Home Sweet Home.
It's good to back in our own oasis of tranquility (often interrupted by crying baby and dinosaur-roaring toddler). Well where to start....
First off I want to thank the following for their part in our special day, Rob Mathers for getting us to the hospital in one piece (I owe you a bottle for two taxi rides), KC Humphries, who without, we woulda been at a great disadvantage worrying about Grady, I know I piss her off alot but a big brother couldn't ask for a better little sis (much love Cathy), Debbie Krull, once again Deb pulled through for us and was an great anchor for Karen in the delivery room (thanks for the video shooting Deb, but I don't think that footage will ever see the light of day once your sister watches it) and too Deb's three old son Jordan who proved that birth is a beautiful thing and not something to be scared of, I'll never forget looking down from the head of the bed while in the final moments of
pushing and underneath the doctors arms was the wide-eyed Jordan absorbing it all and wanting to touch the babies head while still in Karen. And finally to all who have said a prayer, left a message, called to congratulate we really appreciate it.
I said finally, but there's one more person I have to thank and that's Karen, who proved again to me how strong and beautiful she is, I cannot thank God enough for bringing her into my life and her for delivering two precious little boys into our lives.
Here's our memories of the day in writing to perhaps fill-in what the videos don't...
Wednesday morning started as many do for me, with Karen waking me up at 6:45, only this time it was not to tell me I was going to be late for work. Half awake I heard that I might not have to go to work for the day, this cleared the cobwebs pretty fast for me.
Karen had been up with contractions for about three hours at this point (she did this with Grady as well- letting me sleep while she decided if this was really "it" and not just ghost labour). The contractions at this point were ten minutes apart and fairly strong.
Now our past experience with Grady's birth definitely paid off as both of us were pretty low key and just went about our morning as normally as we could, (never normal when every ten minutes a
loved one has to double over and grunt), but we managed and set-up a game plan. Called my sister KC to make sure she had no plans and to come out when should could, she responded quickly and was out at our place at 9am to be Grady keeper. Called the clinic and got an appointment to find out where we were, and called the grandparents to inform them that their wallets were going to get a little lighter after today. Packed up all the bags (more on our luggage later) and woke up Grady.
With my sister watching Grady, I decided that perhaps Karen and I
should have a nap and see where the contractions were when we woke, then head down to the clinic after lunch (once again, past experience wasn't sending us rushing to the hospital...). The nap was a good idea looking back on it, although it seemed to slow down things. When we got up contractions were down to about 8 minutes but intermediate in strength. So with a nap under our belts we could get back on the program and apparently that included going grocery shopping, filing EU papers and filling up the car with gas. I gotta say when Karen told me she wanted to accomplish all this I laughed pretty hard but it was her body giving the signals and if she felt up to all this I was not going to stand in her way so at 11:30 we went to the clinic to find out what we could then move on to these other tasks. At the clinic snow had slowed all appointments and we waited for an hour before we got to she Dr. Jones (the first doctor we saw at Grady's big day). Dr. Jones did her examine and told us what we wanted to hear, Karen was 3cm dilated and the membrane was bulging, and we could expect to have a baby in our arms before she started her shift at RCH. A side note here, Dr. Jones was excellent her up beat attitude to Karen trying VBAC was exactly what she need at this point it really put Karen in an good frame of mind. So we left the clinic with the orders to head to the hospital when the contractions were 5 minutes apart and no change in pain no matter what position Karen was in or the weather was deteriorating (sage words indeed). With this in mind we adjusted our timeline to go to the hospital at 3pm and with snow falling headed off on our tasks before getting home at 2:30.
Back at home I was getting anxious with every contraction very visibly getting stronger and getting closer (any where between 3 and 8 min.)and with snow falling for the last hour an half I did not want to be having to boil towels and play doctor so I called Rob to see if he was ready to go. I probably should have asked Karen this question as Rob was ready but Karen still wanted to wait... and wait we did I think me and Rob smoked half a deck, Rob shovelled the drive way and I paced around the house like a zoo animal (Okay, I thought, I've seen births on TV but I usually change the channel once or twice and probably miss some important steps so I really wasn't ready to be doctor and Rob would make a horrible nurse so ...)
Finally I was able to convince Karen it was time to go because dusk was close at hand and the snow was now rain a combination I assured her we didn't want if the temp suddenly dropped.
Roads were getting bad and thankfully Rob's a seasoned Ontario winter driver with a four X four got us there in good time... arrival at RCH 4:10pm (almost 12 hours from the first timed contraction).
