Baby Has Arrived! Ocean Arul Premraj - Born March 24th, 2016

Our sweet baby boy arrived - and here's the events of the last few days!

Saturday, my dad completed the drive from Iowa to visit us, watch Koral, and wait for baby.  That day, Koral and I went to the Earth Day festival in the morning, and Dad arrived during her nap.  She woke up, got reacquainted with him after not seeing him since December - they played chase and things - and then Senthil, Dad, Koral and I went out to eat at Mellow Mushroom for veggie pizza.  We ate, came home, put Koral to bed and then in the night I felt so sick - regretting the pizza.  I looked up nausea as a sign of labor and it was!  But after vomiting around midnight and then still feeling sick around 7 a.m., I figured it was actually the stomach bug.

However - by 10:00 I felt a bit weak but better and by 12, had some contractions!  At 1:00, I realized I should take a proper shower and get to the midwifery and have the baby - so I called the midwife, Linda, and let her know.  Dad was in disbelief, but at least was now prepared to meet Koral's needs and said bye.  Senthil and I met Linda at 2:00 and she was her usual calm and professional self.  She told us we could labor by watching a movie, walking, sitting, napping, but probably best to wait to get into the tub until active labor.  We watched a documentary for the first half hour, and then got hungry.  Senthil went to panera to buy soup and came back.  I had decided it would be nice to eat outside on this beautiful springy-summery Sunday, so Linda had washed off the picnic table and Senthil set out the food.  On the way outside, I was having contractions pretty back to back and at the table couldn't really get a moment without pain-breathing to eat, so after a few bites I gave up and any notion I had of taking a little walk vanished.  I let Linda know I was going in for a nap with the heated rice sock for the pain and probably only laid their for about 7 minutes before calling her.  The pain was getting longer, stronger and closer.  I was afraid to ask if this was "active labor" because if it was NOT, I would be so disappointed that it wasn't "that bad" yet.  She nodded yes, it was, and would I like to get in the tub?  Easing into warm water was sooooo much better.  I hadn't thought to bring a swimsuit top like in many of the videos, but didn't really care at all at that point so just undressed and slipped into the water to be buoyant and at peace.  My back hurt much less in the water, and contractions were bearable.  I was doing fine until the end when it was obvious my body was preparing to push.  Then I felt a pop and my water had broken and it was a turning point.  At that point, I realized I was in trouble because I would slip under water and potentially drown if I didn't have back support - it was a really long tub.  Senthil came and put his legs in the water to make a ramp for my back and held my head, which worked really well.  This was obviously work for him, to hold my head for the next 15 minutes of pushing, but he did really well.  It was really hard work, bearing down, listening to my body, giving in to something painful like that and pushing - but I really do well in the water and it worked for me.  From Senthil's vantage point, he could see what I could feel and it was crushing when the head was pushed out and then WENT BACK IN.  So much work!  After a few more really brave and intense tries, however, the head came out in a POP feeling and then after a bit of rest and waiting, the body followed and then he was helped immediately onto my chest to rest and be held.  The cord was very long, plenty of length.  There was no rush here that I remember - just me holding him and marveling that I had done it and he was out!  He was born at 5:11, 3 hours after arrival at the center, with the help of 2 midwives, Senthil, and me.  I starred at his face first, just holding him and falling in love and then his hands and feet.  I didn't even think to check the gender until Senthil asked, and it confirmed the ultrasound from months and months ago was correct.  After several minutes, the cord stopped pumping and Linda clamped it for Senthil to cut.  I believe Senthil held the baby as I was helped out of the tub to the bed.  I still had not delivered the placenta, which came out on a plastic mat a bit later and was taken away after we took a peek at it.  Sometimes you hear water births get very messy because of bowel movements or blood - neither was the case for us because I had nothing in my system and the placenta came out later, which made for nice clean water as far as I could tell.  From the bed, I held him for the first hour, skin to skin with a blanket on top.  Afterward, they did a little test on him, weighing him and things, and put him in a diaper and swaddle and checked me out.  I had a tiny tear, but nothing big and stitches optional, so I declined since I'm sure it will heal and it doesn't seem to hurt.  The next bit was Ocean's first nursing and then a visit from Dad and Koral, who came over on the way home from the grocery store when they heard the news.  I was so hungry but couldn't really eat hot soup nursing a baby and Dad had brought frozen yogurt - SCORE!  So I sat while someone held Ocean and I ate peanut butter and chocolate frozen yogurt with Koral eating every other bite happily on the bed with me.  After that, Koral cried when it was time for her to go and that was sad, but we planned to go home soon, too.  Senthil and the midwives, Amy and Linda, went to the living room of the midwifery house taking turns holding Ocean while I napped, changed clothes, etc.  After an hour more, it was getting dark and I felt refreshed enough to go home and see Dad and Koral and relocate to my own bed.

