Dys *to * cia : noun
DYSTOCIA: slow or difficult labor or delivery. (From Greek dystokia)
I'm stuck. Like a wayward fetus or a uterus that doesn't quite have it going on yet --- something just ain't right. At times, I feel like I get in my groove and things start moving along; my rhythm is a-rockin'. And then... something happens to knock me right back down.
This makes me wonder, right from the start, how far back I'm going to have to go to "fix" things. Midwifery is supposed to - and I love this - "high touch, low tech". Me, on the other hand... I'm more of a "high tech, low touch" kind of girl... I've never been a hugger, and I'd much rather text or email than talk directly to someone. (Is it just me, or is it a generational thing?) With all of this stuff--- I can't think of a better term for it --- going on with the Midwife in the past couple of weeks, so many friends have been in touch, saying "Call me", "give me a call", "let's talk!", etc, etc... And it sounds sooo good, and promising... but I can't. I just can't. Instead, I send out a pathetic little email or text, promising to call later, or assuring them that everything is "better" now, or that it's figured out...
(If you are one of those who's been in touch --- I love you, you're awesome... please, please don't take it personally. It's definitely one of my flaws, and - like so many other things I have going on - I don't know how to fix it. Keep reading for more on this...)
The Midwife is picking up on this, at least somewhat. "I don't know how to communicate with you." She says. "I don't know if you're coming or going; you have to tell me." My RCC may have noticed; we have only talked on the phone once or twice, very, very briefly. As much as that one phone call reassured me (she called me after catching on from one of my self-evals that I needed to talk) - I still can't bring myself to call her. I know that I need to be the one reaching out, and yet... I can't. It's difficult to explain.
I know that it is holding up my labor, though; after all I have gone through this far, it is stalling my progress.
This week was, again, tumultuous. The Midwife and I just are not in sync. I can't figure out what she wants from me; we are both getting frustrated. I am trying, so hard, to be there early and to try to do what she expects from me, before she asks or prompts me - but instead, I do the "wrong" thing. My self-confidence is crumbling, and my exhaustion and sense of being overwhelmed is growing by the day. As with Murphy's (or is it Murray's?) Law, the three births that we had this week were all "abnormal" - a shoulder dystocia, a cord that abruptly broke from the placenta (which subsequently required a manual removal), and a postpartum hemorrhage following an OP babe. How much of these outcomes had to do with my management (Too much traction on the cord? Did I let the placenta sit a moment too long at the introitus, letting clots build in the lower segment?), and how much was sheer dumb coincidence, is of course impossible to say. (I know the traction was, if anything, light... and the placenta was *just* at the introitus... but I also believe in the whole positive/negative vibes kind of stuff --- and I have not been riding a positive wave lately, believe me!).
So this is where we are at. As we were leaving yesterday - literally, over the course of about five minutes - the Midwife just barely started to talk to me. She asked if I had any questions, and then said she would "email me" again; then started to sigh a bit. It was good, to the point that at least we had some honest, face-to-face communication. It was not so good, of course, for the reasons above; face-to-face communication is not my strong suit. Between the exhaustion, the migraine that was kicking in, and just everything finally catching up - I started tearing up and was soon blubbering like an idiot --- very embarrassing but, on the other hand, I think a very honest reaction. It, unfortunately, made it hard to communicate any of my thoughts/concerns back to the Midwife, and ultimately made it a very one-sided (short) discussion.
Her concerns (think of them as a bit of Pitocin, if you will - hopefully, they will stimulate me to get moving and back on track): I need to keep her updated with what I'm doing, and I need to be more prompt. (I know these things... somehow, the one-hour commute has gotten worse and worse; staying somewhere during the week and only doing clinicals - and then driving home for the weekend - is starting to sound much, much better... As I described in a response email to the Midwife, my children are like sweet little eels, and they hang on me literally as I'm walking out the door most mornings.) I don't seem interested, and I just seem tired. (I don't even know where to go with this. I am exhausted, and I'm overwhelmed. This ain't gonna change, any time soon...) I'm going backwards. (Again, I feel like I'm going backwards in some areas...?!?!)
So, here we are. I've emailed her back; I need to be in touch with my RCC, but at this moment in time, I just can't bring myself to do it. The Mini-est and I are just vegging for now (I'm thinking a late lunch - delivery?), and that's how I want to keep it for a few hours anyway. I've se
nt out a couple "feelers" to try to find another clinical site for another perspective. I've also sent out a couple of resumes for CNM openings around the state - although I'm not especially hopeful about them (my being "ready" by June came up in the brief conversation the Midwife & I had as well...), it did give me something to do - and managed to shower and get myself and the Mini dressed.
I'll keep you posted. One way or the other, things do keep moving forward... I don't think there's an option of a cesarean in this situation (although, maybe being "taken out" of this site and heading to
a different one could being symbolically viewed that way.... I'm not even going to go there...) If you are the kind of person that does anything like this, I could use some kind of confidence/stress-busting/calming vibes... I know that this is the kind of thing that I make ten times worse myself, and I need to knock that crap off and get back on track.
Speaking of, I need to bring the Bears back out... http://onedeliciousdelivery.blogspot.com/2011/
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