Birth I

The first time I am attending a birth of a patient I saw prenatally. Othermidwives had talked about "stage fright" of delivering their own patients,and though I was feeling some of that, I was mostly marveling at howdifferent she looked in labor than in the clinic. Both times she isbeautiful and powerful, but in labor she looks like almost a differentperson.The first time I am meeting her partner, and he is more timid than I expected in the face of another birth for their family.Not the first time the epidural was incredibly ineffective, despite anattempt at a bolus and repositioning.Not the first time I had been confounded by why the baby sounded so happyinside but was taking its time coming out.My last orientation birth, a space during which to finish the comfort zoneof a fellow midwife presence and to create my own comfort zone.The compound hand, fingers almost to the top of the head, explaining itall, reaching on its way out.The look of relief, whether for the baby being out, or for no longerneeding to push, or for finally meeting the person she had been carryingaround for so long.Birth.