When it was time to push, I was a little nervous. My doctor stayed in the room the ENTIRE time I was doing my thing. I think a) she thought I would push that baby out in no time, or b) she was worried about my double placentas and wanted to be there in case of an emergency. I think some people really get the hang of pushing, and others do not. I was the latter. I'll admit that I pretty much sucked at pushing. I thought I would be good - I have an athletic background! I work out! I have strength! I have energy!! I even worked out during my pregnancy which they say helps with labor/pushing. WRONG. At that point, I may have lacked in the strength and energPublish Posty department. Not sleeping for many many hours and not eating for 12 hours will really take it's toll on you.
So I begin pushing, and let me just say that the way they have you push seems all backwards to me. They count to 10, and you basically HOLD YOUR BREATH for 10 seconds while pushing with all your might and all your strength. I don't know about you - but I do SO MUCH BETTER when I BREATHE through things. Why in the heck do they not want you to breathe?! Do they think you will push harder that way?! So anyway, I definitely cheated for awhile. I breathed through the counting and pushing. My doula encouraged this. She told me not to listen to nurse Laura and do what I wanted. Laura kind of got frustrated with me, because she kept telling me to hold my breath. You know they tell you to push by pretending you had to go to the bathroom. I promise I tried to do this, but it didn't work out that well. I really don't think I was pushing correctly, and it took awhile to make any progress.
Emma FINALLY made her way down the birth canal and sat her happy self there for awhile. At this point I could feel it. I don't think I felt everything, but I could feel her hanging out down there and it burned! It felt like fire! I don't think I was supposed to feel that. The doctor kept telling me to push my epidural button and I did, over and over. Nada. It didn't work. Still felt like fire. It was kind of cool though, because I could really feel that "urge" to push. I think it helped me make some progress, although I got a teensy bit frustrated. I was definitely like one of those girls on the movies, yelling at my husband to feed me ice chips after each push cycle. And then yelling at him for telling me I was "almost there" 10 times. Yes, they told me I was "almost there" or "so close" about 10 times. Talk about discouraging! Apparently I really was close, I just somehow kept sucking her back up. And it didn't help that she had her hand up by her face. The doctor thinks that this really slowed the progress as well. They also kept telling me that she had LOTS of hair and I was so excited! I really wanted a hairy baby!
After about 1.5-2 hours of pushing, Emma finally came out! WELCOME TO THE WORLD EMMA KATHLEEN REID! I can't describe the feeling of relief. One minute my insides felt like fire and like they were ripping apart, and the next minute you feel this huge relief. They sat her up on my chest and wiped her off and then Josh cut the cord. They took her away soon after so they could work on my placenta situation. The doctor thought my placenta would be in multiple pieces but it actually was attached. That was weird too - I could feel the placenta slide out. She made sure she got it all out and then had to stitch me up a bit. Apparently Emma's hand up by her head did a little number on me :).
Right when the baby is about to come out, this team of people shows up in the room. It is really strange, but I liked how they did everything in the room and didn't whisk her away.
Emma weighed 7lbs and 10 ounces, and was only 18.5 inches long. All the doctors and nurses thought she would was at least an 8 pounder, because she looked "stout" because she was so short. My short, fat little munchkin :)
Overall, I'd say it was a very positive Birth Experience. Although it has been a rough 2 months, we love our little girl to pieces! Emma, you are our WORLD and bring us so much joy everyday.
Here we are leaving the hospital:
And this picture melts my heart. Daddy with his baby girl. There is something special about the relationship between a dad and his daughter:
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