peltkore (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} peltkore) wrote,@ 2007-02-26 10:52:00 |
|
Sophia's Birth From My Perspective
Here, for all those who are wondering, is the story of my daughter's birth from my perspective. Enjoy!
It was Thursday, February 15, and I had come home from work at 5:10 pm as usual. Emily was complaining of more cramping and contractions, as she had for the past month or so. I was concerned, but didn't give it much thought, even though the birth was a few days past due. I was sort of just waiting for the real action to take place, I suppose.
Next, at around 8:00 pm, she complained of more intense cramping and some bleeding, so off we went to the hospital. They checked her out, told us she was dilated to 2 centimeters, and told us to go home and relax. Ah, well, this was good practice for the real thing.
We went home and I ate something, however Emily didn't eat anything due to the contractions. We decided to go to bed around 11:00 pm. I took the couch while she took the bed. I felt so sorry for her since the only position she felt comfortable in was sitting up in bed with her legs sort of slung over the side. I tried stroking her arm, but that turned out to be a mistake. She looked up at me in horror and told me not to touch her. Ah, yes, I remember reading about this in the birth books and in birthing class, hehe. Sigh.
So, I went to bed on the couch. I'm rather tall, so it was kind of uncomfy, but I did ok. About midnight or so, I woke up to the sound of the howling wind outside, the scratching of the rose bushes against the house, and the creaking of the house being pushed by the powerful wind outside. It was the first big wind storm we'd had in a long while. I got up and took a peek outside the window, expecting to see a blinding blizzard, but there wasn't a drop of precipitation in the air. So, I ambled back to the couch and tried to sleep through the gusts, fearing my windows would shatter any second. Yeah, I'm kind of paranoid, hehe. It was then that I thought, "hmm, babies are always born on blustery nights, aren't they? Egad."
Next, about 1:00 am (Friday) I was awoken by Emily telling me, from the hallway, that it was time to go. I asked her if she was sure and she told me her contractions were very intense and that she was leaking green stuff. The next part of this story is a little foggy to me since my brain isn't completely functional at that hour of the night, after getting about 3 hours of sleep, hehe. I got dressed, helped Emily get dressed (between contractions) and we slowly made our way outside to the car. We had to pause for about a minute after every few steps to allow a contraction to pass. I was quite patient with her while hoping that I wasn't going to have to deliver a baby in the car!
After arriving at the hospital, I parked the car in a parking space, and Emily promptly reminded me that I needed to pull up at the door since she didn't feel like walking too far... ah, yeah, I felt like a real dumbass, hehe. Then again, as I said before, I don't think very clearly at night, nor under pressure :-) After pulling up at the door, Emily instructed me to get a wheelchair and I told her later that I was really grateful to her for helping me stay on task, hehe. I then wheeled her on up to the labor and delivery floor and a nurse and I got her into bed.
Emily was now dilated to 4 centimeters. After hours of watching Emily wince from the contractions, breathing rapidly through each one, and helping her to the bathroom every now and then (the baby was really squishing her bladder) our midwife told us it might be a good time to give Emily a shower. I got into my swimming trunks that I had brought with us (yes, we'd packed a large suitcase full of everything we might need), we sat Emily down on a chair in the shower and I sprayed her down with warm water which she greatly enjoyed. I was so happy to give her a little comfort from her labor. After about 45 minutes of that, the time was about 5:25 am or so and Emily said she felt like she needed to use the bathroom. The midwife told her that she could after giving her another check.
The midwife found that the baby's head was starting to crown and she called in some nurses to help out. I was told that I didn't have time to dress and I was given a wash cloth to wet with cold water for Emily's forehead. After putting the wash cloth on Emily's glistening brow, I took a look down below and saw the very top of my daughter's head appearing and the feeling I felt was sort of a mixture of joy, fear, and anticipation mixed with high levels of adreneline and low levels of sleep, hehe. Next I felt tears come to my eyes as I saw Sophia's entire head emerge with another push. I just couldn't believe I was standing there, in my swimming trunks, finally watching my daughter being born after 9 months of anticipation. It almost felt like a dream. With some more pushing the baby was out and was placed on Emily's chest and Emily and I smiled from ear to ear at each other. Emily looked so beautiful, radiant, and happy and I told her so.
