Baby Arrives!

Wednesday, 27 June 2007

Chris' version of the story:Let's see...The kid is already consigned to a life of doing the dinner dishes, as he decided on June 27, 2007 to come out a wee bit early (both in the pregnancy and early in the morning). We had one of those speedy driving to the hospital action scene around 0230 in the morning, all the while I was humming "breaking the law" as I carefully ran all the red lights I could. By 0752, the kid was out (and screaming his head off!) and everyone is doing fine (aside from my lack of sleep and freezeing my okole off in the hospital). He weighs 4 ppounds, 10 ounces, about 26 cm long (most of that is from his point head), has (for the moment) brown hair, blond eyebrows and very deep blue eyes.He's hanging out in the Intermediate NICU for a while, as he's a little early.

yours in fatherhood,

Chris

My version of the story:
1:15 am Water broke, but I wasn't quite sure and thought I just had to go to the bathroom, though after trying repeatedly and changing my pants twice, I kinda wondered why liquid kept gushing down my leg.

2:00 am Called Chris to tell him I thought my water broke (though I still was not convinced and was in the process of reading literature from our birthing class).

2:15 am Chris convinced me we should head to the hospital (after all the book said that if you think your water has broken, you should go to the hospital....I brought my clothes for proof just in case.)

2:30 am Enroute to the hospital, I start having contractions. Okay, maybe my water did break.

2:40 am Enter a triage room and the nurse tests my clothes that have the "fluid" on them. The nurse, Jen, recognizes me. I told her I was on bedrest in the beginning of the month. I joke with her that she actually just came up in conversation tonight, as I made Chris prepare a grilled cheese sandwich for me, just as Jen got one for me as a late night snack when she was my nurse. How apropos! Now, she admits me because as the test shows, my water did indeed break. She tells me that I'm not leaving the hospital without a baby.

Contractions are 2 - 4 minutes apart. I tell them that I do not want any drugs. I call my mom in California to let her know that I am in labor. I update my cell phone outgoing message to let others know that I will be a little busy and won't be answering my phone calls for awhile.

3:30 - 4:00 am I am moved to a labor and delivery room, similar to the one I was in during my 7 day hospital bedrest. Only this time, I am REALLY going to deliver a baby! I am 4 cm dilated.

Contractions are steady and Chris pulls out the sofachair to go to sleep.
But not for long. He cannot cozy up while I'm enduring pain. THERE IS NO WAY YOU'RE SLEEPING THROUGH THIS BUDDY!

4:00 pm - 7:00 am I repeatedly wake Chris up every time I have a contraction to rub my back (The TV is not a good enough distraction after all, and there's no way he's going to be cozy in bed when I'm enduring pain.)

Me: Chris.....Rub my back.
Chris: Where?
Me: There. No, not there. No, not like that. Forget it, I can do it myself. Don't touch me. Leave me alone.

Five minutes later.....

Me: Chris....Come rub my back. .........Stop! Leave me alone! Don't touch me.

(Pattern continues...You get the picture.)

By 6 am I decide that perhaps I may give in and get an epidural. I ask the nurse about it. She says she'll have to check me. She is surprised that I am already 7 cm dilated, and the baby is only inches away from coming out. She tells me that even if I want drugs, he's gonna come out really fast.

So, I said forget it. I can handle.

7:00 am I am 9 1/2 centimeters dilated. She calls my OB to come in and tells him I haven't had any drugs.

7:20 am Dr. Lin arrives and tells me to bear down and push.
My friend Miya was in the room (as she always needs to leave Taiga's room from 7 - 8 am, so we "timed" Chase's birth perfectly.) and was my photographer and brow wiper (as my adrenaline got pumping and I started sweating profusely), although my camera ran out of juice, so she had to take pictures using her cell phone camera. Chris helped the nurse coach me (as leg holder) through the delivery.

7:52 am After about 5 series of pushes, Baby Chase arrives screaming loud and clear. He is 4 lbs., 10 oz., 17 3/4 inches long. Born at 34 weeks and 6 days (I didn't make my 35 wks belly photo!).

After receiving a high Apgar score, Daddy Chris heads off with Chase to the intermediate nursery (the more stable part of the Neo-natal ICU) for monitoring because he is 5 weeks premature.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lin tells me I did a good job and talks to me for about ten minutes(as he is stitching me up with needle and thread and I ask, "Did you cut me or something?" Turns out, in my state of euphoria, I didn't even notice he did an episiotomy on me to ensure that baby Chase came out in a timely manner and didn't go into distress). My placenta is examined and shown to me.

8:30 am I am wheelchaired to a shared recovery room (apparently there were no single private rooms as 26 babies were delivered today)for the next couple of days.

Discharged on Friday, June 29, with a little tenderness in all the right places and major engorgement.