedback. both when i do something right or when i get it wrong. we get on well. sarcastic. dry. i probably bore her with my introvertedness. ahh. probably bore her no more than i do most people that are subjected to my awkward silences. 


i'm encouraged by the confidence that both peggy and louisa have given me. a testament to my former training and to my midwife shell. 


tangent #2: is a student's teacher her midwife? is that a strange or irregular reference? i don't know, but shell will forever be my midwife. 

most of all i'm having a lot of fun. i've been to two births now. the last was real sweet. i was still trying to figure out my place. my role, what is expected, how i can integrate into the practice and the way my new midwives practice.

both are very open to having me practice skills on our clients. i'm not charting directly into the chart as of yet, which is a wee bit strange, but i appreciate it. i knew my charting was lacks, now i'm being directly challenged.

because in washington midwifery is so much more integrated into the mainstream maternity care system, midwives have to practice that way. there are just that many more hoops and standards to abide by. for good or bad.

i don't mind it. much of it appeals to the side of me that needs to make sure all the boxes and checked. that is very important.

i like lists and crossing them off.

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