39 Weeks already! Waiting for Ocean to make his move!

4:06 a.m. - 

Week 39, Day 2.  It's been a great few weeks with Koral and playing with her, minus a strange 5 days with lots of pain when I had to rest it out during the 36th week.  My sister Sheila actually was able to visit during that time and it was a huge help - and she took these beautiful pictures of Koral and I at the Arboretum in town here.  It's been unseasonably cool this spring - sometimes too cold! - but I know I'm lucky since I usually feel warm.  My to-do list is pretty much done, and I'm just waiting for this baby boy to make his move.  It's a bit cruel at the end for the mother, because I know I need rest and sleep, but can't seem to manage more than 4 hours at a time.  I definitely nap with Koral in the day whenever possible!  But every night I'm up.

My birth plan/hope is that I go into labor soon - that Koral can stay with my dad here at the house (he's arriving tomorrow!  Yay!) and that she will be comfortable in the familiar setting even if I'm gone for a day (we've never been apart that long...).  I envision it happening like last time, laboring at home for a bit, then calling the midwife, Linda, when I know it's the real thing, and going to meet her at the birth center to labor for the last few hours in their bathtub/room.  Senthil can bring is computer to work or sleep while that is happening - it gets boring for the other person, hours long.  I'm considering bringing a book myself for in between contractions.  But the best is just if you can nap while it's going on until close to the end.  Then he will be real - I hope, if all goes well - and I'll be exhausted for like 3 years.  No, seriously, probably true.  Between Koral and him, I don't think my down time will be much for quite some time.  This here is a very busy phase of life.  It's a great one - so much joy and firsts and beauty in it - but soooooo much work.  Nursing again - Koral stopped in December and it's been wonderful.  Interrupted sleep again - waking up for every tiny noise, even imaginary ones.  Phantom cries every time I'm in the shower.  All that.  And any hope that they nap at the same time is a dim one.  So I know what I'm getting into.  But I'm excited and I never wanted just one child, really.  If I had only one, Koral is the best of the best.  She's my little wonderful peace of heaven.  I love her more than imaginable - I can't even describe it.  

Even lately when she loves to be chased and I scoop up her little 18 pound self and she holds onto my arm like a tiny baby monkey and giggles I just bubble with how lucky I am to know this little bit of wonderful.  She's so fun-loving and creative now - arranging items in the house in new ways, building strange and interesting towers with all kinds of items, sticking things in blobs of play dough and hoping I never move the sculpture so that the play dough gets dry but I don't even care because she's so proud of her work and so insulted if she catches me taking it down.  She's starting to speak more this week - new words are Woah-woah for Milo, "Three" for counting and hoping to be chased, and continues to day "eye" when pointing to someone's eye.  Her interest in books has naturally returned after a long hiatus - she now loves to point at each thing and have me say what it is on each page.  When I'm in the shower, she flips through her books now.  She's getting longer hair in lovely curls that are darling.  At the park she can easily climb the ladders and has finally developed a bit of fear for the slides - finally wanting to be caught at the bottom or hold my finger on the way down.  She really has no idea a baby is coming. However, I have told her "No touch" to the baby swing in the living room that used to be full of toys. She didn't like it, but has not touched it since both Senthil and I have said "no touch" about it.  She throws a little fit of frustration and then it's accepted.  

Anyway - love my girl - and here's to hoping this little boy decides to make an appearance soon!  I'm ready.  Let's do this.  

Also, the house is almost ready for us - moving at the end of may in four weeks!  Starting to look forward to that, too!