Cream of Potato Soup: Long day and the baby's here

June 5, 2006

Long day and the baby's here

What a day.

We arrived and met my mother-in-law, who would take Evan for the day (and overnight as well), and blew through registration and headed to Labor and Delivery. We got settled, and the wait began. Evan and my MIL left soon after, and we waited, and waited some more. We watched TV, I paced, we talked and made jokes, I watched an episode of Green Wing, and searched for WiFi.

As a quick aside, seriously St. Vincent, where is the Wifi? You should at least have it in the lobby or cafeteria. At the very least, it would have been nice to have a public internet terminal somewhere, just to post a quick update or send out an email.

Eventually they started to prepare Jennifer. I'll spare you the gory details, but eventually we were ready, and it was time to wait again. After two episodes of mid-90's COPS episodes, we were moved to another L&D room as they got the OR ready for the section. They came for Jennifer, leaving me for nearly 15 minutes to pace around.

When they actually call you into the room, they've begun the procedure and my job switches to comfort and reassurance mode. It was strange to be back in that environment again after 4 years. I sat at Jennifer's head and gave her the play-by-play (at least from what I could see) and told her she was doing great, which she was.

Then the moment came - that scary sound when everything becomes very, very real. The sound - the sputtering and crying of the baby as he's removed from his comfy home of 9 months into the bright, cold operating theatre. I had the same reaction I had when Evan made the same sound. I think it's somewhat like "Holy shit, this is real."

But, that's where the experience stopped being like Evan. When Ev was born, they quickly whisked him away moments after he was born and we didn't get to see him for hours again, except for a Polaroid picture we had been given. This time - I got to take part in all the post-birth activities. I got to help clean him off, check him out and take a footprint. And then, to my surprise, they handed me the swaddled up baby, not three minutes after he was born. With Evan, we didn't get to hold him for almost a week after he was born, and even then it was with a tangle of wires and hoses.

Once Jennifer had taken a quick peek, I got to walk the baby, again to my surprise, to the nursery where we weighed him (7 pounds, 9 ounces), measured him (21 inches) and put some clothes on him. The kid was born with a mop full of black hair, which if he's anything like his brother, will turn blonde soon enough.

I'm so glad I was able to take part in these early activities with him. I think it was hard with Evan to make that really early connection because of all the complications he had.

Then I was off to make some calls and eventually return to Jennifer in recovery.

She did amazingly well, not only during the birth itself but over the entire pregnancy. We were both worried, but she went above and beyond all expections. She was much more alert after the section, mostly due to the fact that she didn't have magnesium sulfate, which she was given last time to help with her life-threatening blood pressure issues. That stuff, according to the nurses we talked with today, F's you up big time.

While she was in recovery, we finally agreed to a name, and it's something that really didn't come into play until just a few days ago, but we both really, really like it. So here it is: Grady Matthew. Yeah. Grady. It's different, but I dig it.

After returning to the room, Jennifer rested for a bit and eventually I went and got the baby from the nursery and they were able to hang out for a bit. At that point, the visitors started. My mom was first, then Jenny's mom and Evan came. My dad came later from Cleveland. I think we'll get the rush of people tomorrow.

I was surprised by how well Evan did. I think he knew something was up all day, what with the getting up early, going to the hospital then being sent off with Grandma for the day. He was happy to see us when he came, and wanted to hold the baby, which he did very, very well. I think it helped he got to spend some time around my sister's newborn a few weeks go. He gave the baby kisses and made sure Grady had his little hat on. "Baby Grainy hat on so no cold." Indeed.

Evan left again, and my folks got the thrill of changing Grady's first diaper. We didn't get to see Evan's first dump, but oh man, what a mess. I was more then happy to pass that one on. He also ate for a bit, which we were excited about. He seems to have no problems latching on and eating, so that's good. We'll keep a close eye on that.

So, at the end of the day, we've got a healthy, happy newborn and a healthy and happy mother. We're so relieved things went smoothly, and it's weird to have the baby with us in the room. When everyone left, it was the three of us. It was nice, as Grady slept on Jennifer's chest, and I chilled in the rocking chair and it was nice and quiet. And again it becomes real. After two years of trying and nine months of pregnancy, we've got a new baby, one that will be home in just a few days.

What a long day, one I'm glad is finally over. Now the real fun begins.

Posted by Mike at June 5, 2006 11:12 PM

What a day.

