Another piece of the birth story

There could be dozens of footnotes to the birth story of Monkey3, and here's a bit that somehow did not get in the original post.

My water never broke.

Despite the dramatic notion, reinforced by movies and at least one family member's birth story, that the water breaks first and spectacularly, and then labor starts, this is not always the case. It could be a leak or a dribble, and more often it happens during labor. And this time for me, it did not; Monkey3 was born in the amniotic sac.

That was part of the reason for this exchange:

I remember the midwife saying, "Maria, catch the baby."

"No!" I said.

"Maria, catch the baby!" she yelled, and so I reached down and did, lifting the slippery little person right up and on to my warm chest.

The midwife could see through the sac that the cord was around the baby's neck, not tightly, but she needed her hands to take care of that, not catching the baby.

Having a baby born still in the amniotic sac is rare, and my midwife noted the fact on Monkey3's birth paperwork -- "born in the caul." Traditions about this range from having good luck for life, never drowning, destined for midwifery, or having unusual intuitive powers. For fans of Charles Dickens, note that David Copperfield was "born in the caul" and devotes several paragraphs to this in his book. (Thank you Internet -- my husband read me the section the evening after Monkey3 was born.)

However in addition to the rarity of Monkey3's veiled entrance to the world, it was medically significant for us. I was GBS positive (Group B streptococcus, a common bacterial infection), and by virtue of the intact sac, Monkey3 was protected from being affected by this.

In a hospital setting, laboring GBS positive mothers are given antibiotics. My midwife is not allowed by state law to carry some medicines, so she advises her mamas to use a Hibiclens solution, rinsing at the onset of labor, then when the membranes rupture, and then every six hours. (Someone in our Bradley class asked their hospital midwife, during a prenatal visit, about using a Hibiclens solution instead of antibiotics -- which increase the risk of yeast infection, and then thrush -- and was was told that while the Hibiclens solution is just as effective, antibiotics are cheaper, so that's what the hospital does.) We had the solution ready, but only used it when labor started. At one point I recall wondering, "Hasn't it been six hours? Shouldn't I rinse again?" But I figured someone else was keeping track. Other people were; it simply wasn't needed.

So how did it not break?

Luck, and...

My midwife said, "It was all that Nora Tea you were drinking!" This was a mixture of raspberry leaf, nettles, alfalfa, and oat straw, which was part of my prenatal care under the midwife. Among her reasons for recommending it were its promotion of healthy tissues, reducing tearing and preventing hemorrhaging. I developed a taste for the tea and was drinking two quarts a day towards the end of my pregnancy.

My Bradley childbirth instructor said, "It was all that protein!" A hundred grams a day, as part of the recommended Brewer's Dietary guidelines.

So Monkey3 was born at home, and born in the caul, and of course, to us, special beyond those unusual details.