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Labour + birth

19th Jul 2023

“Why does she feel so heavy?” 12 mums tell us the very first words they said after giving birth

Trine Jensen-Burke

First words you said after giving birth

“We did it, baby!”

Those very first moments after having just given birth is by far the most intense in your life.

What I remember most is that feeling of getting those brand new, warm and slippy babies placed in my arms. Everything else just melts away.

It’s a combination of things, of course, that makes you not remember the exact fragments of what happened in those moments after birth. The exhaustion. Generally speaking, the sheer relief it is over and the joy of meeting your baby for the very first time. You are likely to be a bundle of hormones and tears and happy delirium. It is a moment so profound you will wish you could stop the clocks and bottle it up.

I do however remember what my first words to my babies were – even though I can’t remember much else. With my eight-year-old, I could feel her being born and asked the midwife: “What is it, what is it??” The midwife, knowing how much I had waited for this very moment, simply lifted her up to me and said: “I’ll let you see that for yourself”. Then, to my husband-to-be: “It’s Nahla.” (We had agreed on names already, whether the baby turned out to be a boy or a girl.)

When, three years later, my little boy was born the moment was in many ways much the same. When I finally (after a lot of “I can’t do this anymore”!) got him in my arms and discovered I had a baby boy, I remember whispering “Hi Luca” to him. My boy.

Some mamas recently shared what the first words they said to their babies were. As predicted, some are sweet, some hilarious and some just filled with pure and simple relief.

1. “We did it, baby!” – Lacy

2. “That wasn’t as bad as I thought!” — Danielle

3. “I just need a minute.” — Dana

4. “Oh my God, she’s a girl!” — Elizabeth

5. “I can’t believe it’s over! I can’t believe it’s over!” — Jaclyn

6. “I’m exhausted! Why does she feel so heavy?” — Melanie

 

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7. “Holy shit!” — Kristen

8. “It’s you.” — Marie

9. “Thank goodness he’s out!” — Betsy

10. “What time is it? That was the fastest labour ever!” — Echo

11. “You look like a 3-month-old!” — Rachel

12. “I knew you were a girl!” — Ravyn

Do you remember what your first words to your babies were? 

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