A year ago today - a birth story - part 3 / the big finale

read part 1 here and part 2 here

just born

At 7.30 in the morning I was fully dilated and the most important and final part of the delivery was about to start.

The pain medication flowing into my veins was turned off, 

I was on some sort of morphine drip and wasn't allowed to use it during the final moments to make sure the baby wouldn't get it in his system, 

from there on out I suffered through all the primal pain a woman giving birth feels.

^ ^ ^ ^

During my preparation for the delivery I had read about the benefits of using a birth stool, 

so I asked if I could give that a try. 

I sat on it through two pushes but I felt so uncomfortable I begged to lie down on the bed again.

The next thirty minutes went by in blur, I remember pushing whenever I was allowed, 

and holding back when I was asked to.

The nurses and doctor and B. were all so encouraging and kept telling me how great I was doing but I kept thinking to myself  'there's no way I can do this, he will never come out'.

^ ^ ^ ^

After quite some time pushing I sensed B. and the doctor glancing towards the monitor that was attached to the baby's head, they had worried looks on their faces.

'The baby is in distress, his heart rate is dropping' our doctor told us. 'He needs to come out soon'.

She told B. and I that our baby was stuck behind a ridge and for him to come out I would need an episiotomy and that for the birth of our son a vacuum pump would be needed.

And so it happened, the incision was made, the pump inserted and with all of her might the doctor pulled out our boy. I was so full of adrenaline and excitement to meet our long awaited son I hardly felt any pain.

^ ^ ^ ^

At 8.47 on a sunny summer morning Micha came into this world, screaming and with a head full of hair.

He was placed onto my chest and I cried and laughed while I softly touched his head.

He was the most perfect thing I had ever layed eyes on.

B. kissed me with tears in his eyes and an exhausted yet ecstatic look on his face. 

We made it, we finally had our son!

^ ^ ^ ^

We spent a few minutes as a brand new family taking each other in, 

Micha looked at us with big curious eyes, he was so alert.

After a while the nurse took him and checked if everything was okay, 

she clothed him and brought him back to me.

And there we were, me and my men. 

The biggest adventure of our lives had finally begun.

it's been a good year

Love, Maria