Tonight’s will be about JASMINE ESSENTIAL OIL and PREGNANCY.

I LOVE the smell of Jasmine oil.  It is possibly one of my favorite smells on the planet.  It is such a decadent and “goddess feeling” oil to me.

HOWEVER…it [...]]]> My goal for the new year is to blog on AT LEAST one popular question I am frequently asked…

Tonight’s will be about JASMINE ESSENTIAL OIL and PREGNANCY.

I LOVE the smell of Jasmine oil.  It is possibly one of my favorite smells on the planet.  It is such a decadent and “goddess feeling” oil to me.

HOWEVER…it is my opinion that Jasmine Essential oil is NOT AT ALL safe during pregnancy.  there are MANY reputable essential oil books and research articles that cite Jasmine as “THE” oil to assist in the placenta releasing in a retained placenta situation…therefore—I NEVER use it on a woman until it is time for the placenta to release.

I have seen it work wonders in THAT situation in a birth setting…and I also believe that I just *might* have caused my OWN placental abruption with my fourth baby (that ended in an emergency c-section!)

I have seen it work beautifully in situations where we NEEDED the placenta to release…so…consequently…I never use it for pregnancy!

Blessings! mamajess

“Did you happen to bring the myrrh?” I asked Sarah as we headed to Tennessee with our two children, Caleb and Joseph. “Got it right here!” answered Sarah. We also had with us our unborn baby who was about 36 weeks along, and who happened to be turned breech. (This means that the [...]]]> by Anthony Stewart

“Did you happen to bring the myrrh?” I asked Sarah as we headed to Tennessee with our two children, Caleb and Joseph. “Got it right here!” answered Sarah. We also had with us our unborn baby who was about 36 weeks along, and who happened to be turned breech. (This means that the buttocks or a foot would be born first rather than the head.)

We had been planning all along to have the baby at home, as we had with our two previous children. However, the baby being breech gave us some concern, since certain complications can arise during childbirth with a breech that probably would not happen with a vertex baby.

We had been trying for about a week to turn the baby by using the slant board technique. This is where the mother tilts an ironing board at about a 45 angle and lies down with her head toward the floor. Often times the baby will automatically flip around after the mother has lain like this for ten or fifteen minutes. We did this three times a day and also tried playing baroque music with headphones at the area of the abdomen where we wanted the baby’s head to be. We prayed. We even talked to the baby trying to convince it to turn on its own. All the while we were applying myrrh to Sarah’s abdomen two or three drops at a time.

After about a week the baby still had not turned. We had been in contact with Ina May Gaskin, a midwife who lives on The Farm, a community near Summertown, Tennessee. Ina May is author of the classic book entitled Spiritual Midwifery. She is, perhaps, the most experienced person in the country in successfully dealing with breech babies. Thus, on an early Monday morning, September 17, 2001, we were headed to The Farm, about six and a half hours from where we live, to have Ina May do an external version which is manually turning the baby head down.

When we arrived, Ina May felt around on Sarah’s tummy and confirmed that the baby was definitely still breech. Ina May wanted Sarah to be able to relax completely while she was doing the version and not be worried about kids running around. So we brought Caleb and Joseph to one of the guest houses where they laid down for a nap. Sarah then went to Ina May’s house.

Before doing the version, Ina May wanted to do an internal exam just to be 100% sure and to assess exactly how the baby was lying in the breech position. l’ll be back in a little while, she told Sarah. I need to leave for a few minutes to get a sterile glove from the clinic.

Meanwhile, Sarah made herself comfortable at Ina Mays home. She took the myrrh she had brought and proceeded to douse herself with the oil. She used much more than usual, and rubbed it all over her tummy. She then lay down and went to sleep a very deep sleep. When Ina May returned, she decided not to disturb Sarah and let her sleep until she woke up on her own about an hour to an hour-and-a-half later.

When Sarah awoke Ina May proceeded with the internal exam. Feeling slowly and carefully, she looked up suddenly and said, I think this feels like a head down here! The baby had apparently turned on its own sometime during Sarah’s deep sleep only moments before Ina May would have done the external version! Ina May then felt around on Sarah’s abdomen and could easily identify the baby’s little butt near Sarah’s ribs and the head down low just like it was supposed to be.

It was both a miracle and a relief that the baby turned on its own. We had been trying for some time to get the baby to do this, but without success. Then, only moments before the midwife was going to step in, and shortly after Sarah had applied a generous amount of myrrh, the baby decided to turn.

Did the myrrh assist in the baby’s turning? We do know that myrrh was a popular oil used by pregnant and laboring women for many centuries during Biblical times. It was even one of the two oils brought to Mary and the Christ Child by the wise men. For this reason alone, I believe it to be a very important oil for women to have during pregnancy and birth.

The key is that we prayed and followed what we were led to do and we felt guided to apply myrrh which seemed to be just the thing for this very sweet and very stubborn breech baby.

