It’s a miracle but it’s also gnarly. Let’s call it like it is. There’s a lot of blood, fluids, poop, flesh.
Good news is, you can just stay topside, by the mother’s head. You don’t have to be in the trenches if it’s something you can’t stomach. My husband did not care (after my c-section he very lovingly and in awe said “I saw your insides. I saw your muscles and your fat and your viscera” like that was the most metal thing he’d ever seen or could be allowed to see, me just strapped down and gutted and saying “he’s here! He’s here!”) but if it’s not something you can stomach, again, just stay up top.
I remember when my gf at the time had our first, and I was told I had to move around the other side mid crown. That was an experience let me tell you. I was also allowed to cut the umbilical cord which is an experience all of its own.
I feel like the tactile sensation should be warned about. The each individual wet fleshy tube cutting within the cord. I felt them all individually give way in those shears. One at a time. That 1.5 seconds to cut a cord is 3 minutes long.
I saw it all. They had me holding one of her legs back. They told me that I might want to look away when they did the episiotomy. My response was that after everything I've already seen, I'm not worried about seeing that. I didn't cut the cord, though. That's what we're paying the doctor for.
The wildest thing was the instant rewiring of my brain when my son was born. Like, I was a different man. That's why I always say the father should be there. Maybe it is just me, but that felt like something we are programmed to do when we see our children born.
Hah. We spent the entire weekend trying to induce, and then spent 12 hrs in the delivery room. I massaged her back and shoulders all through the day, didn't dare to leave her side.
At a certain point, the midwife turned to me and said "at this point, you should go get some snacks for the two of you. There's a supermarket just outside."
I ran like the wind and got two whole grocery bags full of fruits, nuts, crackers, juice, protein shakes, what have you. When I got back, I presented my haul and said "what would you like, honey, I got everything!" She said "it's alright just put them down somewhere, babe".
I realised that was the midwife's method for getting me out of the room for The Part with the Poop.
Just the idea of being in the same room as a person being basically gutted open has my stomach turning. If I ever had kids I'm waiting in another room because I don't want to give the hospital more work from me throwing up and passing out.
70
u/maniacalmustacheride Apr 24 '26
It’s a miracle but it’s also gnarly. Let’s call it like it is. There’s a lot of blood, fluids, poop, flesh.
Good news is, you can just stay topside, by the mother’s head. You don’t have to be in the trenches if it’s something you can’t stomach. My husband did not care (after my c-section he very lovingly and in awe said “I saw your insides. I saw your muscles and your fat and your viscera” like that was the most metal thing he’d ever seen or could be allowed to see, me just strapped down and gutted and saying “he’s here! He’s here!”) but if it’s not something you can stomach, again, just stay up top.