Tuesday Musings #5

What were your feeling or thoughts when you held your child/children for the first time?

All my labors were different. I was induced once, had oxygen once, had an epidural once, went without painkillers lots of times, almost gave birth in an elevator, used a birthing ball, impressed my doctor, annoyed another doctor, went ahead without any doctor, argued with lots of nurses and cooperated with even more, had stitches, didn't need stitches, got bored, cried with pain, cried with love and made it through the whole thing seven times.

On the other hand, right after giving birth was always the same - I had a big cheesy smile on my face and couldn't wait to hold the baby. Even more than looking at them (although that was fun, too) I wanted to hold them in my arms.

I'll never forget a friend telling me how after she had a stillborn baby (that they never gave her to hold), her arms hurt. They hurt badly enough that she went to see a doctor about it. The pain finally went away after she had her next baby. I could understand where she was coming from because I love to hold my babies from the moment they get here and it always drove me crazy when the nurses whisked them away. So, my first thought was always, "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"