This Is My Love

"Just one more push and the head will be out!" The doctor exclaimed as she sat between my legs, focusing hard on helping me birth a healthy baby. "Next contraction, give one big push! This is the toughest part, sweetie, so you need to remain strong."
It had been only an hour and a half since my water broke, and I was only minutes away from meeting Pete and I's baby. My dad had obviously been right in saying the baby was eager to join us, for I had dilated fully in almost no time at all and my contractions were only seconds apart, and I was glad. I was so afraid of a difficult birth, whether it be from being in labor for hours upon hours, or the baby facing the wrong way... Or, god forbid, from the umbilical chord wrapping around it's neck like I had heard about happening so many times before.
"Just breathe, baby. You're doing amazing. I'm so proud of you. I love you so much," Pete whispered fervently from beside me, his arm resting on my pillow above my head and his other hand clutching my own as he knelt beside my bed. Also in the room were two nurses, ready to receive the baby from the doctor and whisk it to the corner of the room to clear out it's air ways and clean it up before wrapping it in a blanket to then hand to us.
About thirty seconds after my last push, my stomach began to tighten again, pain shooting through my abdomen, causing me to grit my teeth. I had opted not to get an epidural, and so I felt everything intensely and at it's fullest.
"Okay, push!" The doctor commanded. I clenched my jaw and lifted my head from the pillow as I put all my focus and energy into the muscles of my abdomen and below. There was a sensation of different pains in my vaginal area, the biggest of which being an almost a burning sensation, as the doctor counted down from five to one. When she got to one, I stopped pushing and let my head fall back into the pillow and my muscles go limp.
"The head's out, Ano. Just one more big push and you're done!" The doctor informed me excitedly. I focused on trying to catch my breath for the little amount of time I had before I had to push again. Pete pushed his lips against my forehead and placed a large, lingering kiss there.
"Almost there, baby. You're almost there," he whispered. Another contraction began and the doctor commanded me to begin pushing again. It was the final push... The home stretch. So, I put all of the little bit of energy I had left into that final push. I lifted my head from the pillow, dug my heels into the stirrups and pushed as hard as my body would allow. A couple seconds later, a searing pain shot from my vaginal area through my entire lower body and I could feel something slip from out of me before the sound of crying pierced through the room.
"It's a girl!" The doctor exclaimed before cutting the umbilical chord, since Pete had said before hand for them to do it so he could stay by my side, and handing our baby off to the one nurse so they could clear the liquid from her air ways, wipe her off and wrap her up. As soon as I heard the baby's cries, I collapsed back into the pillow and let out a sob of relief. Pete began to place kisses all over my face, murmuring how well I did and how much he loved me as we waited for them to bring the baby over.
The nurse turned around, our baby in her arms, wrapped in a soft, pink blanket. After her air ways were clear, she had stopped crying, which had me worried for a moment, but the nurses assured us she was fine.
"Meet your healthy, 9 pound 8 ounce baby girl. Congratulations, Mommy and Daddy," the nurse smiled as she walked over to us. Pete stood from his place beside my bed and held out his arms before allowing the nurse to gently place our baby girl in his arms. I watched as he looked into our baby's face and tears immediately began to stream from his eyes and down his cheeks as a huge, breathtaking smile spread across his face. He turned around and walked back over to the side of my bed, gently rocking our baby in his arms. He tore his eyes away from her face and looked down to me. He smiled lovingly and let out a quiet sob.
"Oh, Ano... She's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen," he whispered before glancing back down to her face and then back to me. "Thank you, Ano. Thank you so much, baby."
I began to quietly cry to myself as I watched the love of my life cry happily over our baby. The product of our love. It was by far the most amazing moment of my life.
Pete kneeled down beside my bed again and gently began to place our baby girl in my arms, handling her like the finest china in the world.
"Meet your daughter," he whispered once she was safely in my arms. "And you meet your mommy," he spoke to our daughter. "She's the most incredible woman you'll ever meet. And she's going to be the greatest mommy you could ever ask for."
I let out a soft sob as I looked down into my baby girl's face. He was right, she was the most beautiful baby in the world. She had Pete's big eyes and beautiful features, except for having my nose and narrow chin. Her skin was perfectly in between Pete's olive skin and my only slightly tanner skin. Her hair was dark and loosely curled like Pete's, and she had a good amount of it for a new born. She laid my arms, her eyes closed and her face calm as she breathed softly but deeply. An indescribable kind of love filled me up completely and I felt like I never wanted to let her go.
"She's so perfect, Bruno," I whispered. Pete smiled from beside me and placed a soft kiss on my temple.
"Yes, she is. Just like her mother," he spoke lovingly before gently placing his hand on the top of her head and stroking the soft skin of her forehead with his thumb.
"What's her name?" The doctor asked as she smiled at us from the end of the bed. I looked over to Pete with questioning eyes. He smiled and shook his head.
"Name her whatever you want, baby. Like I said before, I know I'll love whatever you decide. I'm just happy she's here."
I smiled back at him before looking back down to our baby girl, and I knew there was only one name I wanted to bestow upon her. The perfect name for a perfect baby girl. A first name that suited the situation, and a middle name to go with her calm demeanor.
"Meet Bernadette Lana Hernandez," I spoke proudly, never taking my eyes off of Pete's. Her first name was chosen for obvious reasons, but Lana was a name I had thought up right then and there. It meant "calm as still waters" in Hawaiian, and chosen because, aside from about a minute of crying right after coming out, our baby just calmly slept. Pete's eyes brightened and his smile doubled in size, which seemed impossible. A sob escaped his throat and fresh tears began to fall from his eyes.
"How beautiful. I think it's perfect," the doctor spoke gently before grabbing her clio board from the counter behind her and walking towards the door.
"Me, too. It's so perfect, baby," Pete whispered as he looked down at our baby before bringing his eyes back up to mind and pushing his fingers into my hair on the side of my head and stroking his thumb up and down my cheek. "Thank you, Ano."
He leaned in and pushed his lips into mine and began to kiss me passionately as he moved his fingers restlessly against my scalp. His eyes were squeezed shut, as if he was restraining himself from pulling me into his arms and kissing me harder still.
"Congratulations, you two," the doctor spoke gently from the door of our hospital room before opening it up and walking out, leaving us in the room with the two nurses, one filling out paperwork and the other typing out the birth certificate. Pete simply continued to kiss me, one hand in my hair and the other on our baby's head. After probably half a minute of passionate kissing, Pete pulled his lips away from mine and rested his forehead against my own. He looked down to our baby out of the corner of his eye and sighed contentedly.
"I am the absolute luckiest man in the world."