And then there were four....

We made it. Phew! There is so much to tell and I don't have a lot of energy right now to write up the whole affair, but I'll try my best to give you a snapshot.

Andy's labor started with three deep breaths at 10pm. As the third one ended, Andy had a deep back pain that was our firs indication something was different than the previous week of contractions. We called our doula Michelle and she heard Andy moaning and said with a smile I could see over the phone, "Your about to have a baby, Eric! I'll be right over."

When Michelle arrived she realized instantly that it was time to go to the hospital. There wasn't really any laboring that needed to be done at home, evident by the rapid contractions. When we arrived at the hospital, Andy moaned her way up to the Labor & Delivery floor. One of my favorite moments of the night was when we were waiting for the elevator, there was a young guy sipping on a slurping also waiting. As a contraction came on, Andy let out a wail. Just then, the elevator arrived and we got on. The guy looked at us with a scared smirk and said, "Y'all go ahead. I'll take the next one."

Once we were in the hospital, everything began to happen quickly. They checked Andy quickly and she was already at 8cm dilated. We moved in to our birthing room and after an hour of severe contractions (no drugs at all), Andy was ready to push the little guy out. The doctor strolled in around 1:30am and when she entered the room, Andy was on all fours in thick of a contraction. The doctor looked at Andy and then turned to the nurse and said, "I'm gonna go get some coffee." Needless to say, the mood int he room was calm. The nurses were relaxed. Michelle was relaxed and smiling. There was no panic anywhere. It was truly amazing to see that this is what Andy's body was made to do. Despite the compounding pressure and pain she was feeling, this was all how it was supposed to go.

Around 2:30am, the doctor took her jacket off, put on the scrubs and got up in there and made space for Jonathan to come out. Right before he was born, she said with pure excitement, "Dad, come here and look at this. You have to!" I had been reluctant because, well, I didn't want to pass out. But I gave it a shot and peeked around the corner of Andy's leg. I saw the curly black hair on his head and then just as we were counting to 10, I saw an eye. Then a cheek. Then an ear. And before we all knew it, at 2:38am, the rest of Jonathan's body slid out.

I saw his balls and penis and I announced to Andy and the room that it was a boy and we all laughed and cried and smiled and kissed. It was bliss. I kind of lost it (in a good way) and we just looked at him and kissed him. He gave out a little cry and then latched on to Andy's boob instantly.

Some funny moments:

• On the car ride to the hospital, Andy was in the back seat going through contractions while I was navigating the bumps on Ashby Ave. Andy, in between contractions, coherently said, "I fuckin hate Ashby Ave."
  
  
• About 10 minutes after Jonathan was born, Andy turned to the nurse and said, "Um, could I have some vicodin now please?"
  
  
• Jonathan was a big boy when he came out and everyone in the room was trying to guess his weight. We didn't weigh him right away because he was resting on Andy's chest for a good half hour. Not sure who was closest, but it was fun to play the guessing game.
  
  
• The doctor held up the placenta for us to look at and she described it all, turning it inside out and every which way so we could see where Jonathan grew. It was both disgusting and magical. The tree of life.

There are so many more things, I could write and I hope to in the future. But for now, Andy and I are working on very little sleep over the last three days, and we need to rest when the baby is sleeping.

As always, stay tuned to the blog and we will keep you posted on new developments. For now, here's a video of Oscar meeting his little bro.




P.S. Oscar pool results will be posted soon. I haven't tallied the scores yet, but I imagine I won either way. :)