Time flies when you're waiting on a baby

I haven't posted since May 8, which was a client's due date. Today is June 1. I had a ton of stuff going on between then and now, much of which I tried to put off until after the client had her baby. For example, I planned to attend a homeschooling conference but didn't want to make formal plans to go until after my client had her baby. Same with contacting another client who is due in August. Same with planning a party for my birthday, which was May 23.

My client went to 42 weeks 4 days.

What I have learned from this experience is that I need to calm down and not avoid living my life because I'm on-call. They all have babies. I have babysitters set up. Everything works out just fine. (I have never missed a birth except for the sand-road situation with Leigh, which was not my fault.) But not sleeping and stressing out because I'm waiting is not good for me. Or my family. Or my friends, or Leigh, to whom I whined about my dilemma.

However, I did not skip my birthday trip to NY state, where I got a new puppy! Yes, my first puppy. Her name is Maizey and she is a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, with many many champions in her immediate family (in fact, nearly everyone for three generations back). I have always had older dogs from the Humane Society, so I was a little nervous about getting a puppy, but she's doing very well. Along with my AAMI books and literature, I'm reading Dr. Ian Dunbar's book "Before and After You Get a Puppy," and "The Art of Raising a Puppy," by the Monks of New Skete. I'm following all the rules, and in return, she's having very few accidents (none today!) and chewing only appropriate chewtoys, and sleeping in her crate when I can't keep my eye on her and at night. I plan to show her and try to finish her. The breeder, Kate Roberson of Hagaren Cardigans, was very kind and generous, and if I am able to title Maizey, and if she is breedable, I'd like Kate to breed her. If she wants to, of course.

(Aside: my birthday trip was when I was technically off-call, as I'm on-call til 42 weeks, and my birthday was at 42 weeks 1 day. I did set up a back-up doula, just in case.)

Leigh gave me my first bit of constructive criticism, which was a terrifying moment for me. She had said, "I need to talk to you about something," and my first thought was, "Aw fuck, what did I do?" LOL. We have been in the honeymoon phase, as Carla refers to it in "Helping Hands," where it's all sunshine and compliments and she's the best preceptor ever and I'm the best apprentice ever. (I am probably the funniest apprentice ever.) Leigh had some genuine concerns about maintaining my (slow, but steady) progress and not moving too fast in clinical practice before I get there in academic study. Totally valid stuff. The initials "CD" and "CBE" behind my name really mean very little when it comes to midwifery (perhaps I've mentioned this before?) and I am really starting from square one, just like everyone else. She was very kind and I felt like an idiot for being so worried. That's always how I feel when someone says, "I need to talk to you;" I always assume I've done something completely wrong and I rack my brain trying to come up with whatever it is, and then when it turns out that I haven't ruined the world, I think, Oh. Right. Just like stressing about being on-call, I need not to stress when it's time to receive constructive criticism. It's just information really, that can help me to improve. Leigh and I have the same goal, which is to prepare me for being a licensed midwife.

Here is another picture of Maizey. Her AKC registered name is Hagaren's Maizey Rockstar. My kids picked the middle name Rockstar.