StorkNet: April 2010

What a big day August had!

First, he decided to name his favorite floppy puppy: Woolsey. We don't know where he came up with that name, other than his in-depth study of English political history (Cardinal Wolsey, English statesman and alter rex under Henry VIII).

Then, this afternoon, we took the T down to Kenmore Square and I was able to sneak us into Fenway Park to watch the tail end of a Red Sox game; we arrived late in the 7th inning of a huge loss-in-progress. It was amazing good fun, and so exciting for August. We saw the game from up close and from way up high, and both sides of home plate. We heard the crowd explode in cheers and groan in disappointment, and sing along with Neil Diamond. We left just before the last out of the 9th inning, after watching the Sox manage to sneak one man home to prevent the shut-out. Grabbing a sausage ("loaded") before heading to a souvenir shop off Yawkey Way, August and I discussed "baseball fun" and bats and red socks (August literally has a pair of red socks). "More baseball. More baseball. More baseball. Fun!"

We went home with matching Red Sox baseball caps.

We're calling her Lela Marie Faulkner.

Lela is pronounced LEE luh. Her middle name is her grandma's middle name. She's home now, healthy and happy. Watson has sniffed her (not food, unimpressive).

The story of Lela is this:

Mary and I took August on a little "adventure" (he now demands "benchu"—adventure—every day) to Central Square to drop off some stuff for donation, pick up a giant bag of Watson food, and grab a burger for lunch. We rented a Zipcar for the occasion. When I pulled into a taxi stand to park illegally for the 2 minutes it would take me to drop off the donation stuff, Mary objected. Didn't want to deal with potential parking ticket, but really didn't want to deal with some of the colorful Central Square characters who were hanging out (and loudly) right there next to where I had parked. When I returned, Mary was nearly in tears. The parking lady, clearly a crack head, had come by and threatened 'ticket', but then went off in search of something better.

I drove off up the street with Mary still angry and upset. As I was pulling into a parking lot off Mass Ave., she announced that she thought her water had broken and added, "just take me home". That was at 4:30 PM on Saturday.

I could tell I was in trouble because we had just, one hour before, had a discussion about how stress can cause women to go into labor prematurely. But I was more worried because our hired help (Mary's mom!) was still 10 days away from coming to help out. We had some loose arrangements with Mary's friends in case we needed someone to take August duty during an early delivery. Luckily, Candice answered her phone and answered the call. She'd meet us at our place and watch August.

Mary and I dashed towards home. Mary said that little contractions had begun. That was serious business because our August experience was that, following water break, nothing happened for 24 hours, despite massive doses of Pitocin. Once we got home, we started trying to get the place ready for someone to stay overnight... we weren't ready. Mary was avoiding the subject of how she thought it was all my fault by parking where she didn't want me to park and having to deal with the crack-head parking ticket lady. And she had a head cold. Bad timing. Best to not discuss, let the blame-daggers fly at a later date! By the time Candice arrived, the house was in reasonable shape by our standards.

August hasn't spent much time away from us. He knows Candice a little bit, so we weren't too worried. But when we were finished prepping to leave at about 6:30 or 7:00, Mary realized that not much had changed for her, so we decided to try to hang out for a bit longer. I kept extending my Zipcar reservation by 30 and 60 and 90 minutes at a time so I could keep the car. We managed to stick around 'til after 9:00 and I was able to do August's full night time routine, including bed-time, before we left (we've spent the past several weeks getting him used to Daddy putting him to bed, so he wouldn't freak when Mommy was suddenly unavailable for several nights in a row).

I dropped Mary off at Mass General at around 10:00, returned the Zipcar, and headed back over to MGH thinking we were in trouble, that we weren't ready in the tactical everyday sense, and that maybe we weren't ready in the larger, strategic sense. Also I was low on sleep and thought we may be facing another days-long marathon, like with August. Best to be well provisioned for such an eventuality: stopped for a slice of pepperoni at Upper Crust on the way!

When I got to MGH Mary was in a fine mood. Apart from her bothersome little nose cold, she was actually feeling pretty well. She talked the doctor out of starting her on Pitocin again. Good move.

