It was 7 weeks ago yesterday that Marina Elizabeth took this world by storm (well, actually via Mommy but whatever!), and I blogged about the day prior to Mishka being born, well now I'll finish up the hours prior to the birth.
Tasha was given a sedative to help get her through the night while the nurses brought me in a cot. Both of us tried to sleep, but Tasha kept getting woken up by contractions, which got me up and about as I tend to be the dotting type :) This contraction then rest thing lasted for a couple hours until it became pretty evident that Tasha wasn't going to be getting any sleep through these contractions. To backtrack, she was given the cervadil to dialate her cervix in hopes of inducing labor...by 2:30 am she was having contractions about 2-3 minutes apart. At that point she was about 1 cm dialated. We actually got into a pretty good routine where we'd breathe and count together through the contractions, she would rest and I'd do whatever needed to get done in between.
The contractions then came at a much greater pace, one on top of the other, while the cervix dialated to 4 cm around 4 am and to 6 cm by 5:30. At 5:30 the contractions got to be pretty rough (I know that I'm underplaying it as I have NO idea what it must have felt like...bear with me ;)) and Tasha decided (okay, demanded!) and interthecal. They called the anesthesiologist who ironically had given me a lecture in my Population Health course 2 days prior, and he administered the interthecal...well, at some point during this process Tasha's water broke (onto me...this seems to be a theme, check the prior posting with the victimized cubs shirt...) which upped the pain level even that much more. She was a trooper though, the pain got tougher and she just matched it with her breathing and counting (ask Tasha someday what "Don't forget 7!" means...good story), she was simply AMAZING.
The interthecal did bring the pain level down a little, at this point the delivery nurse was in directing traffic and getting Tasha ready. The nurse was awesome, she knew exactly what was needed and when, she was great. Around this time (like 7-ish or so), Kathy (aka Kama) was hanging out in the waiting room by her lonesome, so Tasha and I invited her in to sit and chat and take it all in, she was so excited and curious and full of hugs, which was exactly what we needed after a long night. At around 8-ish or so, the nurse said Tasha was just about 10 cm and it was time to start pushing. Now if Tasha was amazing before, there's really no superlative to attach to her during the delivery. She was locked in, completely focused, working like crazy. For a while it was just Tasha, the nurse and myself...which means I got to help deliver my firstborn ;) She pushed while the nurse worked to make sure there was a good opening for the baby to come out...at one point I could see the baby's head crowning. Totally surreal...but I was also locked in, helping my wife in any way I could, counting and breathing. At some point the doctor came in, took his place, and Tasha started her final pushes. One big push, I can see her head come out, then duck back in. Another big push, out comes Mishka's head...the doc clears her nose and mouth while the nurse and I tend to Tasha who at this point has no idea that her child is already half way out. The baby turns to its side, Tasha give one more push, and out comes little Marina Elizabeth, all scrawny and screaming. 9:52 am.
:)
The doc gave Mishka to the nurse who cleaned her off, and then put her exactly where she needed to be, right on Mommy's chest. I really can't tell you what it is I felt...utter amazement, shock, overwhelming love and joy...I was a blubbering fool, proud of it too!
The doctor finished up with the afterbirth and the stitches and the nurse got together a few things that she would need to do with Mishka...but she said only after we'd had a chance to be with her for a while. That was very cool, that first hour when we all got to know each other as a family. Mishka had great lungs and wasn't afraid to use them! She also latched on right away, which was very neat. The nurse did the tests and whatnot, at that point the waiting room was on edge so we decided to open the doors and introduce Mishka to everyone...
I went out to the waiting room, told everyone there that Tasha and baby were fine...I said that only 2 people were allowed in at a time, so we should probably start with the baby's namesake...I turned to Babu and told her to go in and meet little Marina Elizabeth... :)
The rest you have all seen collected in different posts and pictures :)
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