I had no clue what I was doing and I was completely numb from the epidural but could still feel pressure. The nurse had me get up in the bed and prop up my legs in the stirrups so my whole pie was right in her face (-500 pride points). Watching the contraction monitor, she told me when to push. You take a deep breath, hold it and push as hard as you can for 10 counts. Repeat two more times for best results. I still couldn't feel anything, other than the pressure of him moving down. The long tight journey babies take is kind of like two steps forward, one step back, so when you're pushing you can start to see his head and then he gets sucked back in. After 15 minutes of pushing, our main nurse told the other nurses to tell the doctor to hurry up, as I was pushing better than expected and the baby was very close. I was so excited, especially since I wasn't feeling any pain!
Chris was brave enough to look down, and he was wowed every single time I was pushing. I never figured him to be someone who would want to watch that, but something about the moment and he got swept up. The nurses even asked for a phone so they could take pictures of his reactions each time I pushed! After about 30 minutes of more pushing, the nurse was starting to get agitated that the doctor wasn't there yet, and so was I; I think I could have pushed him right out in less than 30 minutes but had to slow down for the doctor. But again, no pain, so I was a-ok and in no rush.
The doctor finally showed up, and I pushed for about 5-7 more minutes until I saw his little head come out! What a strange, amazing, somewhat gross experience it is to look down at your lady bits and see a miniature human head!! (+500 curiosity points). The doctor told me I could stop pushing as my uterus was contracting and pushing the baby the rest of the way out. And then, there was a baby...who had managed to both poop and pee upon his exit into the world! When they put him on my chest I was covered in poop and baby pee, but I didn't care at all. He was incredible, and I had gotten him here. They clamped off the cord, offered it to Chris to cut, who dumbfoundedly declined, so I cut it myself and held him while they cleaned him off.
The hospital we chose has something called the Golden Hour. The nurses take the vitals and such of the baby while you hold onto him and look at him in astonishment. So many emotions at this point; relief that he was here and seemed perfect, amazement at what the human body can do, and an immediate bond of love that will last a lifetime. He was all cleaned up and the doctor was stitching me so I decided to take our first picture together and I don't look like complete garbage (+250 pride points).
After he was all cleaned off, it was time for the shots. Chris went over to helicopter and ask questions about what they were doing, what was it for, etc - the concerned father. Meanwhile, in all my glory, I was getting cleaned up, which was so awkward because while I could feel my legs, I couldn't move them. So this poor nurse was trying to change out the pads with all the...bio-hazardous...fluids on it, and had to roll my lifeless lower body all around on the bed (-20 pride points). Here's a nice picture of my proud husband (+500 pride points):
We hung out for awhile while the numbing wore off, and we were transferred to our recovery suite where we spent the next moments of our adventure: the babymoon period.
***Serious shout out to all the nurses out there. I've never had experiences with medical staff aside from regular check-ups, so this was sort of my first, and they are the most selfless people on the Earth. Our main nurse Lisa was a godsend; her shift was 7am to 7pm so she was basically with us the entire time. She cleaned up my vomit, my...bio-hazardous...fluids and essentially delivered my baby, all the while giving calm encouragement in an easy-going, caring manner. I was so grateful to her that I brought her a bottle of champagne and a giftcard, though that is only a fraction of the appreciation I have for her and others in her profession.
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