Two weeks after this turn of events, on the morning of October 18, 2001, a tornado swept through our county. As the winds howled and the rains poured down, our Perfect, healthy nine-pound baby boy, Thomas, was born safely in our home. He was fully alert (Apgar 10), born into the loving presence of his parents, his brothers, and his grandparents. Today, March 2003, Thomas is a robust toddler who walks, is just starting to talk, and whose stubbornness and will, manifested while still in the womb, still shows itself daily.

To this day, more than a year later, the scent of Myrrh always brings up the memory in my mind of Sarah’s pregnancy and birth of our son, Thomas. It probably will for as long as I live.

Subject: testimonial–fennel oil

Okay, let me preface this with…I know I shouldn’t be taking oils I don’t need, but I wanted to test this one! *grin*

I have a friend who just had a baby and has not been able to make enough breast milk for him. I have been providing her with [...]]]> By Jessica Wild
February 3, 2002

Subject: testimonial–fennel oil

Okay, let me preface this with…I know I shouldn’t be taking oils I don’t need, but I wanted to test this one! *grin*

I have a friend who just had a baby and has not been able to make enough breast milk for him. I have been providing her with raw goats milk from our goats to supplement. She received a recommendation to try fennel oil to boost milk production.

She got the oil and had been applying it to her chest for a few days. She had seen an increase and was thrilled.

I went over to visit and we were discussing fennel oil. I decided to try it. I put a few drops of it in my glass of water and slammed the water. (I don’t especially like the taste of fennel.)

Now, please keep in mind that I have been breast-feeding for the past six months, (this time…this is my third baby in three years.) and am also donating milk to a milk bank. I have a very well established milk supply. I haven’t had “too much ” since my baby was a few days old.

The morning after taking that fennel oil, I woke up totally ENGORGED. Like, brand new baby, engorged. Quite literally spraying milk!

I was floored! Three drops of oil did that? So, I waited a few days and did it again. Same exact reaction.

I will never meet a new mother without recommending fennel oil to help with breastfeeding!

Brace yourselves, this one is cool! (to a young mother at least! *grin*)

I had one of those “now no one can tell me that EOs don’t work” experiences, and just had to share.

Please note, this might be long, and there will be reference to prayer, so read on knowing [...]]]> Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002
By Jessica Wild

Brace yourselves, this one is cool! (to a young mother at least! *grin*)

I had one of those “now no one can tell me that EOs don’t work” experiences, and just had to share.

Please note, this might be long, and there will be reference to prayer, so read on knowing that! *grin*

One of my college roommates had a baby (her fifth) the Friday of convention. (that makes her two weeks old tomorrow, kind of important to know that.)

On Friday of last week, she came into town (she lives in a small town an hour away from here,) to have her “well baby” visit. *Note* This is not a natural woman. She and I are really like oil and water when it comes to…well almost everything. We are, amazingly, the best of friends despite our vast differences, so she patiently puts up with my ‘radical ramblings.’ We share religions and both are very spiritual. (I was supposed to act as doula for her at the birth, but she allowed the Dr. to induce her under the contrived thought that she has fast labors and she lives an hour away from the hospital…*sigh*)

Rebekah (the baby) was horribly jaundiced at this one-week visit. Her billiruben level was 21.6.

The Dr. told Kris (the mom) that brain damage occurs at 25 and that she would have to leave her baby at the hospital. They then told her that while they had room for the baby, that there was not room for her to stay, and that she would have to leave her baby. She adamantly refused, reminding them that she was breastfeeding, and told them that there must be another way.

The hospital staff finally relented and agreed that if she would stay in town, that they would loan her a billiruben light and blanket. She took it and went immediately to her sister’s house a few miles from the hospital and plugged it in to see if it would help.

She called me in a panic. I went over with my Peace and Calming and my White Angelica. I am out of Trauma Life, or would have taken that too. I got there and listened while she cried and stressed over her new angel. (I put Peace & Calming on before I walked in, under the thought that she might not let me put any of the oils ON her, so at least she could smell it. I was right.) She refused all offers of oils because they might make Rebekah not want to nurse. I didn’t argue.

She asked me for advice, and I said that what I would do would be to pray and ask Heavenly Father to tell her what to do to help Rebekah, and reminded her that as a mother, she is ENTITLED to Devine guidance, because they are HIS children too.

She thanked me and said that just talking had made her much calmer, and that she felt better (Peace & Calming, anyone? *grin*).

The next morning, Rebekah’s billiruben count had climbed to 22, despite staying in the blanket except while nursing. Kris commented that she was looking sicker.

I asked if she had prayed and she said ‘yes, but nothing is coming.’ I told her to listen, and accept the answer, even if it was confusing to her.

(She had felt for a few days that Rebekah needed a chiropractic adjustment, but her DH REFUSED to allow it, so now she was desperate.)

My phone rang at 10:30 that night. Kris said: “I have an embarrassing question to ask.” I said, “Shoot!”

After hemming and hawing for a minute and me assuring her that we had gone thru enough together that I would not be offended at whatever it was…*smile* she finally asked:

“Do you know what an enema is?”

I about died laughing! I said. “Of course I know what an enema is, my whole family uses them when we are sick!”

