The Birth- Part 3

We sat in the tub for a few minutes and had a chance to get acquainted with our newest family member. After it had stopped pulsing, Melanie cut the cord and then Robert was wrapped in a towel and handed over to Chris while I took care of the last bit of labor.

She drained the tub most of the way and then it was time to deliver the placenta. Easy peasy, although it did hurt as she pushed on my tummy. Again, the water was pretty much crystal clear. I expected quite a bit more nastiness birthing in a tub. I tore just a tiny bit and it didn't even require stitches, so that was a nice bonus.

As soon as I delivered the placenta, I got the awful shakes. My teeth were chattering and my whole body shivered. I'm sure my sitting in an almost empty bathtub wasn't helping matters. Sally quickly brought me a warm towel and dried me off and then grabbed a coke for me. After a couple of swallows, I was able to hoist myself out of the bathtub.

We got it on video and it's pretty funny watching me try to figure out how to get out. My bottom half was traumatized and I think half asleep, but eventually I made it out. Sally helped dry me off and get me over to the bed where she had more warm towels and socks filled with rice that had been microwaved. I was able to warm up real quick.

Melanie weighed Robert real quick and then handed him over to me to nurse. Clara came back in at this point and gave Robert his present she picked out for him a long time ago and she got a big sister necklace from Robert. I nursed (or at least tried to) for a long time. He was a sleepy little guy and not real interested in eating.

Clara and Linda went to IHOP to get us all something to eat. Melanie took Robert and did his evaluation. In this first picture, she's pointing to two marks on his arm. They're a little bit indented and I think they've faded a bit, so they may just be bruises.





He also has a birthmark on the nape of his neck, just like me and Clara. He has what looks like a stork bite on the tip of his nose. Chris thinks it's faded some already, but it looks the same to me.

I got back in the tub for an herbal sitz bath. They brought Robert over for me to hold in the water as well. I guess normally babies really like it and calm down and look around, but Robert pretty much screamed most of the time. After the bath, I was able to get dressed and Chris got Robert dressed.

I think they gave him back to me to nurse and they asked if we wanted to rest there at the center or go on home. We decided to go on home since all of us had been up the whole night and we'd all nap better at home. They took our vitals one last time and we got all packed to go. We left a few minutes after 8:00 a.m., so in all we were there a total of 6 hours.

I will admit it felt weird loading up a four hour old baby, but I really wasn't nervous at all. It was so nice being in my own home those first days. I was able to rest without being interrupted every few minutes and I didn't have to eat that awful hospital food.

I loved the whole birth center experience. It was so perfect and natural and I am so, so glad I did it.