Birth in Sohar, Oman

The following birth story was written by a couple living in Sohar, Oman (about two hours from Muscat).

"Eliana is almost 6 weeks old. It's taken longer than we thought but finally we are posting her birth story. It was an exciting story- here's the details, not too gory but be warned...

To Eliana, Your Birth Story

My dear daughter,

Your coming into the world was exciting and your mom and I wanted to write it down before our memories of your birthday faded.

We went to bed about midnight. A little before 1 AM, I remember waking up because Mom got up to go to the bathroom. When she came back, she breathed a deep sigh and looked very uncomfortable. Since that was the third time in half an hour that she had gone to the bathroom, we both wondered if you were coming.

We both got up and went downstairs. Mom wanted to see if this was real labor or false labor. We didn’t want to wake up our midwife friend Auntie Lynnie if this wasn’t the real thing. I was excited even though we were both tired. Mom sat on a silver rubber exercise ball as she labored through each contraction. At 1:30 AM Mom decided to call Auntie Lynnie. Halfway through the conversation, another contraction came and Mom couldn't talk through it. At that point, we all knew it was time to go to the hospital.

I rushed upstairs to get the suitcase that we had packed for the hospital. It took me a few minutes to finish gathering everything. Your big brother was sleeping in a Pack-n-Play. I knocked on our friends' bedroom door (who we were staying with) to tell them we were leaving for the hospital. Suddenly, Mom called up, "Jon, come down here!" I dropped the suitcase and rushed downstairs. By the way that Mom yelled, I knew something big had happened.

When I arrived downstairs, Mom said, "My water broke. Get me a towel." I grabbed two towels from the kitchen. (Side note: This was much better than when Josiah was born because I only gave Mom two small Kleenex when her water broke.) After giving Mom the towels, I turned to go back up the stairs when your mom let out a big groan, "Ooohhh!"

I turned to see that your mom had taken off her pants and was reclining on the floor. I looked down to see a circle of dark hair, your hair. In that second, a thousand thoughts raced quickly through my mind as time stood still. "This isn't happening. I don't know what to do. This isn't the movies! I'm a man, another woman should do this." In a moment, I called loudly, "Solva!"

Mom, being the amazing woman that she is, let out a deep exhale as another contraction passed and said calmly to me, "Jon, you can do this." Those words gave me all of the confidence I needed. I bent down and said, "What do you want me to do?" Mom was really concerned about not bleeding on Solva's carpet in their living room, so she wanted lots of towels under her.

I knew from our experience with Josiah that I needed to apply pressure to your head to keep it from coming too fast. One push from Mom and I could see your forehead. Another push and I saw your eyes. Another one and there was your mouth. One last push and your whole head was out. It was amazing holding your head in my hands.

Mom calmly said, "Wait." In my mind, I am thinking, "Wait?!? We got to get this baby out now!" Then, Mom reached down and said, "I have to check for the cord." In total awe of your mom's presence of mind, I stared dumbfounded. In the middle of the pain and pushing, Mom was so careful as she checked to see if your umbilical cord was wrapped around your neck. When you didn’t come right after that she said, "Jon, lift up." That helped your shoulder come out.

I lifted up and you rushed into my hands. Mom said, "Do you have her?" I cried out, "Yes." Solva started crying and saying, "This is so amazing." Within a few seconds, you cried out, then Mom and I rejoiced together. We laughed, maybe cried and smiled. It was a beautiful moment as we wrapped you up and tried to dry you off. You were messy and warm, but a beautiful miracle. (No one looked at the clock but we guess the time of your birth was 1:53 AM.)

After the warmth of the emotions swept over us and you were comfortably laying in your Mom's arms, I looked down to notice that your umbilical cord was still inside Mom and a dark thought came into my mind, "Delivering Eliana was easy, but delivering the placenta, that's disgusting and I don't want to do it." I asked Victoria what to do, and she said it would be fine. Mom did get the after-birth shivers which is normal.

About that time, Auntie Lynnie arrived. She didn't know the way to the house so Klaement had rushed off to find her. When Lynnie came in the door, she was surprised and excited for us. I was relieved because I could let the professional take over. Solva asked us for the third time, "Do you want me to boil some water?" We said, "No."; but she did anyway. The placenta came about fifteen minutes after your birth and Lynnie did a professional job delivering it. We put the placenta into a plastic grocery sack.