“Oh, then you know how to give one?”

“Of course!”

“To a baby?”

“Of course!” I said.

Quiet on the line…”Well, that is my answer and I have no idea what to do.”

I then told her how to give a baby an enema with a nasal aspiration bulb and she asked if I would come over after church the next day and help her if she didn’t have the courage to do it that night. I said, “Of course!”

After church, (I broke the Sabbath, but it was a case of “ox in a mire” in my opinion) I went to a drug store and got the best enema bag I could find and headed over (with every oil I have and my EODR in hand…and a prayer in my heart that she would let me use them).

I got there and she started gushing…”I did it, and she felt better, I could tell! She was so patient, and felt such relief, I am so glad I did it!”

I asked her what Rebakah’s poop had looked like and she told me it was still meconium (sp?). AT TEN DAYS OLD!!!

My babies are pooping mustardy, breast milk poop at 48 hours old at the most! We talked about it and she agreed that her others had cleared their meconium a lot sooner, and that this might be ‘part of the problem’.

I asked if she wanted me to help her do another enema and she agreed. I then asked if she cared if I used some EO on Rebekah, and she (much to my surprise) said “Sure, if you think it will help.”

I was so happy! I suggested that we start with a prayer so that we would have guidance and know what to do to help she and Rebekah get home sooner. We did.

I rubbed Peace & Calming all over both of us moms first. *grin*

I put Valor on Rebekah’s feet and then opened my Lavender. I rubbed Lavender on her head and down the bridge of her nose (I had no idea why, it just felt right.) By the time I could get the cap back on my Lavender, Rebekah’s eyes were FLOWING yellow goop. (I mean flowing, like tears!)

Kris said, “Wait, this is making her sick, it is bothering her eyes.” I said “NO!!! That is the billiruben! Look!”

And sure enough, it was…just yellow gunk, pouring out the closest outlet it could. It ran for a few minutes (while Rebekah laid there totally content and cooing, by the way) then slowed down. I suggested we do another enema to see if that would help.

We got our distilled water warm and I put a few drops of Endo Flex (I was out of Juva Flex, and EF was recommended in the EODR) in the water. We sucked up the oil and did another baby enema. She was still passing almost straight meconium. While she worked the water out, I rubbed a few drops of Frankincense down her spine then added some Cedarwood. I then did a raindrop technique-like motion with the feathering and pulling away from the spine. (Super gently, no one attack me!)

We then put Release on her liver and Lavender all over her belly (two or three drops of each).

We put Endo Flex on her feet and Rosemary on her back.

When we took that diaper off, she had urinated so much that the whole diaper was almost orange! The billiruben was just FLOWING out of this tiny body!

We did one more enema and that one almost looked green instead of like black tar.

I asked her what oils she wanted to keep, and she chose Rosemary and Endo Flex and Lavender. She rubbed them on Rebekah all evening and whenever she woke to nurse.

Okay, really long story…but the next morning, Kris took Rebekah top the Dr. to check her levels and they were down to 15! He told her that if she stabilized there, that she could go home the next day.

On Tuesday morning, her levels were DOWN again, (to 14) and she got to go home on Tuesday!.

Kris is now a devoted EO user (at least for jaundice! *grin).

Thanks for reading, it is so good to know that I can share here!

One of my dear friends just had her sixth baby in Early December. She asked me to come and be her “oil girl” at the birth (she is one of my new downline…just getting started with YL.) Kristen called at about 8:00 am and told me she was in labor. I [...]]]> By Jessica Wild
January 14, 2003

One of my dear friends just had her sixth baby in Early December. She asked me to come and be her “oil girl” at the birth (she is one of my new downline…just getting started with YL.) Kristen called at about 8:00 am and told me she was in labor. I drove around the corner to her house (literally) after I had grabbed all of my oils.

(Before I went over, I had knelt in prayer and asked for guidance, and that I would have knowledge beyond my own to help Kristen.)

She was in the shower when I got there, lying over my birth ball, with the hot water on her back…seemingly comfortable. After a few minutes, she felt the need to get out. She did, and was having some intense back labor, I asked her if she wanted oil, and she said yes. I felt that my first job was to get some oil diffusing…I offered her Grapefruit, Thieves, Lavender and Gentle Baby to smell and asked which one smelled the best to her. She chose Thieves. I then went to her diffuser and put in 20 drops of Thieves and diluted it with Lemon and Rosemary, to cut the nasal burn that could occur.

I then went to my oil bag and felt prompted to grab PanAway and Peppermint. I put about five drops of each in my hand and rubbed them low on Kristen’s back. Two contractions later, she commented that the back labor was lessened. The MW checked and told her that the baby was no longer posterior…which was the reason her back hurt less. (MY belief is that the coolness of the oils helped the baby want to turn.)

I then felt prompted to rub Valor on her feet. She loved that, her contractions became more bearable and she was able to relax THOROUGHLY between them. I then grabbed my olive oil/lavender bottle (an 8 oz. bottle with about 100 drops of Lavender in it.) and massaged her calves to help her stay relaxed and calm. We would stop during contractions, but as soon as she was through one contraction, she would ask for more calf massage. I think it really helped her relax.

