Time Line

For those interested, here's a time line of how things went down last Wednesday AM.

12:10 am - I arrive home following a work-related dinner.  I'm half in the bag.  I obviously didn't pay attention to my grandmother who, the week prior, told me to "stay sober".  I found the remark odd at the time.  Perhaps Granny knows something I don't?

2:20 am - M. wakes and informs me that her water has broken.  She says that it may be 12-24 hours before any real action begins.  Very calm and cool on her part, I must say.  Regardless, I awake and begin to pull it together.

3:00 am - M. showers and I set up email auto-notifications and change my work vmail.  I shower.

4:20 am - M.'s contractions are pretty close together and getting more intense.  She's also acting a bit more goofy than usual which tells me that it's time to head to the hospital.  We grab the pre-packed bag and go.

4:40 am - Check in.

5:00 am - Set up camp in the labor and deliver room.

5:20 am - Epidural administered.  M.'s pain goes away and we both rest.  They have a cot for me!

For the next several hours, nurses come and go.  M.'s doctor stops by.  We sleep, watch TV, talk, goof around, etc.  All this time she's 3 cm dilated.  I can tell by the chart that the contractions are getting stronger and closer together but M. can't feel a thing.  Praise be for modern medicine.

10:30 am - All of a sudden, M.'s 8 cm dilated.  Holy crap!  This baby is coming soon.

11:30 am - The doctor sets up shop and tells M. to begin pushing.  I coach as best I can but feel like a weight trainer for a college football team.  "C'mon, push!  You can do it!  Harder!  Focus!"  (Apparently I wasn't too bad as I got kudos from the nurse later.)

11:40 am - Baby's heart rate is dropping.  He's under stress and having a hard time getting out.  Time for drastic measures.  The "vacuum" shows up.  So does some kind of cardiac nurse team.  I begin to feel slightly alarmed but keep my focus on coaching M.

11:45 am - Uh oh.  I see the doctor grab a scalpel.  The dreaded episiotomy!  The vacuum is sucking and the doctor is yanking like she's bending metal.  This is rough stuff.  Later we find out that poor Liam's left collar bone is broken during the process.  (Not uncommon, actually.  Plus, remember that he was almost 8 lbs and M. isn't exactly a big girl.)

11:50 am - Baby arrives.  He is eerily limp and silent.  Doctor immediately cuts the chord and hands baby off to the special nurse team who take him under a heat lamp device and begin massaging him all over.  M. is asking if he's okay and the doctor is saying he is.  I want to believe the doctor and comfort M. but I'm a bit freaked myself.  What seems like an eternity goes by.  M. continues to ask if he's okay.  No sound from the baby.  M.'s getting upset.  Everyone is saying things are fine.

11:53 am - Liam lets out his first cries.  M. and I breathe a huge sigh of relief.  The nurses let me ritualistically cut the end of the chord and Liam is brought to his mother.

11:55 am - M. and I profess our love for one another and maybe even shed a tear or two.  Damn, what a good looking kid.

Lots more follows in our two nights at the hospital but that's pretty much the birth story/time line from my perspective.

Much thanks to Dr. Massa and Nurse Nancy (missed the last name) for everything.  Very professional but very personal at the same time.  It was great working with you.

Oh, and thanks to the striking workers who woke us in the mornings and put us to bed at nights with their "peaceful" protests.  One question: How much of your union dues went toward that enormous motor home/band tour bus that was parked outside the hospital?

Comments

[Jen J.]

Thanks for the play-by-play. Glad to know Liam is already giving you gray hairs - why do they start so early?? So happy to hear all turned out well - and damn, he IS a good looking kid! I especially like the outfit he's wearing in his car seat photo - looks strikingly familiar! Hope you're getting some rest - I'm sure it's hard to take your eyes off of him. Love love love - Jen.

[Peldi]

Hey! Dr. Massa is our doctor too! Glad to hear she's as good in the delivery room as she is in her office.

Congrats about Liam, and thanks for the play-by-play.

[Daddy]

Peldi - Yeah, she's great. Super nice. And she called today to check in on M. I like the personal touch. Tell her I say 'hi' at your next visit! ;)