The clock shows 10:00 pm... I've kicked everyone out of the room except for Tom, my nurse Becky, and Dr. Probst (who didn't actually make his appearance until closer to 10:30). Tom was my left stirrup, Becky was my right. When a contraction began, Tom began counting to 10 three times. Each count, I took a deep breath, tucked my head into my chest, and pushed/crunched down as hard as I could. The last few seconds of each rep, my stomach would contract so hard that I'd start to retch - not throw up - just dry heave. Becky said that if I needed to throw up, I had to do it in a cup because she did not want to clean it up. She was the coolest nurse ever with rad hair and tattoos. She was probably in her late twenties and she was so easygoing that it kept me calm and focused. Tom was the lucky cup holder... and he did his best to catch!!!
She came out with an arm and umbilical cord kind of wrapped around her head - which meant an episiotomy for mommy - but look at how beautiful she is!!! She was worth every second of pain and every stitch! While the staff was cleaning her up, she passed her first poopie! My mom and tom's mom were able to watch while she was being cleaned and checked by the nurses. (At first, when I heard their voices, I admit that I freaked out. I hadn't gotten to see her yet and it was killing me that they got to see her before I did... I kind of yelled at them to get out of the room... Pat began to leave, but my mom held her there and said HECK NO, we're not going anywhere. And I'm glad they didn't - it was just a gut reaction of "she's MY baby"...)
She weighed in at 8 lbs 11.2 ounces... a very healthy birthweight! Her cries sounded healthy to me - but she had a bit of a gurgle. Apparently, she took a breath or two inside of me towards the end of the labor, so she got some amniotic fluids in her lungs. They told me that I could try to nurse her for a moment, but that she would need to go to the NICU for monitoring to make sure that she got the fluids cleared out of her lungs. She would be brought to my room within two to four hours.
I got to hold her for about two minutes - but it was enough to fall completely in love with her.