Happy 8-day existence, little Button. Right now, you are nestled in between me and the moby wrap, sawing logs and wriggling every couple of minutes. I’m trying to get Mommy some quality sleep time before the middle of the night change-cry-feed-burp-cry-soothe-lay down-cry-pick up and soothe again-cry- etc routine begins. But…..you are so stinkin’ adorable I am finding it hard to take my eyes off you. I try to give you some skin to skin Daddy time every day. I can hear you breathe in my ear, feel you wriggle as you discover your nervous system and what it can do, and meet your eyes when they are open.

Today we went back to the pediatrician for your 1-week weighing and you are nearly back to your 8lb-6oz birth weight. We’re having trouble keeping you fed and satisfied. We aren’t sure why you fuss an hour after feeding…..but it seems like you are hungry so we’ve been instructed to feed you. I’ve been able to get in on the feeding when I give you some milk through a syringe taped to my pinky finger. It has been a fun experience “feeding” you but we hope that soon Mommy will be able to supply it all for you.

syringe picture

Let’s continue the miraculous story of your birth, shall we? 🙂

9:00 am, Mommy was dilated to 9.5 cm and she was starting to feel, “some pressure.”

10:50 they started Mommy on antibiotics because her water broke more than 12 hours prior

11:15 Mommy is feeling more pressure and is finally dilated to a 10! Dr. Smith said pushing would probably start in about one more hour

11:40 Nurse Laura started putting out the surgical tray with shiny instruments (scissors, tweezers, clamps) on the blue sterile cloth placemat.

12:00 Nurse Laura explained the pushing phase. Mommy was very concerned that she would poop during birth. “I don’t poop in front of my husband,” she said. There have been few things Mommy has said that I have chalked up to the irrationality of the hormones in her…this is one of them. Mommy was very civil and rational before you were born…..these days, thought, with the lack of sleep, she’s given me some glares that really make me thing she’s possessed. I guess I should be thankful that she didn’t scream, “You did this to me!” during delivery.

1:20 the pushing begins, chin down and eyes tight with a big ab crunch when a contraction starts. They were coming about every 4-5 minutes. Aunt Ka and I were helping you pull your knees up to push because you couldn’t feel them at this time. We could see the top of your head and you were moving slowly out with each push. It was fascinatingly sick. Sorry, but Mommy wouldn’t let me take pictures. Here’s a picture of Clementine instead.

1:55 Dr. Smith came in and started to put on the tie in the back blue gown of surgery. Even at this moment, they were studying Mommy’s contractions and your heart rate. Because your heart rate was dipping with every contraction, along with Mommy’s marathon early labor experience, there was still a possibility the you might have to come out via C-section.

At 2:10, Dr. Smith said there wasn’t much more pushing Mommy could do before they went the C-section option. Then she got out the suction. Let’s see if I can find a picture of it.

That circular part was lubed up and then stuck inside Mommy’s cooch onto the part of your head we could see. Then Dr. Smith used the hand pump to establish a vacuum on top of your head, then, when Mommy was in the middle of a contraction/push of her life, she PULLED ON THE CORD ATTACHED TO YOUR HEAD LIKE SHE WAS TRYING TO START A LAWNMOWER. I was fascinated, scared to death, and freaked out all at the same time as I saw your head plates overlap each other to make way for your head. Your head was out. And then it got tense.

Because of your positioning, your shoulder was stuck. It is called shoulder distocia and it is very serious because the circulation to your head is cut off when you head is “out” but your body is still “in.” What happened next passed by so fast I could only focus on what Dr. Smith was doing. I could see her twisting your head trying to give your body space to emerge but you weren’t budging. She yelled something and at least 5 other nurses exploded onto the scene. They were yelling things like, “start the timer,” “call NICU,” “NICU called,” and yelling “push.” I saw Mommy’s face….a confused look not knowing if they wanted her to push. There were other nurses pushing on her belly. I made eye contact with Mommy and she mouthed, “Is everything ok?” Not knowing if things were ok, I simply gave her my best calm look and mouthed, “it’s ok.” Then I glanced back to Dr. Smith who had finally wriggled you…..all of you…..out. I looked you up and down, noticed that you were a girl, listened long enough for someone to call “52 seconds” and everyone cheer. That was enough for me to take a deep breath and announce, “It’s a girl!”

The NICU call was cancelled, your umbilical cord was cut from Mommy where you were taken over to the heat lamp tray to examine you. When you started crying your sweet feminine bellow that Mommy and I now know so well, I breathed a sigh of relief, kissed Mommy on her forehead, and went over to meet you.

After a very short time of taking your measurements, clearing your lungs, hooking you up to an IV on your hand (because Mommy had a temperature and infection during labor) and examining you for any trauma from the vacuum or birth, you were presented to Mommy skin-to-skin where she presently wept and laughed a the same time. While Dr. Smith was waiting for your placenta to be released, she asked Mommy what your name was. Mommy could only shout, “David?” to which I replied, Crosby Anne! On this blog we will have other names for you to hide your identity from the Emperor (I’m a Star Wars fan)

There’s more to come, but the future stories will have more of you in them. Here’s a picture of your placenta, the organ that serves as the conduit of nutrients, waste, and life blood between you and Mommy. Mommy’s trainer wanted to see a picture of it because, months ago when Mommy was working out with her, she predicted that she’d have a healthy placenta because she could see the fighter in her. Being the chronicler, I got two shots of it.

You are starting to whimper now…..I bet you’re hungry. It has been about 3 hours since you last fed…..the Seahawks were fending off the St. Louis Rams on Monday Night Football. Thanks for being so quiet so I could finish this recounting of our journey to finally meet you, Little Button.

Love, Daddy