Our little man has rushed into this world (literally), this family, and into our hearts. Even though it is horribly overdue, I thought I owed it to my son to tell his birth story. Here goes....and please bear with me because it could be a long story.
The build up...
Baby Pau is due on Sunday, September 11.
Thursday, September 8:
So, Ali goes to a normal doctors appointment on Thursday and she finds out that she is 4 centimeters dilated. Whoa. Baby is a coming! The doctor says that she would like to strip the membranes to get this baby moving...Ali tells the doctor that I had a cold so they decide to wait. But the doctor says something to the effect of "I don't usually say this to mothers, but this baby is coming soon." Ali calls Bon Bon (my mother in law) and has her get on down to Worcester. Ali begins the nightly ritual of bouncing on a yoga ball to help motivate baby to head out...literally.
Friday, September 9:
Bonnie gets in Friday night and we head to pick up some hot wings for Ali to induce labor. Hot wings consumed, no baby. Maybe tomorrow?
Saturday, September 10:
Ali goes to get a prenatal massage that should hopefully get this baby moving. Massage enjoyed, no baby. We go to walk around Target for a bit to see if being in Ali's favorite store inspires this baby to come on out. Deals found (I am sure of it), no baby. So Ali hears that eating eggplant will induce labor. Eggplant Parmesan from Ciao Bella coming right up. Awesome Italian ingested, no baby. Perchance tomorrow?
Sunday, September 11:
Baby Pau is supposed to be here today! No dice...just yet. Bonnie and Ali wanted to head on out to the outlets for some shopping and for Ali to walk a bunch and get this baby out. This was kind of scary because the outlets were about an hour away from the hospital we were supposed to be delivering at. We made sure the baby bag was in the van before we left. We stop by Ali's second favorite store, Vera Bradley, Anela chases Ali around the mall, we walk for what seems like forever...nada. New bag for Ali (and Bonnie picks up some goodies, too), no baby. Ali's friend Natasha, as well as the gate guard Shane swear that Chinese food will induce this baby. Nancy Changs here we come! Yummy beef broccoli and extra spicy orange chicken gobbled, no baby. Baby Pau is officially late and perpetuating a stereotype of being on "Hawaiian time." Oh brother...
Monday, September 12:
Wake up and get ready for work. Ali tells me that she feels "funny"...not like baby's coming but just out of sorts. She calls our doctor to see if she could be seen that afternoon, appointment gets set up for 1pm. Finished getting ready, one foot out the door, Ali hollers downstairs that she thinks she's having contractions so she was going to call the doctor to see if she can get in earlier.
I figured this baby must be coming so I run into the office to finish up some work and I get the call. "Tyler, we gotta go to the hospital now." Woo hoo! Here we go folks!
The Delivery...
We rush to the hospital (where our doctor is), which luckily isn't too far away from our place. On the way there, Ali shares that the contractions are pretty sustained ones coming about every 5 minutes. Ummm, from everything I can remember from Anelas birth, that sounds like go time. We get in to see the midwife, she checks Ali at 11:07am. With shock Marianne (not our regular midwife) says, "Honey, you are 10cm." Yeah, that sounds like go time for sure. She calmly slinks out of the room saying “just one minute” while she musters a pseudo calm smile as the door shuts. Then we hear a shout "I NEED A WHEELCHAIR IN HERE NOW!" Next we hear some panting and heavy footsteps as a nurse comes to the door, out of breath she says, “I am here let's go.” Through the (what felt like) underground tunnels of the hospital we dash until we emerge in the labor and delivery section of the hospital. Oh yeah, go time for friggin' sure.
We arrive in the delivery room where there are about 3 to 4 people still getting the room ready. The delivery nurse welcomes us, like a good host, and as of yet doesn’t know the severity of the situation. Well, we didn’t even really know the severity of the situation either. The nurse says “So we are gonna have a baby today?” and the ever-calm Marianne yelps back “We are gonna have a baby now!” Gulp. Go time indeed. Ali rips off her street clothes (much like an NBA player taking off their tear-aways to get into the game) and jumps into a hospital gown. She goes to get into the bed, while everyone is still setting up, I think I might even have my backpack on and hospital bag in hand, and she mentions how she is feeling a ton of pressure. Left foot into the bed...splash. Her water breaks! Like how it does in the movies! My cute wife then says almost sheepishly “Oops..but that feels so much better.” Definitely go time.
The Twist…
Here is where it gets a little crazy. Marianne goes to check Ali's progress. She then puts on the most shocked face I have seen on a medical professional. Ever. It might have been a good face on Greys Anatomy or Private Practice…but seemed alarming to me. Then she mutters “Oh sh!t…” Now, I don’t want to tell anyone how to do their job...but I feel like certain professions should lose the right to use that phrase. Barbers…you don’t want to hear that while they are cutting your hair. Tattoo artists…never ever want to hear that while having your skin indelibly marked. Doctor, nurse, midwife, etc…no ways. Anyway, back to the story. Marianne then proceeds to tell a nurse in the room that the baby is breech. Okay, maybe “oh sh!t” was appropriate. Ali starts to freak a little and say “What? No it was head down on Thursday! I am certain of it. I remember.” Marianne gathers her cool and replies “Sweetheart, I believe you but this baby is breech now.” I basically freeze at this point. Little to no good to anyone. At least I think I have my backpack off.
The next thing I remember is one of the nurses saying that they should check if doctor so and so was in because he has the most experience with breech deliveries. He is paged and arrives at the room. Thank goodness. He comes in, Marianne briefs him that we are dealing with a double footling breech. He says coolly “Okay” then asks “C section?” Marianne says “It’s too late! I am holding two feet, doctor!” Again, super coolly he says “Okay.” He then gears Ali up and tells her to get ready to use the next contraction, grabs a hold of the babys legs, and gets to business. GO. TIME. Everyone in the room who was previously helping set the room up was now on leg holding duty…Ali’s legs. Ali pushes like 3 times, 3 monstrous pushes. Boom. All but this babys head is out. IT’S A BOY! That seemed preemptive since he wasn’t all the way born yet. One more good push, and some tugging from the doc (combined with some Cirque de Soleil poses he had the baby in) and out comes my boy. 11:28am. 21 minutes after we checked in, 10cm dilated, baby Pau was born. An 8lb baby boy jumping feet first (very safety minded already) into the world.
The Conclusion…
My wife is an amazing woman. I knew that before, it was confirmed a thousand times over during this birth, and I know it will be true many moons to come. She had no epidural, no pain medication, and they barely gave her any IV fluids during the turbo birth. Gangster! We get to the recovery room and it hits me and Alison all what just happened. We both kind of tear up and have a joyful and relieved sigh. We pray and thank God that she and the little one are okay. We also pray that God continue to make us the parents He would have us be for this one. Little man is still without a name at this point because we wanted to make sure and pick a good one. And we procrastinated. After a day Ali and I finally settle on Keola Isaiah.
The Review…
Wow…that was a long story for such a quick birth. Thanks for bearing with it. Keola a.k.a. Ola Boy has been a joy…hard at times and kind of shaping up to be a mamas boy (which isn't all bad)…and also so awesome. He has a great smile and an infectious giggle. And he is huge. He is currently 4 months old but wearing 9 to 12 month clothing. Anela has loved having “baby” a.k.a.“bubba” a.k.a. “budder” a.k.a. "Kay" around and is shaping up to be a great big sister.
