That is the question…of the day, at least. And by this I mean, are you okay with your husband being ‘down there’ watching the birth of your baby or would you prefer him to be up by your head making no eye contact with ‘that’ region?
I don’t remember ever discussing this with Andy before the boys’ deliveries. I know he was up by my head, holding a leg with both deliveries, and I do know he took a peek every so often. He was, after all, the first one to say they were both boys. But he is definitely not the type to hang out down ‘south’ for the whole thing giving pointers and tips to the doctor.
I remember worrying that Andy would have a problem being intimate with me after seeing the trauma that happens ‘down there’. I mean, it is quite gross and definitely doesn’t look the same as it normally does when you have a 9 pound baby coming out. He was very kind and lied to me, ha ha!
Next question: To Watch In a Mirror Or Not?
I was never offered a mirror to watch the birth of the boys. And I am fine with that. I can’t figure out how you’re supposed to watch anyway when your eyes are squeezed shut as you’re pushing out that miracle. Would I want to watch? Umm… no, I don’t think so. I think it might freak me out a bit and scare me. It’d be hard for me to focus on the task at hand.
Question: Lay The Fresh, Goopy Baby On Your Chest Or Dry It Off First?
I am totally a ‘dry it off first’ kind of gal. Aiden was kind of thrown up on my belly on a blanket and they wiped him off there and put his little hat on, then wrapped him up in a clean blanket before really handing him to me. With Brennan he had the cord around his neck so they had to put him in the warmer and sort of resuscitate him, so he was fully wiped and swaddled before I was able to hold him.
How about you? North or South? Mirror or Not? Goopy or Clean?
Erin
Haven't experienced labor yet...but hope to soon! I'm gonna hope my hubs wants to keep his eyes other places than down south! Ha!
ReplyDeleteSo I have no comments on this subject since I have no experience with this yet. However, when I first read the title of the post I thought you were going to be going on vacation somewhere and was going to say NORTH...as in NORTH JERSEY. I'm an idiot.
ReplyDeleteI *think* I'm going to be North, no mirror, and goopy. But I looooove watching those graphic birth videos on youtube, haha, so maybe I'll want a big ol' mirror! Who knows? :)
ReplyDeleteI watched a friend give birth. I stayed at her head but they had the mirror so I saw it all. Goopy doesn't bother me. Lukas was goopy up until about an hour after birth. I mean he had a blanket though.
ReplyDeleteHaha, great topic for discussion! My (now ex) husband was right there... and by "right there" I mean pushing the doctor out of the way so he could be all up in there and seeing every.thing. I didn't mind... at that point I didn't really care about much! And it never really came up after the fact either... I never had the feeling of him being grossed out by it or it bothering him at all. I didn't watch through a mirror and definitely would NOT... not sure I could handle that! And I was definitely a 'clean them off first' mom! :)
ReplyDeleteI am a "North" kind of gal. I was afraid the hubby would never look at me the same so I told him that I didn't want him looking down there. Things changed when the doc yelled - LOOK WE HAVE A HEAD! Oh well, at that point I didn't care and was just ready to be done.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in labor with my oldest, one of the nurses offered a mirror but I knew if I saw what went on down there, I would never do it again! The imagination makes things bad enough. I REALLY thought about having a video camera set up taping from over my shoulder. To this day, I regret not doing it.
I'm okay with goopy. I carried that babe for 9 months and I don't want to wait another minute to hold them!
I am giving all of these things some serious thought right now as I am pregnant with my first. My mother-in-law told me that I will want to watch but I think she is crazy. I for sure want my husband north of the border and I don't want a wet baby flopped onto me......no thank you!!! My dad passed out when I was born and he wasn't even south of the border, that scares me a little hahaha
ReplyDeleteWe had a scheduled c-section, so Scott didn't have a choice, he was up by my head the whole time (though I think he wanted to watch the surgery, but the doctor wouldn't let him). I'd forego the mirror, I don't think I'd want to see *all that* taking place. And, because of the c-section Marcus was totally cleaned up before I held him, and I was totally fine with that! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my... Let's see. North with no peeking. He would have passed out if he saw that business going on. And I think I had both babies after being cleaned off.
ReplyDeleteI did not havea preference on north or south! It was all hanging out there so I did not really care! Amd NO to the mirror. As weird as it sounds I did'nt care about everyone in the room seeing but I did not wanna see it! And goopy for me, I could not wait any longer to hold her! I love this post by the way!
ReplyDeleteMy hubby was pretty much North of the border, but he did admit to looking throughout the whole process. It didn't bother me. I had people tell me that once I was in labor at the hospital I wouldn't care about modesty, which was so true. I am probably one of the most modest people around, but that all changed giving birth. As for the mirror, that's a flat NO!!!! NO way!!! Goopy? J was goopy when they showed him to me. I honestly don't remember much about that moment though because I was so out of it from losing so much blood. I remember thinking it looked gross in pictures before having J, but it's amazing how when it's your baby it just doesn't matter. What a fun post!!! I love seeing everyone else's comments!
ReplyDeleteGreat questions!! Jason always said he wanted to be north, and never look. Blood grosses him out. I can't even talk about work stuff without him getting squeamish! But when we had to have a c section, with Oliver they brought Jason back after they cut me partially open. So he saw some tummy stuff and almost barfed.
ReplyDeleteAs for watching, I never wanted to until I was going in for my second c section. I actually asked my dr if there was a way I could watch. Surgeries fascinate me!
And I had no choice, they were all cleaned up and swaddled before I got to see them. But if I had a natural birth, I didn't want to touch the goop!
When it happened I honestly didn't care. Ha I was just overwhelmed knowing D was arriving without the vac or c-section that they said would happen ( thankful God put the most amazing nurses there at each stage!). I asked Dave later and he said he watched and he saw a miracle. .. soooo far 18 months later no problems with him loving t he vajayjay ha!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember where Chris was. He was north and south throughout and it didn't bother me. No to the mirror. I don't want to see my lady bits mangled. And YES to goopy best part ever holding your baby right away!!!
ReplyDeleteSouth-Ken didn't mind hanging out down there and has had no problem with intimacy afterwards. (Please don't ever tell him I wrote that!!)
ReplyDeleteMirror-I loved having the mirror. Seeing the head crowning really motivated me to keep pushing.
Goopy-It never bothered me. I guess they maybe wrapped my babies in towels or something, but they didn't really get cleaned off first.