After having my first beautiful baby... and viewing the after-birth photos where I sporting that after-birth-hit-by-a-truck-look, I decided that for my second, I wanted to look *nice* right after...
Not perfect, not model-like, not Renoir-painting-like... just *nice*.
So, at 11:00 p.m., after my water broke, I went and had a shower and put on a full face of makeup.
The whole time I was 'getting ready', my mother and husband were pacing the kitchen saying "We think you should get to the hospital... NOW dear!"
It was supposed to be a homebirth but the midwife was delivering her 3rd baby of the night at the hospital. So, we had to go to her. Honestly, I was probably delaying a little, in hopes that the baby would come before we left... so that I wouldn't have to go to the hospital at all.
Nevertheless, I could delay no longer and we eventually got to the hospital, an hour away (well, not the way my husband was driving that night).
After an entire night of labour (with no sleep to speak of), at about 6:30 a.m., it was deemed that the baby was in distress.
An immediate emergency c-section was scheduled. I was lucky that the o.b. was kind enough to let me keep my contact lenses in so my first vision of the baby wouldn't be all fuzzy and vague...Thank goodness for her!... But the makeup all had to come off.
Needless to say, no makeup, no colour, an entire night of labour... The hit-by-a-truck-look was once again mine to claim. :D
I claimed it with honour though!
Since the baby was in distress, we were quite worried about his welfare. Our worries were completely unfounded. He was long, skinny, robust with attitude! (The o.b.'s first words about him, before she could even pull him out were, "Hey, this kid's fighting me!" It turned out that the cord was making a figure-8-loop around his neck and under his arm).
I happily sported my hit-by-a-truck-look in exchange for his health and safety... but still looked, with amazement, at the post-birth photos of other women who do appear rather Renoir-like.
For the third baby, I had given up the idea of ever looking good after giving birth... And so I simply became completely self-righteous about the whole hit-by-a-truck-look that I was sporting! ;)
What brought this up now, at this late date? Yet another after-birth photo of an everyday woman... a photo that is beautiful enough that it took my breathe away... sigh...
Pppphththt!
