On Tuesday I received the call that my friend Tracy was going in to labor. Something we have all been anticipating for the past 9 months. Through the day I would receive updates about her status and towards late in the afternoon it sounded like it was "go time".
Now I have never witnessed a live birth other than the ones I did - the first I was "zen-like" due to a combination of wonderful medications, the second I was screaming and irrational because it happened so quickly and I've blocked it out of my mind! ha! So I was extremely excited and honored when Tracy asked a few of her close friends to be a part of her labor and delivery......yet I was a little nervous - I just wanted everyone to be okay.
When I got there it was just Tracy and I for a little while and I got a chance to walk with her, figure out how she wanted me to help her through her contractions, and figured out that my role would be to take video once we were given the "cue" that it was okay to take pictures. I grabbed a quick bite and settled in with my super sized cappuccino as I thought we were in for a long night.
Tracy's contractions were on top of each other and when she was checked she was only at a 3....not where she wanted to be and all of us around her felt her disappointment because we know when we went through it, that a 3 was never good to be dilated at when you thought you had handled enough contractions to put you at a 10! She decided to get in the shower with her husband and let the warm water help her relax. After about 45 minutes and a very heated conversation with the mid-wife (that's when we knew Tracy was hurting; she is typically very kind) - she crawled back in bed and figured out how to breathe through her contractions.
After about 15 minutes of that she declared "my water broke"; the mid-wife checked her and said "call the nurses, I need a nurse" - Tracy's husband was at her head talking her through the pain, I gathered at her face and would relay to her what the mid-wife was telling her, Sarah and Jill were at her legs talking her through the pain and reminding her to breathe it out. Sarah and I were holding her leg up and she was told to grab her knee.....two big pushes and Geno John was brought into our world. He is teeny tiny - 5 lbs. 14 oz.; 18 inches long - some light colored hair and beautiful blue eyes. He latched on almost an hour after he was born and has been a feeding champion ever since.
Now it was all very surreal and we saw all of Tracy's glory that night and she asked me yesterday if when I look at her I see that and I don't. I see a woman who was surrounded by everyone that loves her most and she got through it with our help. She wasn't sure she could do it and she did - she did awesome. And little Geno came into this world surrounded by our smiles and our love and our cheers.
And on October 21st at 6:58 p.m. - one more little person entered our world and we are all better for it.
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