Big Sister Emotionally Helps Deliver Mom's Rainbow Baby
If 8-year-old Brooke appears a little overwhelmed by the birth of her sister, know that this day was a long time coming. Her mom has gotten pregnant four times since Brooke was born, and three of those pregnancies ended in miscarriage.
“When Brooke was 3 years old, we surprised her with an ultrasound picture telling her that in about nine months she was going to be a big sister,” mom Kelsey Davis shares with Love What Matters. “A couple of weeks after telling our daughter and announcing our pregnancy, I sadly lost the pregnancy. Brooke was absolutely heartbroken. She cried so hard and didn’t understand why.”
Four years brought two more miscarriages, but Brooke’s parents never let her know about those pregnancies. In 2016, they welcomed their first rainbow baby, and Brooke was in the delivery room to watch it happen. This time around, she wanted to play a bigger role in the new baby’s birth. So that’s exactly what she did.
“Towards the ends of my pregnancy, Brooke brought up being in the room again while I labored and while Summer was born. I had a great idea that she could not only be there, but would be able to cut the umbilical cord,” Davis says. “She liked the idea and at my next appointment I brought it up to my midwife. She said Brooke could even help deliver and catch the baby! The smile that drew up on Brooke’s face was pure excitement.”
Davis says she explained to Brooke what the birth would be like. Things would be bloody, the baby would be slippery, but it was all totally normal.
“I labored for 36 hours from start to finish. Brooke helped me so much,” Davis says. “She massaged my feet, would rub my head, we danced together to the beat of the baby’s heartbeat in the monitor…we had fun and she was so helpful and sweet the entire time.”
When it came time for her mom to push, Brooke was ready to soak it all in.
“Brooke stood next to her dad by my feet, watching in pure happiness and amazement,” Davis says. “You can see the overwhelming love in her face. She touched the baby’s head as she was crowning and giggled a little. The midwife and nurses were telling Brooke just how brave she was for doing this. I pushed two times and the baby’s head popped out. Brooke prepared by putting her hands with her dad’s to help catch her newest baby sister, and about one minute after her head came out, so did her sweet little body. Brooke melted!”
Just like that, Brooke says she decided what she wants to be when she grows up.
“When I asked Brooke how she felt being at the birth of her sisters and if she learned anything, she said, ‘It was really cool being there. I think it made all three of us (her and her two sisters) have a very close bond. I learned how to help expel the placenta from the abdomen and I also realized when I grow up I want to be a midwife.’”
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