The MW checked her at about 9:00, and she was only 6 or 7 cm dilated. She was discouraged. I felt an overwhelming prompting that NOW was the time for Clary Sage, so asked her if she wanted me to use it, and explained to her that it might speed up labor…Was she okay with that? She said that speeding up the labor sounded GREAT! *grin*

I rubbed about four drops of Clary Sage on the inside of each ankle, and within a few minutes, she was back to having to REALLY focus during contractions. Her water broke about ten minutes after we put Clary Sage on her ankles.

After her water broke, she was complete, and ready to push. She chose to push on her bed, lying over the birth ball. I had the peppermint bottle open, as she was struggling with nausea. She smelled it between every contraction, and eventually, it smelled good enough that she wanted a drop on her tongue.

Brock was born at 10:31 that morning…two hours after I got there! He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was the calmest baby I have ever seen.

We rubbed the same diluted Lavender on him before we got him dressed.

After Kristen delivered the placenta, she got up to go to the bathroom, and asked for a drop of Fennell oil, to help her with her milk production. (I hadn’t thought of that, DUH! *grin*) I dropped about three drops on her tongue, and she finished off her water…

That’s it…kind of anti climatic, I know. It was the most natural birth I have ever seen! No one stressed, no one worried that she couldn’t do it…just calm, support of a laboring and birthing woman.

Just wanted to share!

Tuesday, May 28th – Northwest Flight #676

10:22 am Leave Minneapolis to Baltimore; settle in to take a nap for some much needed rest.

10:55 am Flight attendant comes on P.A. system, “Do we have a medical professional on board? We have a woman in [...]]]> By Cherie Ross

Tuesday, May 28th – Northwest Flight #676

10:22 am Leave Minneapolis to Baltimore; settle in to take a nap for some much needed rest.

10:55 am Flight attendant comes on P.A. system, “Do we have a medical professional on board? We have a woman in labor!”

10:56 am I go inside prayerfully & ask “Is this mine to do”? I heard back, “…and you needed to ask?!”

10:57 am I push the call button, tell the flight attendant: “I am not a medical professional; however, I am trained in the proper use of Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils, and they’ve been proven to stop early labor.”

She stated that there was a Nurse Practitioner with the woman and they’d come and get me if I was needed.

11:00 am I got reawakened with an abrupt tapping on my shoulder. It was the Head Flight Attendant: “We need you now!”

I gathered my oils & headed to the back of the plane, where I found a wonderful Nurse Practitioner doing her best. Not only was this woman in labor, she was vomiting & in extreme anxiety attack. The more the NP tried to talk to her & ask medical questions, the more escalated her anxiety became. I was in the seat behind them. The flight attendant whispered in my ear, “Can you do something?” I responded, “I believe I can.” Then the most peculiar thing happened. The flight attendant told the NP: “You’re out, she’s in” (meaning me, to take over). I quickly moved up to her seat, tried to talk to the pregnant woman, but no response. She was completely overwhelmed with anxiety, pain & terror. I grabbed Lavender, put a puddle in my hand, and rubbed it all over her low tummy. She was 7 months pregnant and often air pressure changes can induce labor. I held my hand on her low tummy and silently prayed. In less than 5 minutes, the woman opened her eyes very wide, looked at me and said, “It stopped.” I said: “What stopped?” She said “The pains and cramping. They stopped!” Then she asked, “Who are you and where did you come from?” I said, “I’m Cherie. I’m here to help you.”

Next was to get the nausea & vomiting to stop. I grabbed Di Tone — another puddle in my hand, this time on the upper tummy. In less than 5 minutes again, the nausea and vomiting completely stopped. Now, on the anxiety attack: I brought out Peace & Calming, started at the solar plexus and moved upward. The closer I got to her nose, the more she resisted. So I just held the bottle between her rib area and allowed her to smell from there. In less than 7 minutes, she calmed down to the point of falling asleep. It was a very turbulent flight, which did not help at all. So I applied Lavender one more time in the remaining 90 minutes. I sat with her, softly talked to her words of comfort and reassurance.

When we landed in Baltimore, the EMTs boarded the plane and I moved so they could take over. They requested I stay close to her if she needed more oils. They safely removed her from the plane. I was the last passenger off the plane, (all my things had been moved to the rear). Upon leaving, the captain came out, took hold of my hand and said, “Thank you.” I said, “You’re welcome,” and started to leave. He would not let go of my hand, and said thank you again. My response “I was just doing my job, sir; Anyone would have done the same thing.”

