Part 2 in Birth Mom's Perspective

Part 2

Claire came running into the room and looked like she was ready to faint from, I'm sure, a mixture of excitement and nervousness. My mom looked at me and made sure I was still okay with Claire being in the room. A couple of weeks before I had Mia, I started second guessing my offer of having Claire in the room for the birth. So many people kept saying it's really unusual for the adoptive parents to be in the hospital before the birth mom places, let alone having them in the delivery room while giving birth. Some said it would take away from my time with the baby and make me feel jealousy and resentment towards the adoptive parents for intruding on such a special time for me. It all started to get in my head, but I prayed and prayed for answers and they all came back to me. I knew all along that this is what I wanted and that I wanted to share this time with them because Mia is the Johnson's baby and this was a special time for them. I had no problem with them being in the hospital or with Claire witnessing this miracle.

My doctor had gotten everything ready to go and I was going over my birth plan one more time. I wanted this to go as smoothly as possible for everyone, but as I said something about skin to skin, I looked over at Claire and saw that she was wearing a lovely sweater and for a few seconds we just stared at her as she looked down at it and looked very confused. They offered her a gown and she quickly got changed. We were all planning on Claire standing by my head just for the sake of privacy, but my nurse threw a curve ball and told her to come over to my left side and to hold my leg. At that point I was so ready to get Mia out I didn't care and I'm still glad it happened that way, I just wish it didn't have to look so gross and graphic for Claire!

I pushed a few times and I felt like it was going nowhere so I started barking orders at my mom and Claire to hold my legs and push them certain ways. It's so true when they say you'll naturally know what to do when you're actually having the baby. I kept pushing for a few more minutes and after 25 minutes total of pushing, Mia crawled out in one push.

They placed her on my chest to get her breathing and to pinken up. I had no idea what was going on, I think I was in a daze. They rubbed her and rubbed her until she gave a loud cry and you could hear the relief in the room. Claire cut the umbilical cord with trembling hands and the nurses wrapped her up in blankets and put a cute little hat on her. The nurses gave her to Claire and they started skin to skin. She couldn't keep her eyes off of Mia.

After I was all cleaned and stitched up, we called Russell in. Claire had been talking about having a photographer coming in to take pictures of Russell seeing Mia for the first time, so I knew that was important to her. So I quickly asked my mom to grab my phone and her phone and take a video. It was no professional video, but it was still a sweet moment to catch.

Russell walked in and you could immediately see his emotions overwhelm him as he sat down next to Claire and Mia. Seeing the 3 of them together for the first time was one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed before. It really helped me being able to remember back to that moment and seeing that she was going to have two parents that were in love with her the second they saw her. I was able to witness the beginning of a family and I will always remember the feeling of joy I had for them.