The Birth Part IV

When we last left our heroine, she had just been transferred from triage to her proper labor and delivery room.  It was 7 am. 

The next two hours involved a lot of motion.  Hannah tried lots of different positions to get comfortable: kneeling on the floor, with her chest against the birthing ball or against someone sitting in a chair; standing and hugging whoever was nearby; kneeling or lying on the hospital bed.  Cameron, it turned out, was no good for hugging: he was too tall and bony.  Megan was just the right height and softness, much nicer to lean against. 

Cameron, still trying to be silently supportive, found himself crouched in front of Hannah for about five minutes.  He didn't realize he'd been mouth-breathing all over her, until suddenly she said "Babe, sorry, your breath stinks, can you. . . ?"  Cameron reminded himself that laboring women were very sensitive to smells.   Could he really be faulted for not brushing his teeth before they rushed to hospital at 5am?

The core members of the labor party were the following: Hannah, Cameron, Sabine, Megan, and Midori. Midori was the L&D nurse, and she added a much-needed optimism to the room.  "You can do it!" was once of Midori's most frequent utterances. 

Midori had wisely filled a pink, kidney-shaped vomit bowl with ice chips and water, dipped a washcloth in it, and handed the washcloth to Cameron, who appointed himself washcloth dabber.  He dabbed Hannah's forehead, neck, back, wherever she directed.  (Cameron had tried appointing himself lower back massager,  but had to be let go for incompetence.)

Eventually, Hannah made her way onto the bed.  This was actually her idea.  At first she tried kneeling, and pushing her forehead into the elevated head of the bed.  But then she lay down on her back, in the stirruped position we Westerners traditionally think of women giving birth in.

This all unfolded very, very quickly, by the way. When Hannah and Cameron first entered the labor and delivery room, Hannah was 6cm dilated.  An hour later, she was 9cm.  At 9:15, Sabine said that Hannah was fully dilated and she could start pushing. 

The midwife and nurse were simultaneously impressed and terrified by the speed of Hannah's labor.  A fast birth is a good birth --- but who knows exactly how fast it will be?  The result was that neither Sabine nor Midori left the room even once.  They didn't want to walk back in and hear a baby crying.

So Hannah starts pushing.  She's doing great.  After three or four pushes Sabine said "I need a little housekeeping here."  Midori, to whom the comment was directed, was occupied with something else.

"Midori," Sabine repeated sternly. Midori looked up.  "Housekeeping?"

Midori looked perplexed.  "Mm?" 

Hannah clarified:  "I POOPED MYSELF," she said in loud, clear voice.  Everyone giggled.  Midori blushed, came over and removed the disposable paper, and replaced it with another.  Very neat.