I had my baby in a hospital with a mid-wife and not the dicky doctor who was there harassing me at the end of his shift.
"According to your chart, you've been stuck here at five centimeters for quite sometime," he said hanging the clip board back onto the hook somewhere near the foot the bed. "I'm going to recommend again that you take the Pitocin.
He knew I didn't want it, kept checking his watch, eager to get off the clock and home to his Thanksgiving dinner. Who could blame him?
I had been laboring naked on my hands and knees just fine before he came in and now my resolve was beginning to cave.
"Give us a minute," Ines said to the doctor, dismissing him from the room. "You can do it, Michelle. The mid-wife will be here anytime. You don't need that stuff." He rubbed my arm and looked me in the eye.
I nodded and he was right. Raewyn breezed in with what seemed like a bright aura halo around her head and she got me out of that bed and on my feet and all the way to eight centimeters in thirty minutes.
I was feeling strong again and prepared and I pushed that little baby out into the world sometime after midnight.
After delivering the placenta and resting and holding the nene to my breast, the nurses helped me to my feet, so I could use the bathroom. One nurse, guided me by the arm to make sure I didn't faint or fall on the way. The bathroom was several steps from the bed and once inside a large bloody mass came flying out of me, bouncing lightly on the floor, resting somewhere near the sink.
"Oh, that's okay, don't worry about that," the nurse chirped, releasing my arm to grab for some towels to clean the mess up and avoid embarrassment. "That's normal," she continued.
I nodded and smiled, unfazed, unafraid of my body, and still high from my new mother power.
Beautiful bloody childbirth story. Ines is so sweet in it, and I love the snarky but understanding point about the doctor on Thanksgiving (and cool detail, birth on Thanksgiving, and he'd rather be eating). I love how this glop of blood has a life of its own: " large bloody mass came flying out of me, bouncing lightly on the floor, resting somewhere near the sink."
ReplyDeleteMutha fuckin mother power, indeed. I wanna raise my fist in the air and cheer in solidarity.
ReplyDeleteThis part: "kept checking his watch, eager to get off the clock and home to his Thanksgiving dinner." is the perfect example of showing instead of telling us readers what the doc was like.
This might be one of the most triumphant lines I've seen: "I was feeling strong again and prepared and I pushed that little baby out into the world sometime after midnight." If I had to pick a line that captures the MCG style, this would be it. The rhythm, the directness, the authority.
ReplyDeleteFrom my experiences with Ines, this description seems spot on and really shows who he is in such a short span. When he says, "You can do it, Michelle...You don't need that stuff" and then rubs the arm, I could totally picture him and feel that Ines essence: intense and sensitive at the same time.
And the "bloody mass flying out" like it's no thing--yes!