A Beautiful Birth

Another powerful contraction took hold of her – the strongest one yet.  She gasped at the intensity of it and breathed deeply into it, letting out a low moan as she relaxed her chin against her chest.  She was leaning back against her husband in an inflatable kiddie pool of body temperature-warm water which came up to just under her naked breasts.

"That's great honey, keep it nice and low." The midwife encouraged quietly.  She was kneeling just outside the pool – wrapped in a sarong and ready to get into the water if she were needed.  The midwife had told her she could make all the noise she wanted – so long as the sounds were deep and low.

"You're doing wonderfully!" her husband whispered in her ear from behind.  She was so happy to have him close to her in the warm, buoyant water.  His calm strength helping her to be strong as the power of the contractions swelled.

A small picnic canopy had shaded the little pool area in their back yard while the sun was up; mosquito netting hanging down the sides kept the bugs out but let the summer breeze drift in freely.  Now that evening was setting in, white Christmas lights strung along the inside of the tent bathed the scene in soft, warm light.

A strong burning sensation joined in with the next contraction.  Her whole labor thus far hadn't been painful in the sense that one would categorize the word – just incredibly and increasingly intense.  She had dealt with it by walking with her husband early on, hanging off his shoulders while standing as things got stronger, and just as it felt like the contractions might get out of hand for her, she'd slipped into the prepared pool and the nearly intolerable pressure had instantly waned to a dullness that had even allowed her to drift off and nap briefly to gather her strength for what lay ahead.

Always she had focused on her breathing and been helped along by the quiet but firm encouragement of her husband and midwife.  But the burning was new and frightening - even though she knew what it was and that it meant she'd be holding her baby soon.

"That's really good hon," the midwife said, knowing what the laboring woman was feeling by the expression on her face and the change in her breathing.  "The baby is really low now.  You just keep breathing.  Your body knows what to do.  Don't push until you have to."

"A woman's body knows how to birth a baby," she'd been told many times before by the midwife.  "Women in comas have birthed babies.  All you have to do is stay calm and let it happen."

And was it happening!  A frightened exhalation escaped her lips as the burning increased and she forced the grimace off her face – no making faces! She'd also been told.  Her deep moans were shaky now but she kept them up to keep from crying out.

"The shoulders are passing through the pelvic bone," the midwife reminded her.  "This is the most intense part.  Breathe through it."

She turned all her attention onto her breathing, letting out quick little pants, keeping her vocalizations to a minimum.  And then suddenly every fiber of her being screamed "PUSH!"

She gulped down a lungful of air, pressed her chin down to her chest and pushed with all her might, letting off slightly if the burning became too intense.

"You can do this!" her husband said.  She could feel his excitement mounting though he did a wonderful job keeping his voice under control.

"That's great, just like that," the midwife said.

Her heart was pounding in her ears.  There was nothing else in her existence beyond the heavy, burning sensation in her loins and the encouraging voices around her.

Another push, another breath; and another still.  "I can't!" she whimpered, sweat dripping from her hair into the water, her head collapsing back against her husband's chest.  It felt like she was getting nowhere.  The baby had to be too big.

"You can do this!" her husband said again without any fear or worry.  He wrapped his arms around her briefly.  "I'm here with you and you can birth this baby!"

"Reach down hon and feel your baby," the midwife told her.  "You're really very close now."

Her hand groped down between her legs and found a small hard flatness there.  It was the top of her baby's head!

"My baby!" she breathed.  It was working!  For all it didn't feel like it, her baby was being born!

On the next two pushes, the head came out and then on the last, hardest one – the shoulders popped out and her baby slid out into the water.

"You did it!" her husband cheered, tears running down his face.

She looked down in wonder at her beautiful baby floating there serenely in the water, all the burning and heaviness was gone – here was her baby!

She gently took the little girl in her hands, waiting the couple seconds before she twitched for air and then lifted her out of the water and onto her chest.

The baby girl cried lustily, squirming against her mother's warm flesh, unsure how to handle her limbs now that she was no longer constrained to the confines of the womb.  Her cry was the most amazing sound the new parents had ever heard.

"You're so strong!" her husband said around his joyous tears.  "She's so beautiful!"

The mother cooed to her infant, her own tears mixing with her husband's in the water around them.  "You're such the little lovey you are!  My god she is so beautiful!"

Now that her lungs were clear, the tiny girl's cries lessened and she nuzzled over to her mother's breast and instinctively started to suckle.  It tickled but felt great.  A new little being - that she and her husband had created – had found its way to the breast to drink the milk her body was making just for that new little being!

As she suckled, the baby turned her gaze up at her parents, her eyes blinking and squinting even in the soft glow of the Christmas lights, but she looked right at them.  The two stared back at her, transfixed.

"You did great!" the midwife said proudly.  "A truly beautiful birth."