The first 5 minutes after delivery

This photo is the very first, taken about 30 seconds after Layla was born. Becky had been pushing for about 45 minutes to no avail. Layla was a "celestial birth." Which meant that she was head down but her head was facing the same way as Becky (both facing upwards). This makes the pregnancy more difficult as Layla's hard parts (skull and back) were pressing on Becky's hard parts (pelvis). This is also called "back labor" which is very painful. Anyway, Becky was only pushing for 45 minutes but both of their heart rates were very high which worried the nurse and doctor. They told Becky that they would try 10 more minutes of pushing and help with the vacuum, before performing a Cesarean. Becky pushed to good effect and Layla rotated around and traveled the rest of the birth canal in under one minute.

So, as Layla rasped and rattled her first breaths I could see a worried look on the pediatrician's face. Because Layla was born so quickly and was celestial, she had a lot of fluid in her lungs. Usually the fluid in a baby's lungs drains exiting the birth canal face down. The pediatrician said that it would probably be fine but they would probably move her out of the room in case. At that moment, Layla coughed and sputtered a fair amount of fluid. I was horrified, but the doctor smiled and said, "She's getting rid of the fluid on her own, she can probably stay here with you." They massaged Layla's stomach to help her get more fluid up which she expressed in a number of delightful ways (coughing, sneezing, spitting).

This second picture is after Layla was cleaned up and her breathing was less raspy. There are other pix of this moment (I was going a little crazy with the camera) but I like the composition and perspective of this one.











This third picture was taken moments after the last one and is basically from Becky's perspective on the hospital bed. Becky's mom, Polley, who was there for the delivery snapped this one.

So, in the end the vital stats are: Layla Catherine Farnham born at 12:45 AM November 21, 2008. She was 8 lbs 2 ounces and was 20 and 3/4 inches.