(Dad’s perspective…)
Sunday morning, July 1:
The delicious smell of peanut butter cookies baking in the oven coaxed me out of a comfortable sleep at around 8:30 in the morning. Mmm. I slowly oozed out of bed and made my way downstairs. “I think I’m in labor”, said Daph, with a painful expression on her face. Excuse me?! And you didn’t wake me up?! Adrenaline pulsed. I called the hospital to give them head’s up, raced around gathering stuff (Daph had already packed our hospital bags, but we had some last minute things to get together), and… waited.
Noon-ish:
After a few hours watching the clock, contractions were nearing 60 seconds in duration. Fortunately our neighbor Karen down the street had graciously offered to watch our puppy while we went to the hospital. Unfortunately today was her birthday and she was busy preparing for a party! But no matter, she said: bring her on over. So I did, much to the delight of Karen’s dog Chuffleigh. (Karen said later that they were a hit at her party, and that they played together for 9 hours straight!)
At this point the contractions were bringing Daph to her knees. “I think it’s time to go”, she said. So we did.
Afternoon & evening:
It certainly was not a false alarm. Daph’s first exam revealed that she was already dilated to 4 cm. The rest of the afternoon progressed slowly but surely. 5 cm, 7 cm, 9… Hopefully the little guy would wait until our OB was able to get here at 7:30, but we all figured that he’d be born on July 1.
The contractions of course became more & more painful. I was doing my best to keep up with Daph, helping to breath, foot massages, etc. I was thinking, Yeah, we can do this. Having had my own painful bought of appendicitis last year, I felt like I had some idea what her mental state might be. And then it looked like it got really painful when she started feeling the need to push, and any thoughts I was entertaining of maybe being able to relate vanished…
Into the night…
Things slowed down dramatically as night fell. Daph was almost there, but our baby seemed just stuck. With the pain becoming overwhelming and exhaustion setting in, it was clear we needed to change our tactic. Fentanyl helped for an hour or two, but a brief conference with the OB & attending nurses resulted in additional pain relief: epidural.
The plan was to get some rest, then back off the dosage and administer some pitocin to make the contractions stronger, which would hopefully help push the baby out. I can’t remember if I fell asleep or not, but it was great to see Daph relax. “Am I still having contractions?”, she asked. The monitor said yes - quite strong contractions indeed!
Some sensation returned when the epidural dosage was lowered, and the pushing resumed. The hours ticked by, and I was getting a bit concerned as the doctor and nurse exchanged worried glances. July 1 ended, and the stork hadn’t arrived yet with our bundle.
Midnight, July 2:
As the calendar day changed, so did our luck - we could see the hair on top of his head! This news brought a new wave of energy, and the pushing intensified. After a long couple of hours, his head was almost free. A few more extra strong pushes, and suddenly it became clear what the holdup was: his right arm was wrapped around his head, such that his elbow was sticking out beside his face. Ouch! The elbow and head came out at the same time! Once that was clear, the rest of him squirted out almost instantaneously, and our little contortionist just unfolded. He spread out his arms as if to fly, and the piercing cry soon followed. After about 20 hours of labor, Leo Yoshizo Zenk had arrived!
Born July 2, 2007, 2:18 a.m., 7 lbs 4 oz, 19.5 inches long.
Leo Tolstoy is not our son’s namesake in particular. Nonetheless, I guess it’s kind of cool that Leo shares his name with one of the greatest novelists of all time. But I have to admit that I managed to avoid reading any of Tolstoy’s works during my high school literature classes, and I certainly have not taken it upon myself to embark on the lengthy literary journey that is War and Peace.