The day started early in Meadville, in a rush to get everyone showered and packed up before we made the trek to Erie. The nice thing about being the 6th C-section scheduled for any given day means you can show up to the hospital later then the usual 6 a.m. The downside for Jennifer was that she couldn't eat all morning - she still had to fast from midnight last night. We arrived and met my mother-in-law, who would take Evan for the day (and overnight as well), and blew through registration and headed to Labor and Delivery. We got settled, and the wait began. Evan and my MIL left soon after, and we waited, and waited some more. We watched TV, I paced, we talked and made jokes, I watched an episode of Green Wing, and searched for WiFi. As a quick aside, seriously St. Vincent, where is the Wifi? You should at least have it in the lobby or cafeteria. At the very least, it would have been nice to have a public internet terminal somewhere, just to post a quick update or send out an email. Eventually they started to prepare Jennifer. I'll spare you the gory details, but eventually we were ready, and it was time to wait again. After two episodes of mid-90's COPS episodes, we were moved to another L&D room as they got the OR ready for the section. They came for Jennifer, leaving me for nearly 15 minutes to pace around. When they actually call you into the room, they've begun the procedure and my job switches to comfort and reassurance mode. It was strange to be back in that environment again after 4 years. I sat at Jennifer's head and gave her the play-by-play (at least from what I could see) and told her she was doing great, which she was. Then the moment came - that scary sound when everything becomes very, very real. The sound - the sputtering and crying of the baby as he's removed from his comfy home of 9 months into the bright, cold operating theatre. I had the same reaction I had when Evan made the same sound. I think it's somewhat like "Holy shit, this is real." But, that's where the experience stopped being like Evan. When Ev was born, they quickly whisked him away moments after he was born and we didn't get to see him for hours again, except for a Polaroid picture we had been given. This time - I got to take part in all the post-birth activities. I got to help clean him off, check him out and take a footprint. And then, to my surprise, they handed me the swaddled up baby, not three minutes after he was born. With Evan, we didn't get to hold him for almost a week after he was born, and even then it was with a tangle of wires and hoses. Once Jennifer had taken a quick peek, I got to walk the baby, again to my surprise, to the nursery where we weighed him (7 pounds, 9 ounces), measured him (21 inches) and put some clothes on him. The kid was born with a mop full of black hair, which if he's anything like his brother, will turn blonde soon enough. I'm so glad I was able to take part in these early activities with him. I think it was hard with Evan to make that really early connection because of all the complications he had. Then I was off to make some calls and eventually return to Jennifer in recovery. She did amazingly well, not only during the birth itself but over the entire pregnancy. We were both worried, but she went above and beyond all expections. She was much more alert after the section, mostly due to the fact that she didn't have magnesium sulfate, which she was given last time to help with her life-threatening blood pressure issues. That stuff, according to the nurses we talked with today, F's you up big time. While she was in recovery, we finally agreed to a name, and it's something that really didn't come into play until just a few days ago, but we both really, really like it. So here it is: Grady Matthew. Yeah. Grady. It's different, but I dig it. After returning to the room, Jennifer rested for a bit and eventually I went and got the baby from the nursery and they were able to hang out for a bit. At that point, the visitors started. My mom was first, then Jenny's mom and Evan came. My dad came later from Cleveland. I think we'll get the rush of people tomorrow. I was surprised by how well Evan did. I think he knew something was up all day, what with the getting up early, going to the hospital then being sent off with Grandma for the day. He was happy to see us when he came, and wanted to hold the baby, which he did very, very well. I think it helped he got to spend some time around my sister's newborn a few weeks go. He gave the baby kisses and made sure Grady had his little hat on. "Baby Grainy hat on so no cold." Indeed. Evan left again, and my folks got the thrill of changing Grady's first diaper. We didn't get to see Evan's first dump, but oh man, what a mess. I was more then happy to pass that one on. He also ate for a bit, which we were excited about. He seems to have no problems latching on and eating, so that's good. We'll keep a close eye on that. So, at the end of the day, we've got a healthy, happy newborn and a healthy and happy mother. We're so relieved things went smoothly, and it's weird to have the baby with us in the room. When everyone left, it was the three of us. It was nice, as Grady slept on Jennifer's chest, and I chilled in the rocking chair and it was nice and quiet. And again it becomes real. After two years of trying and nine months of pregnancy, we've got a new baby, one that will be home in just a few days. What a long day, one I'm glad is finally over. Now the real fun begins.

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