Kickoff

In the early hours of Wednesday 21st March Eugene was hit by a snowstorm, leaving five inches of snow on the ground. Beth set out for work as usual around 7:15am, but was back home before I was ready to leave, warning that the roads were treacherous and unplowed. I called to let Walmart know I could not get in, and discovered that the night staff were still there, trapped by the snow. As a consequence we had an unexpected day together. We shook snow off the trees, took a walk round the block in the snow, and watched the weather. Beth had a midwife appointment scheduled for 6pm, but called to let Coleen know she did not have to attend if the roads would not permit. It did not snow at all during the day, and the various vehicles had truned the road to slush. More snow was expected though, up to five inches on Wednesday night, so we thought we might not be able to get to work on Thursday either, especially if fresh snow fell and froze the slush and lying snow to ice.

There was a slight leak of amniotic fluid around 5:20pm, just before Coleen's scheduled visit. Coleen came as scheduled, and after the usual checks said everything was OK, and not to worry unless more fluid came. The leak could have been caused by many things, and was not serious.

Beth felt contractions start around 7:30pm, 1/2 hour after Coleen left. Beth kept these to herself until 9:30pm, not sure if they were the real deal, but then told me. We called Coleen for a heads-up that we might be calling her for gametime soon, but hoped it wouldn't be before morning. Whether the amniotic leak started the process we shall never know.

The contractions didn't die away at all, and Beth got very little sleep that night. We reached Coleen's requested 4-1-1 (contractions 4 minutes apart, lasting at least a minute, for 1 hour), around 2:30am on Thursday 22nd. We were measuring them on an iPod app called Baby Bump. We called Coleen, and she arrived at 3:15am. Snow was still thick on the ground, but the 5" expected overnight had failed to show, a mere inch having been washed away with later rain.

Beth labored away with contractions, some bigger some lesser, for many hours through the 22nd March. Positions were changed frequently, and we used the birthing tub (actually our own huge bathtub, the midwives' tub still being somewhere at a previous recent birth). Either Coleen or I, or both stayed with Beth throughout, and Coleen's leiutenant Victoria arrived after in the early evening. Later in the evening, Beth put on a dressing gown and took a walk round the inside of the house, reluctantly but gamely, and I led her round, supporting her when she needed to kneel for a contraction. I could see things were getting serious now as Beth had sweat on her brow. Back upstairs, Coleen took a rest while Victoria kept Beth company and guided her positions and contractions. I was so exhausted by this point (and I hadn't been having contractions every five minutes or less for the last 24 hours) that I retired to a couch downstairs to try to get some sleep,, but befoe long I could hear Beth really working hard and groaning so went back up to support her. Victoria and I stayed with Beth, mostly giving gentle works of advice about breathing (ddep in, slow out) and encouragement.

Around 11:30pm Coleen came back becasue she heard a distict change in Beth's vocalisations. Beth informs me it really was a different feeling. Serious pushing went on awhile, then Coleen reported she could see the head starting to show. I lay down to look, and got ready to catch the new arrival. With a rush, in about two pushes, a face emerged, followed by, my goodness, the whole nine yards in a rush.

I caught my son, Edward Alexander, from behind Beth, and quickly passed him back to Coleen at the front. A lot of blood and other stuff came out with Ed; good thing I had my sleeves rolled up because I was coated to the elbows. Coleen checked and determined that the placenta was almost detached, so only moments flew by before the placenta was out and Beth and Edward were separate items at last. We juggled the baby, various wipes, receiving cloths and towels were applied, and Ed was passed to Beth for a picture, with me supporting her.

The umbilical cord was quite short at about 18" compared to the usual 24", so we had an interesting few moments balancing Ted and Beth while waiting for the placenta to pop out. Coleen determined that it was detached, so she gently teased it out by tugging on the cord. I was slightly aghast at this, but she knows her job with over 300 deliveries to her name. We put the placenta in a crockpot to prevent it dripping blood everywhere.

Then it was time to get Beth settled and give Zander some skin-to-skin time, quite an act with a crockpot full of placenta still attached to Ed. We wanted the cord and planect left attached as long as possible to give Edward as much cord blood as he could absorb. We managed the transfer, and the midwives retired to a different room while we three had a precious family moment. Alex showed great nipple-seeking tendancies, though a proper latch took some help from Coleen later.

Back again to cut the cord, over an hour after the birth, Victoria clamped and I cut. Then, after several more breastfeeding attempts, measurements were made. Edward entered the world at eight pounds exactly, and twenty-one inches in length.The midwives left at 3:20am, almost exactly 24 hours after their Coleen's first appearance.

Beth, Edward and I spent another hour together before exhaustion took us all. He seems a very mellow fellow, occasional squawks always tapering off when he realises that all is right in his world.