Arrival of "Little Rock" -- Oct. 9, 2007

We've always referred to our little guy as Little Rock (LR) as he hid himself well throughout the pregnancy but his kicks were solid and strong.

I was tossing and turning this morning since 3am, had oatmeal, many trips to the bathroom, and in and out sleep. My stomach still felt bad from time to time, more discomfort after 8am, and with a little diarrhea. I wondered if I had caught a chill from the walk the night before. I was finally tired out, so sent an out-sick work email with the intention to at least going in for the 5pm meeting today. I went back to sleep by 9am.

It was close to 9:30 when I woke up again. I realized it had to be contraction, and pretty strong ones too, 1-2 min apart. It soon became unbearable, so I tried calling all the friends that had babies recently and reached Shelly first. I got the "yes" for going to the hospital. My friend Matthew at work saw my out-sick IM status and offered to help whenever needed, so I IM'ed for the hospital ride now. I went to the bathroom again and found bleeding had started!

The next 5 minutes waiting for the ride became excruciatingly painful. I could feel my bottom was opening rapidly. I could hardly walk and couldn't string complete sentences on the phone with Evergreen Hospital. Matthew helped me into the car. As soon as I sat down, water, blood, and came LR!!! I looked in my pants and he had come out completely. He was purple and gray, covered with white stuff on the back, slippery mucus all over, and only attached to me with the cord. Such a strange creature. Is he alive? I was so afraid for his life and health! He moved, and made a little noise after a few seconds, It was the most amazing moment of my life. It was a strange feeling that this big fish swam out of my belly; my belly went down instantly and I forgot all the pain.

Matthew took charge and brought him up to me. He took the phone and called 911 at 9:57. The paramedics came in a couple of minutes and strapped me and the baby into the ambulance by 10:05. Matthew called Joe at work, and Joe almost fell out of his chair. He began his long anxious bus ride home.

They rushed me to the hospital that's 10 minutes away, and finally got a doctor to help me deliver this big bloody mess called placenta. She pointed to the big hole in it and said that's where the baby came out. I shook uncontrollably the whole way to and in the hospital, not sure because of the shock or pain, but everything calmed down now.

Then the normal stuff. LR latched on quickly; he must have been hungry. His glucose was low initially, probably due to the shocking delivery they say, but he ate well and caught up by 6pm. Joe says he's got my fast eating habit, reminds him of me gobbling 2-3 cups of teas in the mornings. He spits often; they say it's mostly amniotic fluid, due to the short time he was in the birth canal that he didn't have time to squeeze out the fluid. He got some bruises on the face, also due to the rapid delivery. But he is healthy and strong, and cries loudly when given shots or changing.

After a few more feedings, he is rosy pink now. Each holding or feeding makes us feel closer to him, more than his kicking when in my tummy (it almost feel strange that I no longer feel kicks now). Each of his little movements seem precious and cute. We try to learn his signals.

We finally decided on the name Andy. We like the sound of it. It reminds me of The Andes Mountains (the BIG rock :), which I first learned of in Art history. It rhymes with the Chinese characters "An1 安" for Peace/calm and "di4 地" for Earth/ground.

Joe went to help clean up Matthew's car in the late afternoon. We should have had a picture of the bloody scene.
Joe spent an hour putting the car seat in and packing my suitcase last night and I was joking he ought to be unpacking his clothing instead (we just moved to a condo). But his anxiety sure proved his point today. LR was scheduled to be due on 10/26 and he came 2.5 weeks early.
We were walking down the hall in the evening and ran into a maternity ward tour group. We were supposed to be in one for our last labor/birth class tonight but we sure arrived early. It was my first walk in 10 hours.
Joe filled out the birth certificate document, one multiple choice was method of delivery, yes, the "Spontaneous Vaginal" seemed like the best fit.