What an experience!
On Saturday morning, I helped deliver my first baby! This was the couple's second child. They were ready to go when I got to the room with the residents. We got mom all situated (did you know the beds they are in just convert into a delivery table? crazy!) and got her ready to push. The resident doing the delivery got all dolled up in a surgical gown and ready to go, prepping the area around mom for the delivery. When we were ready to go, I held one leg while the attending held the other and we coached mom through each of her pushes. At first, her techinique was a little off, but with the next contraction she got the hang of it. With each push, I could see this little tuft of skin and hair making its way down the birth canal. It was truly amazing. Only a few minutes went by before her head was crowning at the opening of the vagina. What a sight! Mom gave one last set of pushes. Out came the head, and with one last push, her shoulders slid out and there was this amazing little baby in the resident's arms. She started to cry almost immediately, pinking up and peeing all at the same time. They set her on mom's chest and mom started to shake and cry. She was totally overwhelmed with emotion. I looked at dad and he was just in awe. He barely spoke, but his smile stretched from ear to ear as he stared down at his new daughter. "Oh! red hair!" squealed mom as she held on to her new daughter. I didn't even think to cry at the time, but now that I am writing this, even I am overcome with emotion. It was a smooth and clean and beautiful delivery. I was honored to witness it, and I cannot believe that I get to do this for the rest of my life.