Der and I are proud new parents of our little boy, Aidan Matteo! He arrived last night, June 20th, at 19:16, weighing in at 3.80 kg (8.3 lbs) and measuring 51.5 cm.
My contractions started early in the morning but I didn’t realize that they were contractions until about 2:30. That’s when I woke up Der and we started timing them – they were from 30 to 50 seconds long, 6 to 9 minutes apart. My midwife, Rosemarie, had told us that we should go to the hospital when the contractions were a minute long, 5 minutes apart so we figured we still had some time. We kept timing them but they slowed down so we thought it might be a false alarm. So, we had the kids I tutored over for our good-bye party that we had planned and it went really well. By noon, I decided to call Rosemarie, just to let her know what was happening. She told us to come in at 2:00 so that she could check me. [Aidan came in to feed so Der is taking over the writing now] So, we went in and had a quick exam. I was dilated to 4 cm already. Rosemarie said ‘you’re staying’.
Der went down to admissions and to get the suitcases. I got changed into the hospital gown and was just about to get wheeled to the delivery room when Der came back.
The delivery room was very modern with all of the equipment that one would need. Der said that it even had the ‘machine that went ping’ (Monty Python reference). Rosemarie stayed with us the whole time. It was very relaxing as we had India Aria and classical music playing to a slideshow of Kirsi’s baby pics, which entertained the nurses and anesthesiologist.
Dr. Buhler came to check around 18:45 and since there weren’t many contractions he said to wait to let Aidan get in better position. Dr. Buhler came in again at 19:00 and said ‘Let’s get the baby out.’
At that point, the lights went on, a flood of people were on the scene (Dr. Buhler, Rosemarie, the anesthesiologist, pediatrician, and 3 nurses). The bottom half of Dana’s bed was removed, stirrups were up and in place, medical equipment (scalpels and scissors, etc.) was moved into position and Dana was prepped with what looked like BBQ sauce. The machine that went ping heated up and Aidan’s clothes were warmed as well.
After 8 or so pushes, Aidn arrived; hairy, purple and beautiful.
I had a little bruising and a stitch or two but did great. I was actually fighting sleep at one point.
We were back in the room after an hour or so and then able to phone Nana and Papa, Auntie Kristin, Grandpa, Uncle Ian and family and Uncle Trav and family and send out some emails.
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