The First Few Moments

During labor, I "pushed" for about 1.5 hours. I forgot I told J I wanted a vid of Monkey's first moments on earth. He remembered, though. I was pretty emo when they said she was making her way out. This is unsurprising, considering I cry tears of joy every time she so much as passes gas.



I didn't know what to expect at any point that day- especially when they handed her to me. But below is pictured our first meeting, in all it's messy glory.

A few thoughts:

1. I know a lot of people find babies that are just born (read: unwashed) to be disgusting. But I have officially turned into one of those people that find it totally moving and not gross. That said, I'm not sure if I should be posting this picture online. Or at least if I should be posting this picture in COLOR online. Oh well. Try not to vomit.

2. Do you see the way she is staring me down? This caught me off guard. She wasn't even crying. I mean, she made a few cries en route to my novice arms, but then she stopped.... and stared. Like, "YOU?? It was YOUR voice that I'd been listening to yabber on for 9 months?? Don't you EVER just simmer down???" I thought she'd be crying, sleeping, or sort of not focusing on anything. I was wrong. And despite my immediate love for my baby, the look on her face indicates that she wasn't too sure about me yet. I would have to prove myself. I felt like I had given birth to Stewie Griffin.

3. What I also remember about that moment was an immediate fear of something being wrong (obviously). I said to the nurse, "Should I have her sit up in case there's extra mucus in her lungs?" The nurse was like, "She's fine. Everything is fine!"

4. She was covered in white stuff. I know not what it was, but it coated her entire body. And then it got all over my hands. When they whisked her away to clean her up, they never gave me a towel or anything. So I wiped my hands on the sheets (with hesitation, but what was my alternative)?

Ok, I'm done. I just found the video, learned how to take a snapshot from the video and thought I'd do so during the baby's nap.

Speaking of, *somebody* is turning 5 months tomorrow.