My Birth Story - Part VI

And now for the final installment you've all been waiting for. What will you do with your time once Hadley has been born? Well you could come over and change a few diapers.

7:30am - The Doctor watched the monitor and told me that we were ready to push. I looked at everyone incredulous because I did not feel ready to push. I also felt under prepared. Libby held back my left leg and DG held back my right leg. I was instructed to keep both hands under my thighs, take a deep breath, press my chin to my chest and push 3 times for each contraction. I think at this point we started joking about the movie "Knocked Up".

7:33am - My favorite Decemberists song, The Island started. It is 12 minutes long and brought us through the entire birth.

Here I am ready to push. This picture was taken at 7:34.



7:35am - I'm not sure where the time went. Each time I pushed I got cheers of encouragement. It was like being at a sporting event with a giddy crowd and spirit building cheerleaders.

7:38am - I asked if anyone had a mirror because I suddenly wanted to see the carnage south of the border. There was no mirror, however the doctor told me to reach down and feel the top of her fuzzy head. I will never forget that moment. As I felt around, I also realized that it was probably best that we did not have a mirror.

7:42am - I think we went through 5 contractions total before Hadley came out. It felt like I only pushed a couple of times. In the beginning, the Doctor was telling me when to push, however after a few contractions, my body took over and I told him, “Here it goes, I’m pushing now.” Hadley came out eyes wide open, blinking. The NICU nurses grabbed her immediately and it felt like forever before I heard her cry for the first time.



As I watched her get cleaned on a table next to me, the doctor started pushing on my stomach to get the placenta out. He told me that I had torn a little, but it wasn't too bad and I only needed two stitches. He also said that my rear was quite swollen. I didn't care, I just wanted to hold my baby. I have no recollection of getting the stitches.

7:45am - All phones started ringing off the hook. It's as if everyone was awake, on their way to work and wanting to know if we had a baby.

7:50am - The doctor brought a big bloody bucket over and showed me my placenta and umbilical cord. It reminded me of that time at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts that the lucky crowd got to watch a cow give birth followed by the cow eating her after birth. Barf. I did not have the same desire.



7:51am At last, she's mine, FOREVER.



I just noticed in the picture above that you can see my bra strap and cup hanging out around my arm. This is a true life story.