By midnight, contractions were coming every two minutes and lasting for about one. They were definitely painful. But still, we thought we might be in for a longish night, and our Pitocin delay was about to expire. I was debating heading home so that I could be there when/if August woke up in the middle of the night, which he often does, demanding Mommy UP Mommy UP Mommy UP! That was when we finally pushed Mary's doctor to do an exam and make an assessment of where things stood. If we were looking at 8 AM or later, I might just leave. If it was 6 AM or earlier, I should probably stay. In-between... who knows? Turns out she was 8cm dilated and could be as few as 2 hours away from delivery, so I was definitely staying. At 12:30 the contractions were painful enough that we went for the epidural. When I came back Mary was very comfortable (with August, I had returned from my epidural dismissal to find my wife scared and trembling from cold—a temporary but alarming side-effect that didn't happen this time 'round).

Now relatively comfortable, Mary was able to actually doze for a while starting around 1:30 AM (and so was I!). The doctor said she'd be back at 3 to check on us, but it turned out to be a busy night at Mass General, so we didn't see her 'til 4:00 AM. At that time she did a quick check and realized that she could see the baby's head already... that Mary's contractions had been working magic all night long. It took 'em about 15 minutes to get all the stuff and people ready (which they did with alacrity!), and then, 15 minutes after that, with 3 contractions' worth of hard pushing on Mary's part, Lela was born! 4:30 AM.

August was pink and crying Maaa! Maaa! Maaa! with gusto. Lela was more purple and wailing "waaAAAaaa, waaaAAAAaaa, waaAAAaaa". August was mad. Lela was distressed, poor girl. Forced out early, and taken by surprise. Too soon!

I would never belittle the pain of childbirth, the trauma, the fear, the work. And Mary has chastised me for being too quick to say/write that it was "much easier" this time. That said, I will say that everything, though not "easy", was much smoother this time around. Especially our recovery period at MGH. Mary was able to sleep... that was different, if nothing else.

So back to the big day... by 5:15 I was on my way home to see if I could be there when August woke up. I got home just one or two minutes after he had emerged, and I was able to give the bear his customary yogurt & Cheerios (and sauce) breakfast, then walk the dog. Thank you Candice for watching our bear overnight! Timing couldn't have worked out better... no late-night episodes, and I was here both at bed time and at wake-time. Really lucky.

By 8:30 we were ready to go meet the new sister!

I have started calling her Lela Bee and Lela Bug. August has picked up on the "bug" part, and he calls her "Dragify" (Dragonfly) or "Bussy", which is August's vestigial pronunciation of the word "butterfly". Oddly, Bussy was also the nickname of my grandmother, Elizabeth Faulkner, so if it sticks, that would be... weird.

Both Sunday and yesterday, except for our twice-daily extended visits to Mommy & Lela, I had August all to myself. It's the most time I've spent alone with August ever. The experience has of course renewed my appreciation for what Mary does all day every day, but it's also further cemented my bond with August. He is just a wonderful little boy, he really is. So charming, so good-natured. I never loved him more than the day Lela was born, he really is awesome.

Today, before we went over to get Mommy and Lela, we took time to go get our first ever haircut! He did great!

Here's how it looks... very sharp!

The last challenge we faced was figuring out how to get the baby home. The hospital won't let you leave unless the baby is properly installed in a car seat. But if we are to drive home, I'd need to take August AND his car seat, and the new baby's car seat plus it's base, and walk it to wherever the Zipcar would be (probably 1/3 to 1/2 mile away). My alternative was to get the car seat attachment for the ole' Bugaboo, fire that puppy up again, and drag it behind me as I pushed August ahead in the Bob. It wasn't as hard to do that as you might think, and for the one mile between here and MGH, through Beacon Hill and the Back Bay, it wasn't as unusual a sight as it could be in other neighborhoods.

So whereas last time we walked to the hospital and drove home, this time we did it the other way around. The baby is home now, sleeping on Mommy's chest (as Mommy herself is also sleeping). August is having his nap. This may be the only time in the next six months that I have time to write such a lengthy blog post! Let the future begin. We're home, safe and healthy. Life is good.

First Impromptu Lela Song:

Lela Bee,
Keep you snug,
Little Leedle little Leedle little Lela Bug.

Lela Bug,
Sleepin' on me,
Little Leedle little Leedle little Lela Bee!