Again, I tried to leave, but he still would not let go of my hand. I looked at him questioningly. His response, “You don’t have any idea what was going on before and during your intervention, do you?” “No,” I replied. He then proceeded to tell me, he was on the phone with a medical team on land. They determined to do an emergency landing with the plane and were in the process of looking for an airport that could take us. When I intervened, the flight attendant asked me in detail what I was doing/using. I thought she was just curious. I had no idea she was on the rear phone reporting to the captain, who in turn was reporting to the ground medical team. When we got results in less than 5 minutes with the oils, the medical team told the captain to wait,…continue on course, and see what happens. Because in less than 20 minutes the crisis situation completely turned around, the ground medical team instructed the captain to continue on to Baltimore. The captain said, “Do you have any idea how many lives were positively affected today by what you did?” If we would have had to emergency land this plane, people would have missed connecting flights, business meetings, appointments.” “And not only that,” the flight attendant spoke up, “the other passengers were getting visibly quite disturbed and upset. When you pulled out your oils and got to work, a sense of calmness was reestablished among all the passengers.”

I signed the necessary reports, got off the plane, and went to pick up my luggage. At the baggage claim area, many passengers came up and thanked me for handling the situation. Every day, without exception, I thank God for these Young Living Oils.

By Teri Williams

Teri and her husband realized they were coming to a crossroad in life. Although Lindsey earned a comfortable income, he was rarely home. When Teri learned she was pregnant with their third child, they realized that [...]]]> Excerpts from Young Living^TM Essential Edge, Winter/Spring 2002

By Teri Williams

Teri and her husband realized they were coming to a crossroad in life. Although Lindsey earned a comfortable income, he was rarely home. When Teri learned she was pregnant with their third child, they realized that they simply didn’t have enough “family time.” They began praying for a home-based business that would take care of them financially and allow them to devote more of themselves to raising heir children.

Seven-and-a-half months into Teri’s pregnancy, she went into labor after an airplane flight. “Because we had used herbs for several years, they were the first place I turned for help,” says Teri, “but none of them worked. I called my midwife, and when I described to her what I was going through, she said I needed to get to a hospital right away. My midwife got into her car and started speeding toward my house, but we lived so far from a medical facility that she also wanted to call a helicopter service to come pick me up. I told her to wait for one minute before calling the helicopter. During that minute I prayed, asking the Lord to guide me to something in my home that would be powerful enough to stop my labor. The answer that came to me was ‘essential oil of Lavender,’ so my husband grabbed the YLEO bottle of Lavender and rubbed it all over my stomach, legs, and feet. Sixty seconds later, as my midwife was driving into our driveway, my labor stopped. Completely. My midwife was so shocked her mouth fell open.

“For the next five weeks I stayed in bed with 24-hour care. Every time I got up, my heavy labor started again. We kept using lavender until my baby’s due date. On that day, I put the oil away and delivered a big, beautiful, healthy baby boy after a 30-minute labor.”

At that point, Teri knew that there had to be some serious science behind the oils. She began researching then and discovered that there is a tremendous difference between most of the oils on the market and the therapeutic-grade oils offered by YLEO. “Typical oils would not have been powerful enough to help me during my pregnancy,” she says.

Teri started sharing the oils with friends and family members. She says she just could not keep quiet about the “wonderful treasures that had been provided to use for healing.” One day she went to the post office and discovered a “huge check. The was when I realized that if I could become a leader and treat my business as a business, I had a chance to help other mothers like myself who wanted to stay at home with their children but needed extra income.”

FROM TERI’S HUSBAND LINDSAY

Nearly three years ago, my wife Teri was pregnant with our third child. At 7 1/2 months into the pregnancy, we took an airplane flight which, in hindsight was not a good idea. As the airplane reached altitude, Teri remarked that she felt horrible pressure on her stomach. Shortly after we landed and arrived home, she went into full labor…. much to soon for the safe birth of our son.

Our midwife was rushing over in the car, timing the contractions by cellular phone. Finally she said, “Teri will never make it; we must get her to the hospital as quickly as possible, she’s going to deliver any moment.” Teri asked me to grab the Essential Oil of Lavender and rub it all over her stomach, on the bottoms of her feet, and down her legs, which were shaking profusely by this time. Within three minutes of applying the lavender, Teri’s hard contractions completely stopped! When the midwife arrived, she was absolutely amazed. She had never seen anything like it.

Teri was on bed-rest for the next five weeks, but every time she got up to go the bathroom, she went back into labor. Everyday for five weeks we applied the lavender, and every day the contractions stopped.

On the due date of the birth, Teri got out of bed, put the lavender away, and within 45 minutes, our beautiful healthy little baby boy was born.

Now, as we raise our three children, we continue to find a multitude of uses for lavender, such as cuts, bruises, burns, headaches, insomnia and of course, muscle spasms. In addition, we began to study the chemical properties of the lavender plant in order to understand how this oil could be powerful enough to stop heavy contractions. We found that lavender contains a group of chemical compounds called esters, which characteristically are very calming and relaxing. We also found that historically lavender is known to be an antispasmodic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antifungal, anti-infectious, cardiotonic, and anticoagulant. Needless to say, we keep a lot of lavender around at home. We purchase all of our essential oils from Young Living Essential Oils because we have found their oils all to be pure Grade A, therapeutic quality essential oils. We thank the good Lord for putting every herb-bearing plant on this earth that is necessary for man’s health and healing.

