miracle of life

i spent the last week in the newborn nursery, mostly examining healthy newborn babies for screening, and also attending some deliveries when extra hands were needed.

it was my first time witnessing birth. the "miracle of life." to be honest, its all pretty odd. I'm sure the labor process is really hard, but the actually delivery happens so quickly. In both vaginal and c-section births, it takes only a few seconds between when the head to emerges to when the whole baby pops out. And even though you know she's pregnant, I still get that feeling of "whoa! where did that baby COME from?"

you know what was the most striking to me? being there to witness a parent's first interaction with their new child. To see grown men pretend not to cry, or fumble with words because they are so overwhelmed with how much they are suddenly ready to love this child. (Mom's are usually preoccupied with other things, like breathing a sigh of relief or getting sewn back together...)

And the other was - the idea of bring a new person into existence. Like in the medical chart, there is absolutely nothing of course; and when presenting the babies, describing them as 5 hours old, or day of life (DOL) 2. And the nurses in the newborn nursery often play with the children by saying "welcome to the world!"