Now at the hospital I'll go back to our luggage. Karen as most of you will know is probably the most prepared person in the world if she is given time, and nine months and twelve baby books later means PREPARED, I frantically was searching the ER for a wheelchair or cart to load the five bags I was carrying so I wouldn't be admitted myself with dislocated shoulders but none were available so I sucked it up (I figured if Karen was going to go into hard labour for who knows how long I could carry 5 bags up to the second floor, just thankful we had left two other bags at home for after the birth). The admitting lady had a good laugh at my expense plus a strange look at our food bag (another Karen trademark... never leave home without a treasure trove of eats). Our food bag
just happened to be a Molson Canadian soft cooler which got me looks from everyone we passed and had two gentlemen ask if they could have a cold one, I of course said "Hell No I only had twelve" (all our nurses also commented on this choice of luggage, on a side note no one actually checked it for beer so maybe next time...).
Off to the Delivery Ward we went, checked in and lead into the assessment room where Karen gave her sample and I was chatted up by an obviously very nervous and excited Chinese man who actually asked me if I was here to have a baby. (I really wanted to answer "no, just here to pick-up some ladies"). Doctor Ange (actually Dr. Hutchinson but she prefers using her first name, great doctor to-boot) was there to do the assessment and after checking out Karen got us quickly to a delivery room, all signs pointed at an advanced state of labour, this got my hopes up maybe all this patience was going to pay-off and we'd have the child in no time after arriving...
Now as stated previously Karen is a prepared person and had the "Birthing Handbook for John" ready for me to consult, this had phone numbers, visualization tools for her and most importantly her wishes for this birth. Now number 3 on the don't list was and I quote "NO to room number 8,
bathroom too small" (this is the room we had for Grady) now guess which room the nurse asked us to move too? Yup, dreaded no.8, Great I thought this hasn't started well but after I brought our concerns up about this room we were assured that all the rooms had similar sized potties (sure they do). Thankful this was good enough for Karen and so we settled into a very familiar room (DEJA VU... and not the only time I'd feel like this)....time 5:20pm Nov. 29/06
It's good to back in our own oasis of tranquility (often interrupted by crying baby and dinosaur-roaring toddler). Well where to start....
First off I want to thank the following for their part in our special day, Rob Mathers for getting us to the hospital in one piece (I owe you a bottle for two taxi rides), KC Humphries, who without, we woulda been at a great disadvantage worrying about Grady, I know I piss her off alot but a big brother couldn't ask for a better little sis (much love Cathy), Debbie Krull, once again Deb pulled through for us and was an great anchor for Karen in the delivery room (thanks for the video shooting Deb, but I don't think that footage will ever see the light of day once your sister watches it) and too Deb's three old son Jordan who proved that birth is a beautiful thing and not something to be scared of, I'll never forget looking down from the head of the bed while in the final moments of
pushing and underneath the doctors arms was the wide-eyed Jordan absorbing it all and wanting to touch the babies head while still in Karen. And finally to all who have said a prayer, left a message, called to congratulate we really appreciate it.I said finally, but there's one more person I have to thank and that's Karen, who proved again to me how strong and beautiful she is, I cannot thank God enough for bringing her into my life and her for delivering two precious little boys into our lives.
Here's our memories of the day in writing to perhaps fill-in what the videos don't...
Wednesday morning started as many do for me, with Karen waking me up at 6:45, only this time it was not to tell me I was going to be late for work. Half awake I heard that I might not have to go to work for the day, this cleared the cobwebs pretty fast for me.
Karen had been up with contractions for about three hours at this point (she did this with Grady as well- letting me sleep while she decided if this was really "it" and not just ghost labour). The contractions at this point were ten minutes apart and fairly strong.
