I'm beat.
It still sometimes surprises me just how exhausted I am after a birth. How am I gonna be able to do this when I'm old? It's the combination of the middle of the night calls, jumping out of bed, rushing off in the freezing cold, going without food and water for hours, feeling like my bladder is about to explode, giving counterpressure until my arms shake, cheerleading for hours on end, not to mention the emotional toll of being invested in a family's life-changing experience, being responsible for two lives, and worrying about whether my charting (just in case) will hold up in court and keep me from losing my home.
As soon as I get through my front door, I just drop. After a hot shower, I have this strong wild craving for the warmest, most fattening food possible. After today's birth, I splurged on nachos with a side of refried beans. It hit the spot.
Now, it's time to hit the sack and hope I can get at least a few hours of sleep before the next call. Midwifery is such a crazy lifestyle. But, I still love it.
3 comments:
you give up so much of yourself mentally and physically, i'm not suprised that your body needs that rest afterwards. i couldn't do it --- BRAVA to you!
and i just now realized that that's a huge difference between homebirth midwife and hospital midwife. at the hospital, you have shifts but for a homebirth, it's all you all the way.
dk
Totally. Hence the bumper sticker, "Midwives do it all night long." :)
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