snagabag

I’m happy to announce the birth of…

As I write this, Liah is about 30 hours old. It’s been an amazing 30 hours. Simply incredible. I think it would be best if I started at the beginning…

Sunday night Aparna & I were doing our normal routine: Aparna was getting ready for bed, and I was getting ready to update my blog. She mentioned she was having occasional pain, and I threw out the idea that maybe they were contractions.

In hindsight, they obviously were contractions, but please remember our baby was not due for 2 weeks, on July 25th. In addition, we had been told by many people first babies are usually late. Also, Aparna had her most recent OB/Gyn less than a week ago, and the staff told us Aparna was not dilated at all, and the baby was not coming anytime soon. All three of those combined had us convinced the earliest we were having the baby was her due date.

So I went to bed around midnight, and Aparna said the pain kept coming back so I started to write down when the pain came and for how long. In addition, I was helping Aparna with her breathing as each contraction came and went. Or at least, this is how it started out. By 2am or so, Aparna would have to poke my lifeless body and tell me, “It’s hurting.” In between fighting a losing battle with sleep, I had to find the instructional folder from our birthing classes and read about “False Labor” vs. “Pre-Labor” vs. “Active Labor.” The “book” says to go to the hospital when contractions occur every 5 minutes for 2 hours. Well, Aparna’s were all over the map…10, 3, 7, 4, 5, 10… there was no regularlity between contractions. So despite the fact Aparna was telling me “I don’t know how much longer I can take this” we were still doing the breathing techniques and monitoring the contractions. At 3am, after 3 hours of intense to really intense contractions, we decided we should give our doctor a call. I actually felt a slight bit of guilt about calling the doctor. Well, the doctor told us to come in. Of course, I had not packed my bag (Aparna had packed her’s weeks ago), so I threw some clothes together and we left. Aparna’s water hadn’t broken, so after I put 3 towels on the passenger seat, we left for the hospital. The ride to the hospital was something else: The two of us on the road at 3:30 in the morning, Aparna squirming in pain while sitting on a bed of towels, and me driving and trying to write down what time she was contractions. The whole time the two of us are hoping they won’t send us back home from the hosptial. We finally get to the hospital, and we are still in no way certain the baby is coming. So much so that we leave our bags in the car as we don’t want to have to carry them back out if the hosipital sends us home. We quickly check in and the nurse examines Aparna and asks her, “How dilated do you think you are?” Aparna guesses “2 centimeters” which I basically agree with. The nurse gives us a smile and says, “6 centimeters.” It was only then, at 4:15 in the morning, that Aparna & I realize we are having our child, and not just sometime that day, but in a few hours! By 4:45am when our doctor arrived, Aparna was at 9 centimeters and she was writhing in pain. The doctor asked if she still wanted the epidural and Aparna had two answers for her: “Hell” and “Yes.” Aparna received the epidural around 5am, and it immediately took effect. The pain disappeared and she was able to get some much needed rest. At about 6:30am the nurse came in and told us it was time to start pushing. The moment was finally upon us! We were both incredibly tired, but ready to do what needed to be done. In my case, that meant encouraging Aparna to push harder. For Aparna, it meant pushing with every ounce of strength she had to expel a human being from her body. I’d say I had the easier task.

I must interrupt here and have a word with all of you who asked me if I was going to stay and the “head” or “foot” of the bed, or even recommended I stay at the “head” of the bed. Well, I don’t know how anyone else has babies, but the bed Aparna was on was just a normal sized twin bed! There was no “head” of it for me to stand at and avoid seeing what was happening at the “foot!” So I saw a lot more than I had ever planned on!

At 8:30am, after about 2 hours of pushing, our baby’s head started to emerge. It was simply the most remarkable thing I had ever seen. I kept repeating, “Oh My God!,” over and over. Aparna looked at me with a concerned look, and I quickly told her, “‘Oh My God’ in a good way honey!”

At 8:34am on Monday, July 11, 2005, our baby was born. She was 19 inches long and just about 5 and a half pounds (5 pounds, 9 ounces). She also had the most beautiful, big, bright eyes (yes, they were wide open). The doctor asked me if I wanted to cut the cord, to which I promptly replied, “No way!” Knowing better, the doctor prepared the cord and simply told me to cut it. Very nervously, I leaned over and cut the cord…almost. My shaking hands only got about half way through it, but I managed to cut it on my second try.

So that’s how our baby came into the world. We spent the rest of the day slightly bewildered and indescribably happy.

A few other items:
I forgot my camera at home in our rush to leave. My thanks to Amy Dole for not only answering the phone at 4:30 in the morning, but driving to the hospital and letting us borrow her camera.

The famlly was spread out over the country as there was no expectation the baby would come early. Mom was in Atlanta helping Irma with Baby Rani. Dad was in NYC helping Maneesh close on his first house. Next thing you know, they’re waving bye to my syblings and catching flights to Austin. Aparna’s family in Corpus was on the road by 7am to come see the baby. Even though they drove, their visit might have been the most remarkable as Aparna’s dad was scheduled to work. He basically called his hospital, told them he wasn’t coming in, and headed out to Austin!

Maneesh and Irma will be here ASAP. We can’t wait for them to meet Liah!

Her name is pronounced LEE-ah. It can also be pronounced “An-gel.”

I’ll post again soon. It would be sooner, but this “fancy” hospital we’re at doesn’t have internet access anywhere in it! So annoying!

Finally, Aparna was REMARKABLE. She did a tremendous job with labor and delivery. Absolutely fantastic.

Oh yeah, in case it isn’t clear yet, the unimaginable has come to pass:

I’m a dad.

Share on Facebook

Popularity: 23% [?]

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.