Sprout Comes Out

Well, that was easy.

After checking into the room at about 4 PM, five hours of in-hospital labor (almost all of which time Alison was going the natural childbirth route, medication-free), we've got a 9 pound 1 oz, 21.5 inch baby boy, born at 9:33 PM on May 19. Name yet to be determined, attitude grumpy.

My blue hospital garb was completely unearned. All I had to do was stand around and look pretty. Very comfy stuff though-- breathes well. Mental note: must smuggle home.

Doctors and nurses were amazing. Very supportive the whole time. The nurse in charge of talking Alison through the labor brought a yoga mindset to the process- her descriptions of what Alison was supposed to be doing physically included both her external parts and her internal parts. What to do with your breath, etc., and the usual advice about how to move body parts I think may not really exist (IE, the "sacrum"). She was great, and made the process easier for all three of us. Her name: Tiffany. Thank you, Tiffany!

As Alison was led off to another room for a last-minute epidural, another nurse very professionally kept me from following her. She bribed me with apple juice and crackers, which I was too nervous to even look at. [Note to readers: I can be taken advantage of in this way at any time-- give me juice and crackers and I'll do anything.] Ten long minutes later, I was in the operating room with Alison waiting for the epidural to take effect. And ten minutes after that, a successful C-section was in process. Ten minutes after that, our big baby boy was in my arms-- as you see.