We packed Mom and you up in the back of our Toyota Yaris and drove slowly to the hospital with Aunt Lynnie following us. After a ten minute trip, we walked into the hospital. Mom was holding you in one hand and the bag with the placenta in her other hand. It was quite a sight."

Childbirth Community in Oman

Well, we had our first childbirth class last week. We talked about the anatomy of pregnancy and childbirth. Using an anatomically correct pelvis, uterus, placenta and baby, we talked about the ideal positions (for the baby) in labor and what happens as the cervix dilates and the the baby descends into the birthing canal. The fathers were fascinated:) We did some pre-natal yoga and some exercises for helping the baby engage properly. Then we did a little birth art. All the mothers in the class are going through birth for the second time. I had them paint or draw a picture of what they felt like during the most intense moments of their previous labor. We all enjoyed sharing our stories with one another. :)

When I first started forming this ante-natal class series, I was simply responding to a need in the local community. One of the unexpected outcomes is that I have been contacted by several different women who work in the birthing community. I hope that this will be the beginning of a gathering of like minds, of other women--midwifes, doulas, breastfeeding advocates, etc.---who are anxious to network together to improve childbirth and early motherhood here in Oman.  I have been contacted by a CNM, a Professional Midwife, a Doula and other mothers who are excited for this new opportunity. I am hoping to gather everyone together in the near future to form a birthing community network for Oman. If you are interested in helping or joining or have suggestions, please let me know. I'll update as things develop :)

NEW CHILDBIRTH CLASSES IN MUSCAT

I'm excited to announce a new childbirth education class here in Muscat, Oman. This will be a mix of the best: well, at least what I think is the best, from Bradley Method, HypnoBirthing, Birthing From Within and other schools of thought. Primarily, I want participants to come away from the class with a lot of practical knowledge and skills that will help them navigate all the possible curve balls that pregnancy and labor can throw at you! And the best way to do that, is to know what options are out there so that you can adapt to the circumstances.

Tuesday Nights, 7-9 pm beginning Oct 19th-Nov 9th. I'm offering a bargain deal since this is my first set of classes here in Muscat: OMR 50 for 4/ 2-hr. classes. Email me at: muscatmums@gmail.com if you are interested.

Let's Play Waterbirth

I grew up believing in motherhood. My mom always made her children a priority. Whenever I asked her about childbirth though, her recollections were vague. I don’t know if years of motherhood, pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing had taken its toll on her memory, or if she was just trying to spare me some of the more uncomfortable details. I’m sure it did have something to do with being the seventh of those nine children.  I don’t remember her exact words, but whatever she told me about childbirth, taught me that it was a rite of passage, an opportunity for a woman to be challenged beyond her perceived limits and discover her potential power. She also told me that giving birth to her nine children was like walking through the “valley of the shadow of death.” It painted an interesting picture in my head, but lacked the details I wanted as I approached the birth of our first child. 

I want to pass on all of these same beliefs to my children, and add to it some more practical detail about the physical and emotional process of childbirth.  I don’t want birth to be mysterious or scary. I want them to respect the miracle of participating in the creation of life while at the same time being confident and comfortable with the process of childbirth. I want them to know that birthing is normal and not a medical emergency.

So far my children think of birth as a pretty normal topic to talk about and apparently to make believe about.  Today my 10 yr old (A) “married” my six yr old (O) and four year old (C).  After suitably settling down, (O) and (C) then announced to me that they were having a baby. Two minutes later, “O” walked past me wearing a T-shirt and underwear. She had a baby doll stuff up under her T-shirt. “A” explained to me that “O” was nearing the end of her labor, and heading for the birthing tub-the large tub in the master bathroom.  A few minutes later, “O” emerged with the doll wrapped in a sling and told me she was nursing her new baby. I couldn’t help but chuckle. I’m sure we’ll have many more discussions in the future, but for now, I’m glad they can say: “Let’s play waterbirth.”

Patience please...

This is a new blog, still in its conception. More to come soon!