This post is the second one in a set of two. To read Alleke's birth story from the beginning, click here.

The next thing I knew another nurse came and loaded up my bed for transfer. We rolled down the hallway, and he tried to make small talk with us as I moaned and made loud noises through each contraction (I think the noises I had been making since my water broke were what scared Kelly the most). By now I definitely felt like pushing, but realized it wasn't the time. Off the elevator, Kelly was pulled aside to put scrubs on, and a midwife walked up and grabbed my hand. She was in process of asking me if it was my first baby when she glanced up and yelled, "Oh, April!". It was Carmen, our midwife from prenatal classes. I'm not sure who was more happy that she was on duty - me or her.

Once we got to the delivery room (in the basement) the nurse and Carmen helped me off the bed onto the delivery table which was very narrow and didn't have anywhere for me to put my arms. Carmen kept talking me through the contractions and chiding me for not coming to the hospital earlier, but I could tell she was also happy I was getting the natural birth I had wanted. Because I had arrived so late, there wasn't time to hook me up to the IV or the fetal monitor. Carmen helped me get my legs in the stirrups and started massaging my perineal. Kelly was back by my side, and I started asking if I could push. Carmen said the doctor wasn't here yet, but if I felt like I needed to, I could start. Then our doctor came running in, breathless, also asking why we waited so long to come it. She had run all the way from home to get here and almost missed it.

I kept asking if I could push, and they finally said yes. My first few pushes were not very good, and I could tell. Carmen said I wasn't pushing from the right place, I was just using my arms and the top of my stomach, so I tried harder to concentrate and actually push from my diaphragm and to imagine the baby coming out. Someone said, "There is the head," and Kelly went around to look and was really excited. One more push and she was out. It was 9.12 pm. I remember being surprised that I couldn't really feel anything, either pain or even her coming out. They held her up so I could see her. I noticed there was very little blood and a lot of white stuff, and she was crying. Carmen and Kelly took her over to the incubator to clean her off and do the first tests. In the meantime the doctor and I worked on pushing out the placenta.

Kelly soon returned with our baby girl in his arms and stood by my side while they started stitching me up. She had so much blond hair! Carmen had asked during the birth if I wanted an episiotemy, because she knew I didn't, and so I had torn just a little bit. However, the pain from the doctor trying to put in the stitches hurt so bad that I started shaking uncontrollably. Kelly had our baby girl in one hand and was holding my hand and rubbing my head with the other. I knew I needed to relax, because I was too tense and making it hurt more, and Carmen and the doctor kept telling me to relax, but I didn't have anywhere to put my arms and it hurt so badly. I felt bad that I couldn't really hold or look at our baby girl. After awhile of trying to get me to relax and trying to stitch, Carmen asked if it was alright if they gave me a local anesthetic to do the stitches. Both Kelly and I yelled "YES!" We didn't realize they were intentionally not giving me a local anesthetic because I had asked not to receive any pain medicine, and they didn't realized that by saying I didn't want any pain medicine, I didn't mean no anesthetic. After they administered the shot they were able to quickly finish the stitches, and I was put on a bed with our baby in my arms and wheeled up to our room.

In the elevator the nurse made small talk with me about where we were from and how long we had lived in Spain. I was amazed because at that point and for nearly the whole night, I was able to understand and speak Spanish almost perfectly, sometimes better than Kelly even. I felt like that was a huge answer prayer.

Once back in the hospital room and reunited with Kelly, Carmen came to help us begin breastfeeding. It was difficult because I had inverted nipples, but our baby girl had a strong sucking reflex, so we gave it a valiant effort. Damien and Encarna came to offer congratulations and see the baby. We had decided to wait a few days to name her because we were stuck between two names. They stayed to watch our little girl's first efforts at eating and then left promising to return later.

Eventually we were left to ourselves, and Kelly took over caring for our little girl. I rested for awhile, we made some phone calls to family, sent some text messages, and tried breastfeeding some more. Kelly changed our little girl's first diaper all by himself and eventually fell asleep with her on the couch only waking me up to help her eat.

Those first days in the hospital were pretty hard. I was extremely anemic and after passing out the first night trying to sit up and feed her, I was literally bed-ridden. Also, breastfeeding turned out to be very difficult because I had inverted nipples and couldn't sit up to feed her. The midwifes and pediatricians were very helpful, and the nurses were very unhelpful. The days were ok, but the nights were really difficult because we felt completely on our own with a screaming baby. We were scared to let the nurses take her to the nursery because we couldn't be sure they wouldn't give her a bottle, and we didn't want to cause nipple confusion.

The next afternoon Encarna came by to give Kelly a chance to go home and get some things, then lectured us in the way of Spanish hospitals. My first meal had been paella, which I couldn't touch, and the second was roast chicken, which I lost as soon as I ate it. I hadn't gotten any water because we hadn't asked for it. Encarna went and got some water bottles and yogurt and left Kelly with strict instructions to go in the hallway and ask and ask until we got whatever we needed. I requested a vegetarian diet instead, and we were able to move forward as I slowly recovered. Heather came our last day in the hospital to help us our first few days at home. We had stayed at the hospital for four days.

Some friends from our prenatal classes gave birth the day after us. They ended up having 24 hours of labor followed by a c-section, but were rewarded with a beautiful baby boy. He and our baby girl could not have looked more different!

The night before we left the hospital, we decided on a name. The next morning, we proudly carried Alleke Grace out of the hospital door and into her first home in Castellón de la Plana, Spain.

Posted with permission from Spain Dad

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