We found out we were pregnant the month Leah turned one! I stood in the [...]]]> By this point, I realized that labor and birth don’t have to be days-long torture routines. Rather, they can be short…and enjoyable. And even when medical care is necessary, disrespect by personnel is not tolerated.

PREFACE

We found out we were pregnant the month Leah turned one! I stood in the bathroom of a friend’s house yelling, “Which window is NOT supposed to have a LINE?” My best friend was bursting into laughter up stairs!

I was THRILLED…after crying for about an hour. *Grin*

We had moved to Arizona, and needed to find a new midwife to deliver this baby. I called the entire list home birthing women I knew and asked for the names of a few local midwives. When I had a list of about 15, I started calling and setting up interviews.

In the mean time, Jeff and I decided that we’d better PRAY about this…maybe? *Grin* As we prayed about where to have this baby, and to be guided in our search for a midwife, we never felt the confirmation (that home birth was the right thing) we had with Leah…and it was disturbing to both Jeff and I.

BUT…I continued interviewing midwives anyway…true to my stubborn nature! As I was creating my list of questions to ask each midwife, I felt very strongly that I needed to add: “And If I could NOT deliver at home, what OB would you recommend in town?” So I did. We interviewed and sifted thru these wonderful choices for a labor support person, I asked each of them the question…and amazingly, they all replied with the same name: Dr. Deryl Lamb.

We chose our top three midwives but, STILL, neither Jeff nor I could feel comfortable with the concept of delivering at home. We were SO distraught. I was angry. Leah’s birth had been so beautiful and calm. We wanted that same peace again, and we just KNEW that we would never get it delivering in a hospital.

So…I FINALLY *grin* LISTENED to the promptings of the Spirit, and called Dr. Lamb’s office. I was quickly told that he was not accepting new patients…(pause) “unless you are pregnant” “I AM!!!” I shouted with glee! Oh, but you have to have one of two insurances…” I DO!!” I said.

So I scheduled an appointment with this highly recommended doctor. When I met him, I KNEW he was for me! I told him, “I am considering a home birth, and have had one before.” And braced for a lecture. (I had gotten the same from all of the other OB/GYN’s that I had interviewed…we called it the “stupid/selfish” lecture.)

Instead, he hitched a hip onto the sink and said:

“I believe that intelligent, educated, healthy women deserve the right to make that choice…who is your midwife?” Needless to say…you could have knocked me over with a feather! It was the beginning of a super doctor patient relationship! So I continued seeing Dr Lamb, and the midwife we had chosen (Darcy).

In the end, we knew that we needed to follow the promptings to deliver in the hospital, and very grudgingly, I made the plans to do so. We also decided that we would hire Darcy to act as Montrice. (A Labor support person who can legally use her nursing skills, but is not planning on delivering the baby at home.) It was a good arrangement for all of us!

HERBAL INDUCTION

I went to see Dr Lamb on the morning of July 10^th, 2001. He checked me and said I was at three centimeters, and to make an appointment for next week…

I said, “NO! We are having a baby before that!”

I went home and called Darci. “Tell me that herbal induction you were talking about…it’s TIME to have this baby!”

That night, I did a labor induction, using blue Cohosh herb made into an enema, and black and blue cohosh under the tongue…and my old friend Castor oil!

I started the three-hour induction at about 8:00…and finished early, because I was NOT going to take a THIRD dose of castor oil! *Grin* (I had tried PLAIN Castor oil earlier in the week!)

LABOR…ALREADY?

At about 2:00 am I woke up to a FULL BLOWN contraction…the “sit down, focus through the pain and DEAL WITH IT” kind of contraction.

I can only assume that there had been many previous contractions that I had slept through.

I went in and sat on the toilet. The castor oil was working, and unlike Leah’s birth, I believe that I would have gone into labor without it. (Just using the blue cohosh enema and tinctures under my tongue.)

I labored for about 20 minutes, and realized that this was IT…so I banged on the bathroom wall to get Jeff to come in. (We had sent the kids to a friend’s house because I just KNEW that the induction would work!) He came in and I asked him to help me get set up…I wanted my birth ball in the living room, and my labor support people…NOW! I called Andrea (my best friend) and Darci (the midwife) and my mother…and they were all there by 3:30.

THE POWER OF THE MIND

I had decided early in this pregnancy that I was not going to be afraid of the birth process. After all, women HAD been doing this for millennia and it IS what God created this magnificent female body FOR…right?

As each contraction came, I would make “happy noises”…saying out loud…”Yes, oh yeah, mmmm hmmmm” and similar things. (Andrea joked between contractions that she did not like the fact that she now knew what I sounded like during sex! *giggle*)

When Darci got there, we went into the bedroom and she offered to check me for dilation…I was ready to know “where I was” in this process! I was about five centimeters…after only an hour or two of labor!!! YIPPEE!

