Swaddled in Pink Hospital Sheets

Nineteen hours of hard labor

Counting minutes, here it comes, the tiny quiver turning into pulsating agony

Rolling, throbbing, and consuming me

She arrives at three a.m., a very punctual Virgo

Nine pounds, nine ounces entered the world, leaving the mother-body planet, the body now craving rest

She enters the vibrancy of life, healthy, and is swaddled tightly, but

suddenly, the quiet is broken, and brilliant lights illuminate all corners of the room

while the doctor focuses, all hands on deck

what is happening? all attention is on me, hemorrhaging; I feel cloths and pushing

All the staff are working frantically to stop the river of blood

After, she sleeps in our hospital room, tummy full

Me -

I’m wide awake after the strenuous and treacherous night,

with an adrenaline rush,

that stuffs my brain, packs my nerves like a runaway train

**

Night begins to blend with morning light

The nurse has swaddled my new daughter into a crib beside me and

my labor-weary body rests on pink sheets,

their cotton crispness gently cradling me

My bed was tended by an expert nurse’s hands

with sheets tight and smooth,

I could pop a coin on them,

a pleasant comfort after my arduous night

Slowly, gently, I drift into a peaceful descent,

lying in the stillness of pre-dawn, transformed, listening to

raindrops plop and patter their cheerful jingle on the roof.

My body remembers being swaddled

- the nurses know; they are angels -

Comforted, I listen and inhale that rain-scented fresh breeze which

flutters the hospital curtains while I drift off to sleep.

Copyright © 7/9/2025 by Andrea O. Corwin

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A/N - this is a true experience put to poetry. The memory of the comforting sheets and rain is embedded in my mind. The italics reflect thoughts; I did not extrapolate all the gory details - I leave it to the reader's imagination.