"My baby, My baby girl! Oh she's beautiful!"
These were the first words I heard my wife say as she held our new born baby girl in her arms. Amongst the other women screaming in agony, the hard chair,and absence of sleep,these, for me, were words of ultimate refreshment. Yes, I have just spent the entire night in the hospital.
Surprisingly, the night wasn't as bad as you might expect. After all, I had just become a father. The birth of my first child had been an experience I will never forget. Now you know, of course, that I did not experience the labor pains. However, I was involved in that very long night. I hope you don't think that I am asking for sympathy at all. I had the easy part of the labor. My job was to be the coach.
My wife assures me that I was a "wonderful coach". I didn't do much, though. I drove the two of us to the hospital. That was easy. I walked her up and down the short tiled hallway. That was no big deal.
.We arrived at ten o'clock that Sunday evening. The maternity ward was packed that night. Each of the five rooms were occupied. We had to wait for our room to be cleaned. The women in these rooms could be heard throughout the entire hospital. It was horrible! They were convulsing and screaming.
"It hurts!"
Others exclaimed with even more intensity.
"I can't take it any more! I'm tired of pushing! I can't do it again!"
They were agonizing so loud that we wanted to shut the door of our room. They didn't scare Amber even though they should have. After all, this was her first time having a baby. These women were giving her a preview of what to expect.
The longest part of the night for both of us though was waiting. It was getting later and later. The contractions were coming faster and harder. They were longer and more intense.
Finally, at about five in the morning, the nurse came into our room to check on Amber's progress. Then, she looked up at us and concluded:
"We're gonna have this baby before breakfast"
She was right. At 5:38 A.M. our little girl was born. What a miraculous event! I cut the cord @ the doctor's request. Then I watched with curiousity as the nurse cleaned her off. My little girl grasped my pinkie as the heat lamp warmed her little red body. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer.
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