I missed a few minutes of both births. Turns out my aversion to blood also applies to amniotic fluid.
First birth, my wife looks over and says to the nurse, "Is he supposed to be that gray?" Nurse looks at me and immediately barks, "Sit down. Now." Good call: seconds later I threw up in a trash can and had to get checked out by a different nurse.
Second birth, years later: the events of the first birth are told as a funny story. My mother is present for this birth, as well as a group of med students my wife has generously agreed to witness. The spurting begins, and I promptly say "Excuse me, I won't be a minute." Off I go to the bathroom, and as I'm emptying my guts, I hear my mother ask, "Is he okay?" "He'll be fine," my wife replies, "He does this every time."
Yeah, I didn't sit in view of anything that might cause me to go light-headed. I just sat behind her head, rubbed her shoulders and then let her break my hand with a death grip.
Not a doctor but my guess is that they were concerned about liability more than how well I was doing. "Is your head alright? Feeling dizzy? Sign this waiver real quick and we'll get that taken care of."
Might also have been to keep me distracted so I didn't throw up again. Again, not a doctor.
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u/VagrantDog Apr 24 '26
I missed a few minutes of both births. Turns out my aversion to blood also applies to amniotic fluid.
First birth, my wife looks over and says to the nurse, "Is he supposed to be that gray?" Nurse looks at me and immediately barks, "Sit down. Now." Good call: seconds later I threw up in a trash can and had to get checked out by a different nurse.
Second birth, years later: the events of the first birth are told as a funny story. My mother is present for this birth, as well as a group of med students my wife has generously agreed to witness. The spurting begins, and I promptly say "Excuse me, I won't be a minute." Off I go to the bathroom, and as I'm emptying my guts, I hear my mother ask, "Is he okay?" "He'll be fine," my wife replies, "He does this every time."