My First Child
At 6:30am, on Thursday, the seventh of April, I walked through the doors of Moses Taylor hospital, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I was feeling apprehensive and uneasy, as I found myself at the nurses’ station of labor and delivery. Once I was finished with registration, I followed a nurse into the dusty rose and moss green room, where I would be staying until the much anticipated arrival of my child.
I tried to keep myself occupied by watching television, reading, and doing crossword puzzles, but nothing could have kept me from feeling the excruciating pain of labor. The eagerness to have this all over and done with, was definitely not helping with the anxiety I was feeling during that process.
After 22 grueling and strenuous hours of being stuck in a bed, and three different shifts of nurses, I finally met my daughter. Friday morning, at 4:55am, the sky was dark and cloudy, and the moment I had been anxiously awaiting for nine and a half long months, was here at last.
Everyone in the room got very quiet as my child entered the world. I was very confused as to why I had not heard any sounds coming from her and it began to worry me. The moment I heard her cry, I knew everything was going to be okay.
“Oh! She is absolutely breath-taking,” I exclaimed as Dr. Reedy placed the innocent child on my chest.
Just as I said that, a tiny hand reached up and touched my face. I braced myself against the back of the bed; I could hardly contain my excitement as I held my daughter in my arms for the very first time. I could smell the sweet, inviting aroma and feel the velvety softness of her skin. Nothing in life had prepared me for the overwhelming love I felt at that moment. I looked over at my child’s father; while fighting back the inevitable tears of joy that were making their way into my eyes, and I stated, “Frank, look at how perfect she is! Look at her tiny little nose.”
I can still remember the first time I set eyes on her. She was naked, and glistening with the
I tried to keep myself occupied by watching television, reading, and doing crossword puzzles, but nothing could have kept me from feeling the excruciating pain of labor. The eagerness to have this all over and done with, was definitely not helping with the anxiety I was feeling during that process.
After 22 grueling and strenuous hours of being stuck in a bed, and three different shifts of nurses, I finally met my daughter. Friday morning, at 4:55am, the sky was dark and cloudy, and the moment I had been anxiously awaiting for nine and a half long months, was here at last.
Everyone in the room got very quiet as my child entered the world. I was very confused as to why I had not heard any sounds coming from her and it began to worry me. The moment I heard her cry, I knew everything was going to be okay.
“Oh! She is absolutely breath-taking,” I exclaimed as Dr. Reedy placed the innocent child on my chest.
Just as I said that, a tiny hand reached up and touched my face. I braced myself against the back of the bed; I could hardly contain my excitement as I held my daughter in my arms for the very first time. I could smell the sweet, inviting aroma and feel the velvety softness of her skin. Nothing in life had prepared me for the overwhelming love I felt at that moment. I looked over at my child’s father; while fighting back the inevitable tears of joy that were making their way into my eyes, and I stated, “Frank, look at how perfect she is! Look at her tiny little nose.”
I can still remember the first time I set eyes on her. She was naked, and glistening with the