The guard woke me up at 10:30 pm. The primie mama had come in at 9:30 only 6cms dilated, but at 10:30 she seemed to have transitioned, so an internal exam was performed and it showed she was 10 cms and ready to push! I arrived a bit breathless as always, but quickly gravitated to the side of the patient. She was very young, probably younger than me, and she smiled when I introduced myself. All at once a contraction hit her and she grasped my arm and squeezed tightly.
"Ginhawa!" the midwives urged, "Breathe!" The woman squirmed around on the delivery bed. I knew she would just wear herself out this way, she needed to push straight down.
"Ate," I said quietly, and she looked up at me, and deep down into my soul. I didn't say anything else, just held her gaze an took deep exaggerated breaths. She breathed with me, and for a few moments it seemed as if the delivery room, the midwives, and everything else dissipated away, and it was just her and me, breathing, breathing. Moments later, everything flew back into focus. She was really pushing now.
"Anna," said Ate Rose, "do you want to catch the baby?"
"Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I pulled on a set of sterile gloves and stood beside Ate Rose, and watched the head slowly move down, and then back, down and back up. But gradually, it began to move back less and forward more. Ate Rose performed an episiotomy, and quickly the head moved downwards. Ate Rose and I cupped our hands around it as the head and face suddenly were out! With hardly any effort, we pulled the rest of the baby out. It was a baby boy, so slippery and pink and beautiful. At once, he let out a lusty cry, letting the world know he was alive.
At that moment, I had the sensation, not that this was something I had been waiting all month to do, or even a long time to do. I felt like this was something I had been waiting for all my life.
"Ginhawa!" the midwives urged, "Breathe!" The woman squirmed around on the delivery bed. I knew she would just wear herself out this way, she needed to push straight down.
"Ate," I said quietly, and she looked up at me, and deep down into my soul. I didn't say anything else, just held her gaze an took deep exaggerated breaths. She breathed with me, and for a few moments it seemed as if the delivery room, the midwives, and everything else dissipated away, and it was just her and me, breathing, breathing. Moments later, everything flew back into focus. She was really pushing now.
"Anna," said Ate Rose, "do you want to catch the baby?"
"Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I pulled on a set of sterile gloves and stood beside Ate Rose, and watched the head slowly move down, and then back, down and back up. But gradually, it began to move back less and forward more. Ate Rose performed an episiotomy, and quickly the head moved downwards. Ate Rose and I cupped our hands around it as the head and face suddenly were out! With hardly any effort, we pulled the rest of the baby out. It was a baby boy, so slippery and pink and beautiful. At once, he let out a lusty cry, letting the world know he was alive.
At that moment, I had the sensation, not that this was something I had been waiting all month to do, or even a long time to do. I felt like this was something I had been waiting for all my life.
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