Let’s hear it for the boy!
Around 6:30AM on Tuesday, June 27th, 2006, my wife Cathy poked me. She had just spent the last night preparing for a lecture on ultrasound-guided IVs for 9 o’clock that morning, but she wanted to inform me that she had been feeling pains in her abdomen, occurring about 5 minutes apart, since about 5:30 AM. Her criteria was, “will these pains prevent me from delivering the lecture?” and her answer was yes. She suggested I drive her to the hospital so we could see her obstetrician. She let me shower up and we went to the hospital, lecture materials in tow.
Once at the hospital, she was put on a monitor. A bit later her OB showed up, and said that yes, indeed, these were labor contractions, and he was going to let them go to see if they progress. That’s when I figured I should get home and pack a bag.
We were off to the races, a full month ahead of schedule!
To say we were caught off guard is pretty accurate. We had not packed the delivery bag. We had no diapers. Cathy was (is) still finishing her thank-you notes from her baby shower! We were firmly convinced that we had some leisurely time to finish shopping (planned for that Sunday). The pregnancy was silky smooth: No morning sickness, she didn’t get huge, no swollen ankles, no unusual issues with the baby. So if something was to throw us off, I guess this was it: delivery at 36 weeks.
When I arrived back at the hospital, packed bag in tow, Cathy was in an official LDR (Labor, Delivery, & Recovery room), and she was already at 4 cm. Her laboring was picking up and she was feeling the pains. But she was ready, and after some struggles she was administered painkillers. From that point the contractions were more tolerable leading up to her epidural. Once there, she could nap and cruise through the rest of labor. One thing about being a doctor, she has a great appreciation for modern pain management.
After a speedy progression, the big moment came around 5 PM, and after some pushing the baby was here. A boy (damn, Mom was right! Now I’ll never hear the end of it!), right at 6 pounds. There was some concern over the baby’s heart rate during the final pushes, that maybe the cord was wrapped around the neck, but after it was all over the baby cried & flailed & squirmed like any other newborn. Our docs and nurses were all impressed with how well the baby was even at this early delivery state.
It’s now well over 24 hours since my life has changed forever. So how am I?
Pretty good, thanks!
I think like other life changes, you feel all the emotions that you would think, but its really like a change of view. Suddenly everything you do is through a new colored lens: it’s all the same stuff, but now it looks all baby-ish.
Probably the one thing that’s been an interesting phenomenon is looking. Looking at my boy. I could spend an hour just looking at him. Not while watching TV, or reading a magazine, or having a conversation. Just a solid hour of looking. There was a line from the film The World According to Garp that goes something like “I’m going to watch the kids sleep.” It really is something that sounds absurd until you have one. Then looking at your kid can be the most rewarding time you spend. I know it is for me right now.
Welcome, Sean Daniel Horan. I’ll be watching you.
