3 Midwives, 2 Babies, 1 Jeanie

   Val has two beautiful daughters. I, on the other hand, am sticking with puppies ( and a pig, when I can convince Rainer this is a great idea).  I do have a 10 year old brother & a 6 going on 18 year old sister; and a wonderful stepmother named Jeanie.
    One of my favorite things about our little blog is bringing information to people. Things they might be curious about or never even considered. Such as this  post, this  post and, THIS post (which could save your life).
  Keeping in that spirit, Jeanie answered some questions about the birth of  my brother & sister. She used midwives for both pregnancies & never needed a doctor. She answers all questions honestly from her own experience as only she could.

     Note to readers :
          1. Nick is her husband; my dad. 
          2. Jeanie, uses the term "sloshing around"
          3. She refers to giving birth as a "show". Its easy to see why I have the best step mom EVER!

1. You had both of your children delivered by a midwife. What made you choose a midwife over the more common OB/GYN?

I was looking for a woman OB/GYN, one that was local and naturally one that took my insurance.  Nick and I went to the initial appointment together. We knew without saying a word to each other that this was not a place for us. We waited over an hour. There only seemed to be the Dr. and someone at the desk. The office seemed uninviting and when I was told to put my “sample” in a dixie cup and leave it on top of the toilet, I should have walked out. We only stayed to hear our good news and never went back. 

2. How did you find your midwife? How did you hear about her/them & why did you end up choosing her/them?  I found them through the internet. I made an appointment and Nick and I interviewed them. We decided to go with a mid-wife to have a more natural experience. The place we chose had 3 mid-wives. We met them all and saw them one at a time for my appointments. I loved them all. It was nice to know that whoever was on duty one of them would be there for me. I didn’t have to worry if my Dr. would not be available.

3. What do you feel the benefits are of having a midwife over an OB/GYN?

They treat you like you are having a baby. That it is the most natural thing in the world. I felt like I was visiting a woman that went through the same thing I was going through and was well qualified to guide me.

4. Although you had a midwife you gave birth in a hospital. Is this common? Was an at home birth ever an option for you?

They were affiliated with our local hospital. I believe midwives have to have a Dr. that sponsors them. I never met their doctor since I had no complications during my pregnancies. I wanted to be in a hospital in case something went wrong with the birth. I never wanted to have my children at home. Although thinking back on it, Nick would have taken better care of me then the nurses up in the recovery room.

5. Did you need a special release from the hospital to have a midwife deliver your babies or was the midwife affiliated with the NY Methodist? (That is the hospital name right?) 

Yes, it was Methodist. No release was needed.

6. I was there both times you gave birth. We were allowed to stay in the room with you up until delivery. And it didn't seem like the hospital minded that we at some points had a lot of people in there. How do you think having family around benefited you while in labor? Or did we all just drive you nuts?

You didn’t drive me nuts at all! It was nice. You guys saw me through the whole 9 months. My side of the family was not really close enough to be involved. I suppose you could have stayed for the whole “show” but I’m to shy for that! Having family around sure does pass the time, especially when I have family that was excited as I was.

7. As I remember you received epidurals for both babies. Did the midwives, encourage or discourage this. Or did they really let you call the shots & kept their opinions to themselves?

They knew that Jackson was going to be big and I went into labor around 1:00 am. I didn’t sleep all night and went into the hospital around 9 in the morning. The mid wife came to see me right away and suggested it. I would not have the energy to push at the end. He was over 9 pounds. I also had one with Anna. I told them that I wanted to have an epidural and never felt like I was no less a woman. I really felt I was making my own decisions with informed guidance.

Side note here: When my dad heard Jeanie's answer he said" NOOO, that's not why you got the epidural with Jackson". He explained the labor stopped around 1 in the afternoon. The midwives were afraid that Jeanie would not have enough strength to make it if she didn't get some sleep. So they gave her the epidural when labor stopped so she could rest and be able to push when the labor started again; avoiding a C section. But she went back into labor around 2 still not having any sleep. Jeanie was surprised she forgot about that. In short Jeanie and my dad were both happy she had the epidural.

8. The hospital room you gave birth in I can only describe as the Batcave of maternity rooms. It looked like a hotel room, but at delivery time the bed broke away & lights literally came down from the ceiling. Did this setting make you feel more relaxed?

 I liked that I didn’t have to go anywhere like a delivery room. Everything was there. Too bad I couldn’t stay after giving birth. The recovery room was not comfortable. Since it was the evening by the time I got settled in there was not a lot of help from the night nurses and the woman next to me was snoring all night! Back to reality.

9. Is a maternity room like that available to all mothers to be at NY Methodist or did you get that room because of the midwife services?

Every mother gets a room like mine. Some actually have Jacuzzis. I did not partake in the Jacuzzi….didn’t want everybody to see me in my birthday suit sloshing around.

10. Would you change anything about your pregnancies and births with your midwives?

It all went as planned! I am pretty lucky. I still see them today for my yearly.


   After I wrote up this post i was on the phone with Jeanie talking about the days Jackson & Anna were born. Jeanie said she had fun answering the questions. She said " All women like talking about their births because its like I AM AMAZING". Can't argue with her there.