As soon as baby had come out, the midwife raised him up into my arms and congratulated us. Baby was officially born at 00:03 February 8th 1998 with 8/9 agpar points. All I could do was whimper in a squeaky little voice, since I was altogether moved by this unforgettable moment. The baby was slimy and hot and I would have had a hard time knowing how to hold him hadn't it been for my being an old master at this sort of stuff. Baby gurgled out some cries, then the midwife sucked out the fluids while he was in my arms. There we sat, Esa holding us from behind, our new gorgeous little baby in my arms, we were ecstatic with happiness.

Baby was lifted straight into my arms

The first thing I noticed about the baby was not the sex, but the thick almost black hair on his head. I hardly noticed the midwives words about 9 apgar points as she brought a blanket for me to keep the baby warm. By now the baby had calmed down a bit in my warm embrace, but went in to hysterics when the midwife had to give him a shot to make the blood clot, in case there were any internal injuries.

After sitting there for about 10 minutes, still on the stool, the midwife suggested we go to rest on the bed. And so I did, all the while holding our brand new baby. The children's nurse arrived, congratulated us, and helped the midwife arrange the baby into a more comfortable position. They opened my gown, slipped the baby underneath, then buttoned it back up, then covered us with blankets. Now the baby and I felt each others silky skin for the first time - it was wonderful. Baby was calmed by the sound of my heartbeat and cautiously stretched out his limbs.

Time to rest and let it all sink in

We lay there for about 10 minutes before the midwife cut the umbilical cord, and helped the placenta out. It was then that we remembered to check which sex the baby was!!! Just goes to show how little the sex even mattered. It was a boy, just as the doctor had said during the ultrasound done 2 months earlier, so it was no surprise, and didn't need to be. The placenta came out intact, and I had only a couple of small *tears that needed to be stitched up. There was no need for an episitomy this, neither during the first birth. Both times the natural tears have healed well.

* Last time I had a singular large tear extending from my vagina to my anus. This time the tears were very small ones and were on the inside going in totally different directions, one being close to my urethra. As far as tearing was concerned, giving birth in an upright position in contrast to a horizontal one on the bed, was much less damaging. I was also able to sit right away, without any aids. Last time I sat on a rubber tire for a week!

After the midwife had sewed me up, and done all of her little chores, she left us to become familiar with our newborn son. It was just the three of us in that dimmed peaceful room and there was an enormously tranquil and loving atmosphere. It was then that our baby dared to open his squiggly little eyes and he looked straight at me.

Our very first eye contact

I cooed soothing words to him as he peeked at us from under the blanket. His very first look at the world. I wonder what he must have thought. After about half an hour, baby started rooting and I decided to try giving him his first taste of milk. I was quite clumsy about the whole thing, and couldn't quite remember how this thing goes. Then the nurse came in, just as I was struggling to arrange a good position, and she helped me out. Baby was eager to latch on and carefully tasted my colostrum. We both had some learning to do, and it would still take a few weeks till we both got the total hang of it, and until breastfeeding became totally enjoyable for both. Practice makes perfect!

The arena

Read on to see what happened next...