Photographic Evidence My Husband Was At Paul's Birth
Paul turned 3 months old this past weekend, and already some of the details of his labor and delivery are getting fuzzy. Sure, I’m more than willing to forget about the pain and discomfort, but other things I hope to remember forever.
I have a confession to make. Know what I have very little memory of from my birth experience?
Um, I’ll be honest here. I can’t remember much of my husband being there.
When I think back to my labor and delivery, particularly while I was laboring without the help of medication, I don’t remember interacting with him. I mean, I know he was there, I just don’t remember.
It’s been bugging me for a while, the fact that I don’t remember my husband being an active part of my labor. I decide to confess to him my little secret. I thought he would be upset, but fortunately he agreed that he took a bit of a backseat to the whole process. He felt like there wasn’t much he could do for me, other than wait and pray for it all to be over quickly.
He told me that I was very much focused, and in my “own world” that night.
But looking through my birth photos, I have proof he was there. Without a shadow of a doubt, Paul’s dad was at his birth.
Proof my husband attended the birth of Paul:
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Checking In
Yup, he was there from the very beginning. Getting admitted into the hospital around 10pm.
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Laboring
Lending quiet support while I worked through a contraction.
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Waiting
I labored for about 5 hours at the hospital before Paul was born. Michael did a whole lot of sitting in that chair.
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Excited
Eagerly awaiting the birth of his second son. I love the smile on his face, it reminds me of a kid on Christmas morning.
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Hurry up and wait some more
No doubt about it, that's my husband. He sits like that all the time. I can spot that pose a mile away.
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Sidelined
Deep into the labor, my doula really took over to help me manage my pain. Micheal took a seat in the sideline, and watched from afar.
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Gentle touch
He was a great support, asking if he could get me anything, and telling me how great I was doing.
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Prayer
After it was all said and done, I remember asking him what he was thinking the whole time. He replied: "I prayed a lot."
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Sleeping
It's a very good thing I missed this when it actually happened. If there wasn't a photo of it, I would have believed it. Sleeping while your wife manages an unmedicated birth. I don't know what to think...
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He's here!
Pure, pure joy. I think this was snapped just seconds after Paul was born.
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Facing reality
Still in shock and awe that he's really here.
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First touch
Michael gets to simply touch and let baby Paul grab his finger for the very first time.
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Grabbing a Peek
Watching the action, and glad the labor and delivery is behind us.
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First family photo
Once things settled down a bit, we got our first photo as a family.
One of the best things I did was invite my best friend (and fellow Baby’s First Year blogger, Casey) to photograph Paul’s birth. It’s the best gift ever to have so many photos of the whole event to look through whenever I want to recall something. You know, things like remembering that my husband was actually there.
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To be fair he was snoozing while you were out walking with Charity. Otherwise I would have kicked him. Just sayin’.
Our unmedicated-birth class instructor told us that husbands should sleep in early labor if possible, to have the strength to be good support at the end / inh the days after.
That “legs crossed, hands folded over the knee” pose? That right there is a Rich Elling classic. That could just as easily be Paul’s namesake sitting there. I loved looking through these pictures, thanks for posting.
Thank you for sharing.