Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Ava Adventures - Part 3: The Delivery

At around 9:30 or 10:00 Thursday night, Jamie's step-dad came out of the labor room and said, "They're ready for you. They're going to start the pushing."

I said, "Me?"

He said, "Yeah."

This had not been previously discussed. I knew that Jamie's mom and Cory would be in the room for the delivery but we never talked about me being in there. After everything was over, Jamie told me, "You just had to be in there. You just had to be."

If I haven't mentioned it, yet, Cory and Jamie were amazing throughout the whole day. Cory seemed like he had been birthing babies his whole life and Jamie was a real trooper through about seventeen hours of labor.

When I got in the room, the nurse told Jamie's mom to stand on one side and hold Jamie's right leg and told Cory to stand on the other side and hold Jamie's left leg. She told me to stand behind Cory. This was perfect for me. Since I had basically been sedated for Cory's birth and have never even watched a video of an actual birth, I thought that was the safest place to be in case I toppled over or something.

The nurse was amazing and told everyone their duties. My duties were to remain upright at all times. That wasn't as easy as it sounds. A couple of times, I had to assume the position of a catcher behind home plate. It wasn't that I felt faint, I just felt better squatting down for a moment.

Cory turned around and I assured everyone I was okay. I told them I was just sort of hyperventilating because I was reflexively breathing like Jamie. The nurse said that was very common which made me feel better. Once I realized what I was doing, I concentrated on not being an idiot and amazingly felt better. After that, it was all about the baby.

From where I was standing I watched the expressions of the doctor (a beautiful Middle Eastern woman) and the fabulous nurse for indications of how Jamie was doing with her pushing. Every time Jamie would push, they would smile and tell her how great she was doing. I knew all was good.

At one point, the nurse looked at me standing over to the side behind Cory and said, "I didn't mean you had to stay back there the whole time."

"Oh, I'm doing just fine," I said. "You knew exactly where to put me."

After pushing for about 45 minutes, it was time for Ava to make her grand entrance. The doctor said, "It's a girl." Lisa and I hollered, Cory and Jamie kissed, the doctor placed Ava on Jamie's chest and Cory cut the cord.

Quickly after that, Ava was handed over to the nursery nurse for weighing and measuring and all that other stuff she does under the watchful eye of Jamie's mom and I. We just couldn't quit saying how beautiful she was. When we turned back to Jamie, the doctor was doing all the things she needed to do for Jamie.

Lisa and I started discussing the people who were waiting out in the waiting room and talking about who should go tell them and were talking about calling them with our cell phones when Jamie said, "Cory, you want to go out there and tell everybody?" Duh! We were so excited, we almost stepped on Cory's big moment.

When Cory came back from telling everyone, Lisa and I went out to the waiting room and were promptly sent back to the delivery room to take pictures. Duh, number two. We hadn't taken any video or pictures.

That gets you all caught up, I believe. Just another day in paradise.

9 comments:

Mommy said...

What a wonderful story!

Donna said...

Congratulations, Laurie!

I was in the room for the birth of my youngest niece, and it's something I will never forget. Good for you!

Lorna said...

that story should have come with a soundtrack. BTW, Ava is a lovely name. Sarah wanted it for each of the girls, but Bruce had "associations" with it....

Laurie said...

Jen - :)

Donna - Thanks!

Lorna - It's a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl.

Susan in St. Paul said...

LOL! I am laughing with you not at you, really Laurie ;-)

What a cool birth! Glad you were able to remain upright too.

Anonymous said...

How exciting that you were there for the delivery! Sounds like a beautful experience. Congratulations!

Laurie said...

Susan - Thanks.

Leslie - It was amazing!

TBM said...

Laurie--What a great experience... thank you for sharing it with us! That baby is one lucky girl.

Laurie said...

Just... - Thanks. :)