We moved the birth ball into the bathroom, and I labored on it in front of the bathroom sink…I was throwing up now. (I have thrown up with all of my births…about a centimeter before transition…I guess it is my body’s way of getting ready.) So…here I am, throwing up mint tea and Chlorophyll water…not entirely unpleasant! *Grin*

Darci later suggested that I move to a smaller ball that we had and “hula” my hips. (I had been dealing with a VERY posterior cervix the whole pregnancy, and doing the hula will move the cervix forward for an easier delivery.)

So…I sat on a ‘large child’s ball” and hula-ed my heart out while holding on to the post of my bed.

I learned a GREAT lesson here…ATTITUDE IS EVERY THING!!! I lost my “happy noises” on a few contractions and they were the ones that “got the better of me.” As soon as I regained my positive attitude and happy noises…I could manage the pain so much better!

At about 5:30 I told Darci that I did not like her very much for making me hula…and she suggested that we check my dilation! *Big grin* I was at six centimeters, but she could stretch me to seven…it was time to go.

THE MAD DASH

We got into the car, with me holding my throw-up bowl (thankfully never needing it!). It was 45 minutes to the hospital where Dr. Lamb delivered.

On the way, Darci asked me to tell her “where I was” mentally. I kept repeating that “Heavenly Father is giving me a BREAK”…And I only had six or seven contractions on the drive. Darci said later that she was afraid that I was stalling my labor, and she was worried.

Andrea ran a few red lights, and we got to the hospital fine.

The admitting nurse began asking me a string of questions pertaining to my pre-admit information. I was contracting and mumbling, so we weren’t making much progress. Darci very politely leaned over my shoulder and said to the nurse: “I am her midwife…and she was seven centimeters when we left home 45 minutes ago.”

The nurse finally looked up and said, “Oh, we’d better get her into a room then.” She got me into a room and told me to put on a gown. I handed my clothes to Andrea and was hit with a MASSIVE contraction. I walked over to the side of the bed and instinctively squatted down…and my water broke EVERWHERE. (During this, the nurse was trying to get the gown on me…and I was angrily waving her off… “Give me a minute, LADY!”)

I got the gown on and one of the nurses came in and said, “We have to get a read on the baby.”

She told me that I had to lie on my back for the next 20 minutes so that they could check his heart tones. I told her that we had been checking them, and they were fine. She pulled an “It’s hospital policy, dear” on me and I turned to her and said, “I am NOT laying on my BACK for these contractions. I will lie on my side…get what you can from that…we are NOT going to be here long!

While that nurse was getting Abel’s heartbeat recorded for “hospital policy”…the other nurse was checking my dilation…WITH A LATEX GLOVE!!! (I am VIOLENTLY allergic to latex!) She pronounced me at eight centimeters and said, “We’re going to be here for a while…”

As I screamed S*** that was a LATEX glove!!!…

Just then, Abel moved down and I had to push.

The “heartbeat nurse” was stressed because she could not get a heartbeat…the “violating nurse” was ignoring my pleas of pain from the latex…I was saying “I have to PUSH”…Darcy was leaning over my head coaching me through pushing quietly…both nurses were saying “Oh NO, dear, you are only eight centimeters…STOP!”

And… Good ‘ole Dr. Lamb steps in.

He said, to the nurses “This IS this woman’s THIRD baby, she MAY know what she is feeling…” And he sat down to rub olive oil on Abel’s crowning head, and my perineum! (So I would not tear.)

Jeff held my right leg up, and in two pushes…(about 45 seconds) Abel was born.

Dr Lamb laid him on my chest and I exposed a breast so we could start to nurse…

But Abel was NOT breathing well…

We gently rubbed his back and got him stimulated, and he was making a valiant effort, but the little guy could not get a breath in.

(We were told later that the rapid decent he had, and the LITTLE time (about 45 seconds) that he spent in the birth canal was the reason…none of the fluid was squeezed out of his lungs). The nurses took him away and tubed his throat.

After about ten minutes, (and the placenta delivered) they brought him back to me…still pretty blue.

Dr Lamb very gently said to me, “Jessica, this baby boy needs some help…I have called in the NICU doctors…he needs to go to the nursery for a while.” He KNEW how devastated I was…and how much I hate hospitals…and was totally gentle. I appreciated it so much.

Jeff and Dr. Lamb gave Abel a priesthood blessing, and the doctors took him away to clear his lungs and for observation. Jeff went with him to make sure that no one decided to vaccinate him or give him anything but supportive help to breathe.

After a few minutes, I got up to go to the bathroom. I was AMAZED! It did not even burn when I peed! I took a quick shower and Dr. Lamb checked my bottom to see if I needed any stitches. He commented that he had never seen such a quick birth yield such an intact bottom! I did not even have a TINY tear …NOTHING! I was thrilled!

I sent Andrea out for breakfast…I was FAMMISHED!

The NICU nurse came in and said “we are going to feed him some formula…just wanted you to know.” I said, “OVER MY DEAD BODY!!! Bring me a pump!”

She very condescendingly said: “Oh, sweetie, you will not be able to get any milk.”

I said through gritted teeth, “GIVE me a pump!”