Here, for all those who are wondering, is the story of my daughter's birth from my perspective. Enjoy!
It was Thursday, February 15, and I had come home from work at 5:10 pm as usual. Emily was complaining of more cramping and contractions, as she had for the past month or so. I was concerned, but didn't give it much thought, even though the birth was a few days past due. I was sort of just waiting for the real action to take place, I suppose.
Next, at around 8:00 pm, she complained of more intense cramping and some bleeding, so off we went to the hospital. They checked her out, told us she was dilated to 2 centimeters, and told us to go home and relax. Ah, well, this was good practice for the real thing.
We went home and I ate something, however Emily didn't eat anything due to the contractions. We decided to go to bed around 11:00 pm. I took the couch while she took the bed. I felt so sorry for her since the only position she felt comfortable in was sitting up in bed with her legs sort of slung over the side. I tried stroking her arm, but that turned out to be a mistake. She looked up at me in horror and told me not to touch her. Ah, yes, I remember reading about this in the birth books and in birthing class, hehe. Sigh.
So, I went to bed on the couch. I'm rather tall, so it was kind of uncomfy, but I did ok. About midnight or so, I woke up to the sound of the howling wind outside, the scratching of the rose bushes against the house, and the creaking of the house being pushed by the powerful wind outside. It was the first big wind storm we'd had in a long while. I got up and took a peek outside the window, expecting to see a blinding blizzard, but there wasn't a drop of precipitation in the air. So, I ambled back to the couch and tried to sleep through the gusts, fearing my windows would shatter any second. Yeah, I'm kind of paranoid, hehe. It was then that I thought, "hmm, babies are always born on blustery nights, aren't they? Egad."
Next, about 1:00 am (Friday) I was awoken by Emily telling me, from the hallway, that it was time to go. I asked her if she was sure and she told me her contractions were very intense and that she was leaking green stuff. The next part of this story is a little foggy to me since my brain isn't completely functional at that hour of the night, after getting about 3 hours of sleep, hehe. I got dressed, helped Emily get dressed (between contractions) and we slowly made our way outside to the car. We had to pause for about a minute after every few steps to allow a contraction to pass. I was quite patient with her while hoping that I wasn't going to have to deliver a baby in the car!
After arriving at the hospital, I parked the car in a parking space, and Emily promptly reminded me that I needed to pull up at the door since she didn't feel like walking too far... ah, yeah, I felt like a real dumbass, hehe. Then again, as I said before, I don't think very clearly at night, nor under pressure :-) After pulling up at the door, Emily instructed me to get a wheelchair and I told her later that I was really grateful to her for helping me stay on task, hehe. I then wheeled her on up to the labor and delivery floor and a nurse and I got her into bed.
Emily was now dilated to 4 centimeters. After hours of watching Emily wince from the contractions, breathing rapidly through each one, and helping her to the bathroom every now and then (the baby was really squishing her bladder) our midwife told us it might be a good time to give Emily a shower. I got into my swimming trunks that I had brought with us (yes, we'd packed a large suitcase full of everything we might need), we sat Emily down on a chair in the shower and I sprayed her down with warm water which she greatly enjoyed. I was so happy to give her a little comfort from her labor. After about 45 minutes of that, the time was about 5:25 am or so and Emily said she felt like she needed to use the bathroom. The midwife told her that she could after giving her another check.
The midwife found that the baby's head was starting to crown and she called in some nurses to help out. I was told that I didn't have time to dress and I was given a wash cloth to wet with cold water for Emily's forehead. After putting the wash cloth on Emily's glistening brow, I took a look down below and saw the very top of my daughter's head appearing and the feeling I felt was sort of a mixture of joy, fear, and anticipation mixed with high levels of adreneline and low levels of sleep, hehe. Next I felt tears come to my eyes as I saw Sophia's entire head emerge with another push. I just couldn't believe I was standing there, in my swimming trunks, finally watching my daughter being born after 9 months of anticipation. It almost felt like a dream. With some more pushing the baby was out and was placed on Emily's chest and Emily and I smiled from ear to ear at each other. Emily looked so beautiful, radiant, and happy and I told her so.
