Part 3 - Catch This

Continued from Part 2 - Contraction Action

So now that we have Mom-to-be in position it was time for the serious work of getting the baby out of her.
I'm not saying up until now was a picnic, or that Mom-to-be wasn't serious mind you. I'm only saying that now it's commitment time. No turning back. Going for broke. Giving 110%.
Ok, enough with the clichés, you get the idea.

The Midwife had some hot compresses and olive oil ready to massage the perineum. This technique is supposed to help prevent tearing. And for those of you who are thinking that an episiotomy will help prevent tearing, you might want to check out some recent studies that suggest that this is actually a bad idea and in some cases will help accelerate tearing.

Anyway, back to the story. So at about 1:30 everyone gets in position. I'm at my station talking to the wife and getting myself ready to lift the pillow during each push. Ok, I know that doesn't sound like much and in the grand scheme of things it really isn't , but it's all I'm really there to do. That and to be sure someone eats the meatloaf (see Contraction Action for more on that).
Funny thing I haven't mentioned up to this point. I started to notice that during each contraction while Mom-to-be was trying to relax. Her ears turned red. I could actually tell when a contraction was about to happen by looking at the shade of her ears.
So the first contraction; big contraction, hits and Mom-to-be bares down. We start to get a play by play from the staff at the receiving end, but from our angle there isn't much to see.
They do have a mirror on the ceiling for Mom-to-be to watch, but at this point we can't see much.

Now it's kind of a cruel joke for the Mom-to-be because during every push the baby comes out some, but then it ducks back in. After several minutes of pushing someone said they could see the head. So during some of the pushing I caught Mom-to-be trying to catch a glimpse of her baby through one eye as she was baring down. I have to say it's a really a good thing we saw SO many videos of birth in class. Simply put... "desensitization".
Birth; folks, is a VERY messy affair and you really want to be ready for it. The last thing I wanted to do was to scream, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" and then faint dead away.
Nope, that didn't happen. Instead I stood there and watched my baby being born, and I have to tell you that nothing can compare to that. Knowing that your partner would put forth this kind of effort to bring into the world a little one, that you both get to share. It's pretty humbling really. And also, there is no way she can ever say she is too tired to hike just a little further, because I now know better.
So, after pushing for just over an hour our little girl was born. I cut the cord and welcomed her into the world.
She cried and cried. I was so incredibly happy, I really can't put it into words.

So with that, I'll stop here.

Next up Part 4 - The Voyage Home

HikerDad