Mara Rae-A Birth Story Part 4

The pushing stage brought so much relief.  I finally felt like I could give into the natural urges my body had been having for the last few hours.  It took me a little bit to get the hang of pushing.  My instincts had me taking a deep breath in and exhaling through the push.  This really didn't give me any momentum to make any progress.

Josh cuts the cord.  She's here!

They put her on my stomach for the first time

So after a few contractions and some coaching from Josh, I was finally making some progress with each push.  Its so strange how much relief you get from active labor when you enter this stage.  Being able to do something with the contractions, knowing that you will meet your baby soon, just gives you this huge wave of new motivation.

Getting checked out

Daddy getting some skin on skin time

I don't remember pain during this stage.  Sure there was some stretching and pressure but no pain.  For the most part I did most of my pushing from my back; one position I didn't want to be in.  I expressed this and the nurses were great in getting me set up on the bar.  Even though the bar was more difficult I felt like the extra gravity got things moving again in my favor.

Look at those neck muscles

After they brought her back to me

She knows who her mama is

The pushing seemed to go on forever but in reality it was only an hour.  I didn't realize it at the time but our doctor had to come in and out during this period.  He wasn't allowed to spend more than a certain time period on the floor but came in special to deliver our little girl.  For the most part I pushed with Sherri, a nurse on staff, Doris Ann and Josh.

First family picture

Not happy about getting her vitals done

Loving her first bath

When we were close, Dr. Swift came back and suited up.  She was right there and they were able to bring in a mirror so I could see the progress I was making.  As much as I wanted to watch her be born, I honestly couldn't push with my eyes open.  I heard the doctor say she was OT (which I had no idea what that was at the time) and tell me to really give it my all.  After the fact I learned that OT means she was looking sideways instead of down like most babies.  In approximately 90% of first time moms, this condition usually results in a c-section.

Clean hair!

In the next push she was out.  Or more so was shooting across the room (in Josh's words).  I felt immediate relief and disbelief that she was here.  We had a daughter!  The next few minutes flew by as Dr. Swift put her up on my belly for a few brief seconds before taking her to get aspirated.  She had pooped inside the womb and they wanted to make sure there wasn't anything in her lungs.  She also had the cord wrapped around her neck and extra amniotic fluid in her lungs so it was good for her to be checked out.

Dressed and ready to go to the mother baby unit

I had some minor tearing and needed stitches so while Dr. Swift attended to me, Josh got some skin on skin time with our little girl.  We couldn't believe how alert she was.  She was wide awake and already demonstrating her awesome neck control.

The next few hours in recovery flew by as we treasured every second with Mara.  We listened to her first hic-ups outside the womb and just stared at this beautiful being we had created.  I felt so blessed that we were able to deliver her naturally, with the help of Dr. Swift and Doris Ann.  Although there were some things that didn't go exactly as planned we were for the most part able to get the experience we desired.  And most importantly we have a healthy baby girl (and mama) to show for it!