Hey folks, husband here with a different, but in many ways the same perspective on the birth of our child. As the wife indicated in the previous post, she was going to a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment with my mother in-law and I was to stay at home and work. The girls planned on having lunch afterwards and I was looking forward to the possibility of them bringing me something to eat.I was on a conference call for a meeting I was running and my phone rang. It was my mother in-law, but being busy I sent it to voice mail. Then a text arrived from the wife stating that her water broke and it was time for childbirth.
"Jumping Jesus," I cried out. "I'm going to be a daddy. I gotta go." The others on the call ordered me to hang up on them and get my ass to the hospital. This was around 11 am.
I called my wife and she sounded happier than I've ever heard her before. She asked that I grab some last minute items and hurry over to the hospital. I took a quick shower, got dressed, scrambled around the house, double and triple checking that I had everything, loaded it into my wife's car, and drove like I was part of the Andretti family to the Centennial Medical Center.
I arrived and gathered belongings and made my way to my wife's room. She was sitting up with a pleasant look and seemed excited about the upcoming event. I take note of the environment we were in, and made sure I was aware of the surroundings. I made a mental image of where everything was going to happen and tried to prepare myself for my first child.
Hours go by and visitors came and went. Finally after much discussion, the wife decided an epidural was in order. The anesthesiologist appeared and discussed the process with alarming detail. We were told all that could go right and wrong, and even got a little chemistry lesson. He urged me not to look at her back while he's injecting the needle, as he assumed I would pass out. He told me how many fathers go limp when they see a syringe the size of a javelin in her spine. I took his advice as he repeated the warning multiple times.
The wife hunched over and the doctor did his thing. Sadly the needle went too far into her spine, so the labor pains were gone, but she got a terrible headache and had some back spasms. It was so bad the nurse had to come into the room every half hour or so to turn her to a more comfortable position.
The hours went by and I realized this will go well into the night, if not the early morning. Family started to arrive and I prepared them that if they stay there will be no sleep for anyone involved, which turned out to be true. The wife's headaches and back spasms got worse and we were moving her with more frequency.
I did little errands such as grabbing ice and popsicles, the only nourishment she was allowed, as I drank enough coffee that would normally kill a horse. The wife, her friend, my sister in-law, and my mother in-law all speculated on her dilation and kept trying to guess when exactly the baby would arrive. This discussion went on for what seemed like forever, until the nurse finally came in and checked the wife. She wasn't near ready just yet.
A few hours roll by and more discussion between the ladies ensued about my wife's cervix. The wife was still uncomfortable do to her epidural side effects, but thankfully the nurse checked her again and decided it was time to have a baby.
Now during the childbirth class the instructor informed the men how the days of pacing and chain smoking in a waiting room while the wife gives birth are over and that we'll be required to be a coach to our better halves during the process. In my mind I pictured me holding the wife's hand and giving breathing cues, just like in the movies, but nothing could be further from reality.
Two nurses came in and kicked out everyone but my mother in-law and myself. They prepared for the pushing and ordered my in-law and I to grab one of my wife's legs and push it up against her, which proved to be a nice little workout. The nurses monitored her contractions, told her to push, told us to start pushing her legs and coax her into pushing harder, wash, rinse, repeat.
One of the nurses decided it would be a great idea to start a tug of war. She grabbed a bed sheet and tied a knot in each end and threw one to the wife while the nurse grabbed the other. A contraction hit and they tugged for a bit, then the nurse stated she was too old to be doing this and threw her end of the sheet to me.
Ye gods I was to be tugging on this? I'm stronger than my wife, so I imagined my wife letting go and sending me flying into medical equipment behind me with scalpels and what not being lodged into my throat, but thankfully this did not transpire.
This was the first time I was about to see my daughter's exit point. Now I was always worried how I would react to see my wife's nethers being stretched to the point that may seem almost inhuman. Would I pass out? Would I run out of the room screaming gibberish and pouring liquid soap into my eyes?
Actually it wasn't bad at all. I knew what to expect and knowing that I was about to see my daughter for the first time really made every aspect of this experience wonderful. As I was informed earlier, the technology behind child birth really hasn't changed in forty years, so everything was going normally. That being said my nerves really started to get the better of me, and this is where my wife and I differ. A mother only worries about the safety and health of her child during birth, whereas a father worries about both the mother and baby. The terror of the small possibility of losing them both was starting to rattle me, even though the probability was slim to none, it still made me want to steal some medical morphine and inject it under my tongue.
Finally we could see the top of my daughter's head. The nurses called the doctor at the unholy hour of 3:30 am. We waited for the doctor to arrive and I sat there wondering how my baby's head was doing. The OBGYN finally came into the room and prepared for the delivery. The wife pushed a bit more and the doctor turned my daughters head and pulled her out.
It was then my nerves peaked. My daughter's not saying anything. Is that normal? What the hell was she doing to my baby girl? Should she twist her head like that? Do I have to punch someone? Finally Kenadie took her first breath and cried her first cry. A rush of adrenaline went through me and I felt higher than Keith Richards ever could attain.
Kenadie wasn't exactly camera ready at that point, as she was covered in dark liquids and looked all alien like. They placed her on my wife's belly and cleaned her up, then took her and cleaned her some more and checked vitals and what not.
The adrenaline finally wore off and I got to take in all that was happening with a somewhat sound mind. My baby was finally here after so much waiting. She was healthy and beautiful. My wife was happier than she'd ever been in her life. The nurses handed my little girl to me and I got to hold her for the first time. I looked at my wife and realized how lucky a man I am. I've never been more proud of her.
I looked down at my little baby and saw some traits that she got from me, which was surreal, but amazing at the same time. She was now our little baby, and we're no responsible for her health and welfare.
To be continued....
"On the one hand, we'll never experience childbirth. On the other hand, we can open all our own jars." - Bruce Willis
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