Monday, September 21, 2009

Truths about child birth

Here are some facts about child birth:
1. The birth is a painful process. Everyone knows that one.
2. The baby is born ugly. When the doctor pulled Evelyn out it looked like she was holding a cat by its back. She just kind of threw this blue and red bulge onto Sarah’s lap while my thoughts drifted to the books that said they weren’t pretty when they came out. I thought I was prepared for that, but I didn’t know she would look that bad. Even after a bath she still had spots over her and was a little discolored.
3. The baby poops tar for a couple of days. It looks disgusting and the baby actually loses weight the first day. I think Evelyn lost like half a pound.
4. Realization that you have a huge responsibility in caring for a child occurs shortly after the birth, or at least it should. I tried to pray about it, but my eyes kept tearing up thinking about that responsibility.
5. Nurses and doctors are great. I know that generally they are helping people and make good money, but they do so many “dirty” jobs with so much grace.

1 comment:

Seda said...

But such a celebration, birth is!

Childbirth doesn't have to be painful, though. Kristin's second birth (Sam) was a water birth, and she reports that she didn't feel any pain. Definite intense discomfort, yes, but pain, no. I think birthing underwater was a big part of that, as well as being the second. Pretty cool though. The nurses thought we were crazy because we were laughing as she went into transition. It was fun. As only things that are so sacred can be.