She brought in a Medela pump and I expressed six ounces of colostrum (three out of each breast). I could have filled the bottles…I had only weaned Leah a few months earlier, and had never stopped making milk. I called her back in and said…(very condescendingly) “If you need more, just ask…and if my child is given formula…I will OWN this hospital!”

They brought Abel to me after about an hour… “for a visit.” They were not ready to ‘surrender’ him.

He nursed like a champ, and his breathing stabilized DRAMATICALLY while I held him. In hind site…he NEEDED a mom, not an incubator!

Jeff convinced me to stay the night (never again) and let them keep Abel in the nursery “so I could sleep”…(never again!)

I was so very ready to go home in the morning.

They announced that anyone that wanted to be released needed to go to a “release meeting”.

I knew that the only things that would be discussed were how to care for my baby and clean my bottom and I did not need any instruction on either of these issues. I went to the nurses station and said, “I just had my third baby in three years yesterday morning…drug free, about seven minutes after we walked in…I really don’t want to go to this meeting.”

The head nurse said, “You have to, dear.”

I said, “Um…no, I don’t…and if you’ll just bring the release forms to my room, I am ready to go.”

I was not a popular patient. *Grin*

We left the hospital, got home to my clean bed…and Abel, Jeff and I had three days to ‘bond’…Grandma and Grandpa kept Witt and Leah and brought them for visits every day. It was LOVELY!

DAD’S PERSPECTIVE

Wednesday, July 11, 2001

Today our third child, Able Alexander came into the world. He was born at this morning in the birthing center of Chandler Regional Medical Center. Jessica’s doctor was Deryl Lamb, who we really liked. But to get the whole story we need to start at the beginning, which was about last night.

Jessica had come home from her weekly doctor’s appointment with Dr. Lamb and had some serious issues on her mind. Dr. Lamb was going out of town on Thursday and would be gone ‘til Sunday, and he had mentioned that he would like to have Able delivered before he left town.

CHOICES

Jess was at forty weeks and guessing by the pattern in our past two deliveries Able was going to be huge. So we fussed and fuddled…

1. Do we go and have her water broken hoping to induce labor

2. Do we try the Midwives way of inducing childbirth, which includes three enemas and three doses of caster oil?

3. Or do we finally just have faith and wait and hope that Abel will wait until after Sunday to come out in his own time.

And as you can see by this entry we chose to wait. We decided to go with the Midwife induction, which has a 90% success rate and is much better than spending any extra time in the hospital.

The induction began with a heavy regimen of castor oil, black and blue cohosh. And lots of diarrhea, which Jess was already suffering from because she had already tried to induce labor just by drinking castor oil two times before.

After the herbs and castor oil came the enemas.

These were composed of a tea made from loose black cohosh leaves. The idea here was that you take on half of the mixture and hold it for fifteen minutes, then repeat with the other half. We attempted this and failed. So we tried it in three steps. We learned from our midwife, Darcy, that she doesn’t know of anyone that has been able to hold the mixture in for the whole fifteen minutes, so we didn’t feel too bad.

We added our own step and inserted capsules of evening primrose oil into then cervix.

Finally we were able to take a shower and go to bed.

RUDE AWAKENING

I slept well until 1:00am and was scared half to death by this huge banging on the wall. I scrambled back to check on Jess and lo and behold she was in the bathroom in labor. We didn’t call anyone right away because Able had done this to us before–where we think that we are in labor only to find out it is a false alarm. So we waited until almost 3am and made a few phone calls.

Labor progressed at home until about 5am when Jess was at six centimeters dilated and easily stretched to seven.

After Jess showered, we began to caravan to the hospital Best friend Andrea was driving Jess in their minivan with Midwife Darcy inside to help Jess with the labor along the way. Another friend drove Darcy’s car because it had all the roadside delivery stuff in the trunk…just in case. And I brought up the rear with the travel bag and baby’s car seat.

Andrea ran the first traffic signal and left the other friend and I in the dust.

HE POPS OUT!

They arrived about 5 minutes sooner and by the time that I got into the room Jess’ water had broken and she was in bed on her side having the fetal monitor strapped to her. The nurse no sooner found the heart beat than Able dropped an inch. Dr. Lamb was barely able to gown-up and get positioned by the time Abel’s head crowned.

And Able is born.

I think the total time spent in the hospital in labor was I think seven minutes max. We found out why we didn’t feel good about having him at home he was born with breathing problems. Because he came down the birth canal so fast, all the mucus wasn’t squeezed from Abel’s lungs. But around noon he was back with mommy in the room nursing like a champ. There were still moments when his breathing got really wet and the nurses would suck it out. They didn’t hear anything in the lungs it was just in the nasal passages.

TOMORROW…

both he and mommy come home. Other than Abel’s breathing issues this was the most perfect birth. Drug free and beautifully executed. I just about cried as Able was born, tears filling the eyes and everything. I love my wife and I am very proud of her and the mom and woman she has become.

I am really excited to have Able now. I am really grateful for my little family and my beautiful wife. They bring such joy into my life and make it so complete. This is truly what life is about.