my first birth!

fergus51 · Feb 23, 2006

I didn't cry, but it was definitely overwhelming. I was a student and we had to see at least one lady partsl birth. Everytime I went to L&D, things slowed down and finally it became clear I was just going to have to camp and wait no matter how long it took one day. I got there at 7am, stayed with the same mom until after midnight when she finally gave birth. It was amazing and cemented my decision to go into L&D.

I'm glad you had such a good experience, and I hope birth continues to amaze you for the rest of your career:)

SuperFlyRN · Feb 24, 2006

So who else cried at their first birth?

First birth, everyone in-between, and the three I had last night...

One of mine from December was, easily, one of the best ever. They were an Indonesian family that came here (canada) in September from Indonesia. They lost their 5-month-old son in the tsunami. They lost their family, their entire extended family and they were very close. Their house and everything was destroyed. They came here because her brother has lived in Canada for three years so they wanted a fresh start-it was her and her husband. She said the hardest was leaving everything behind with no finality. She came in in labor with her husband and her brother, spoke broken English but did very well with it. It was the most emotional and wonderful birth and they were completely overwhelmed. They explained how it happened (the dad was holding onto his son's hand when a large wave hit him from behind with such force, he lost his son's grip) and how they coped afterward. All I can say is human spirit is something to be reckoned with. They had a a beautiful girl, they were crying, the NICU nurses, even the doc who is, typically, very gruff! The dad cuddles her and I said "she looks just like mom" and he looked so very sad and said, "Chris (their son) looked just like me"

THAT is what makes L&D so special. You don't see or hear things like that everyday that make you sail through your day!

bethem · Feb 24, 2006

I'm a student, and I haven't attended a birth yet. I cry at every single one I see on TV. There is a link in my required readings for uni which is a birth story, and there are 100 pictures of the birth. I cried at that! I'm going to be constantly in tears when I'm a midwife, I can tell!

Aneroo, LPN · Feb 24, 2006

When I did clinicals, I thought I would cry. I ended up being too involved to cry or get emotional.

I decided to go during the night on a full moon. :chuckle I paid for it. Within the first 10 minutes I was watching a woman deliver. About an hour later, I was watching triplets by csection. About an hour later, I was watching a lady partsl delivery, holding her leg and helping coach her. About another hour later, I was watching ANOTHER lady partsl delivery. :roll

It was insane how busy it was, and how much I got to experience that evening. NICU was MAD! All of the births I saw, ended up going to the NICU for at least a little bit of time- they were packed!

RaeT,RN · Feb 24, 2006

Still cry (or at least get teary-eyed.) Mostly with primips when I see their reactions, and pretty much ALWAYS when the daddy's start to cry. I just can't handle it.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 24, 2006

Some of us never get over crying at deliveries. There are many births I attend which make me cry. I love what I do...it's powerful stuff.

tencat · Feb 25, 2006

I saw my first birth (that wasn't me giving birth, at any rate!) this week. It was a c-section birth, and I thought it was fascinating. When the baby popped out I got really teary and felt like I was really blessed to be there when a new life came into the world, even though it was kind of surreal to watch a human head emerge from someone's abdomen. It almost makes me want to be a CNM, except my husband would divorce me because he knows how the job can turn family life upside down. We've got a friend who is a CNM, and there have been many times that plans to get together have been changed because of a birth.