Now our past experience with Grady's birth definitely paid off as both of us were pretty low key and just went about our morning as normally as we could, (never normal when every ten minutes a
loved one has to double over and grunt), but we managed and set-up a game plan. Called my sister KC to make sure she had no plans and to come out when should could, she responded quickly and was out at our place at 9am to be Grady keeper. Called the clinic and got an appointment to find out where we were, and called the grandparents to inform them that their wallets were going to get a little lighter after today. Packed up all the bags (more on our luggage later) and woke up Grady.With my sister watching Grady, I decided that perhaps Karen and I
should have a nap and see where the contractions were when we woke, then head down to the clinic after lunch (once again, past experience wasn't sending us rushing to the hospital...). The nap was a good idea looking back on it, although it seemed to slow down things. When we got up contractions were down to about 8 minutes but intermediate in strength. So with a nap under our belts we could get back on the program and apparently that included going grocery shopping, filing EU papers and filling up the car with gas. I gotta say when Karen told me she wanted to accomplish all this I laughed pretty hard but it was her body giving the signals and if she felt up to all this I was not going to stand in her way so at 11:30 we went to the clinic to find out what we could then move on to these other tasks. At the clinic snow had slowed all appointments and we waited for an hour before we got to she Dr. Jones (the first doctor we saw at Grady's big day). Dr. Jones did her examine and told us what we wanted to hear, Karen was 3cm dilated and the membrane was bulging, and we could expect to have a baby in our arms before she started her shift at RCH. A side note here, Dr. Jones was excellent her up beat attitude to Karen trying VBAC was exactly what she need at this point it really put Karen in an good frame of mind. So we left the clinic with the orders to head to the hospital when the contractions were 5 minutes apart and no change in pain no matter what position Karen was in or the weather was deteriorating (sage words indeed). With this in mind we adjusted our timeline to go to the hospital at 3pm and with snow falling headed off on our tasks before getting home at 2:30.Back at home I was getting anxious with every contraction very visibly getting stronger and getting closer (any where between 3 and 8 min.)and with snow falling for the last hour an half I did not want to be having to boil towels and play doctor so I called Rob to see if he was ready to go. I probably should have asked Karen this question as Rob was ready but Karen still wanted to wait... and wait we did I think me and Rob smoked half a deck, Rob shovelled the drive way and I paced around the house like a zoo animal (Okay, I thought, I've seen births on TV but I usually change the channel once or twice and probably miss some important steps so I really wasn't ready to be doctor and Rob would make a horrible nurse so ...)
Finally I was able to convince Karen it was time to go because dusk was close at hand and the snow was now rain a combination I assured her we didn't want if the temp suddenly dropped.
Roads were getting bad and thankfully Rob's a seasoned Ontario winter driver with a four X four got us there in good time... arrival at RCH 4:10pm (almost 12 hours from the first timed contraction).
Now at the hospital I'll go back to our luggage. Karen as most of you will know is probably the most prepared person in the world if she is given time, and nine months and twelve baby books later means PREPARED, I frantically was searching the ER for a wheelchair or cart to load the five bags I was carrying so I wouldn't be admitted myself with dislocated shoulders but none were available so I sucked it up (I figured if Karen was going to go into hard labour for who knows how long I could carry 5 bags up to the second floor, just thankful we had left two other bags at home for after the birth). The admitting lady had a good laugh at my expense plus a strange look at our food bag (another Karen trademark... never leave home without a treasure trove of eats). Our food bag
just happened to be a Molson Canadian soft cooler which got me looks from everyone we passed and had two gentlemen ask if they could have a cold one, I of course said "Hell No I only had twelve" (all our nurses also commented on this choice of luggage, on a side note no one actually checked it for beer so maybe next time...). Off to the Delivery Ward we went, checked in and lead into the assessment room where Karen gave her sample and I was chatted up by an obviously very nervous and excited Chinese man who actually asked me if I was here to have a baby. (I really wanted to answer "no, just here to pick-up some ladies"). Doctor Ange (actually Dr. Hutchinson but she prefers using her first name, great doctor to-boot) was there to do the assessment and after checking out Karen got us quickly to a delivery room, all signs pointed at an advanced state of labour, this got my hopes up maybe all this patience was going to pay-off and we'd have the child in no time after arriving...
Now as stated previously Karen is a prepared person and had the "Birthing Handbook for John" ready for me to consult, this had phone numbers, visualization tools for her and most importantly her wishes for this birth. Now number 3 on the don't list was and I quote "NO to room number 8,
bathroom too small" (this is the room we had for Grady) now guess which room the nurse asked us to move too? Yup, dreaded no.8, Great I thought this hasn't started well but after I brought our concerns up about this room we were assured that all the rooms had similar sized potties (sure they do). Thankful this was good enough for Karen and so we settled into a very familiar room (DEJA VU... and not the only time I'd feel like this)....time 5:20pm Nov. 29/06I'll stop here cause there's a crying baby to attend to and Karen's getting some shut eye. (She's on the 4am-8am shift) :)
Will continue our little adventure asap.
Cheers One Happy Dad
John
1 comment:
Well guys, it's been a long time...too long it seems. Congratulations on the beautiful baby boy. Looks to be a lady killer already. Hope all is well and you are both holding up as I am sure you will be busy for the next say 25 years the way these kids nowadays stay home! Miss you all very much and I hope to see the newbies someday soon. Take care of yourselves and Happy Christmas All.
Brad Krull
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