Note: this is an abbreviated version of Mason's birth story. We're still writing up the full version, and we'll add it as soon as we finish... stay tuned!
My Mom started having labor pains on Monday, February 22nd, three days before I was actually born. At the time, she thought this was pretty cool, because the 22nd was my actual due date! But they weren't "real" labor pains, they were latent phase labor pains.
She had latent labor pains until Thursday morning, when they seemed to come a bit more often. After three days of this, neither she nor my Dad thought it was a good idea for Dad to go to work that day, so he stayed home. They talked to Julie, our labor doula, who suggested a nice warm bath and some rest to see if that changed anything. She said she'd come over about 1:30pm to check on us.
At 1:25, Mom was lying down resting when she felt a "pop"-- her waters had broken. The timing was perfect; Julie arrived about 15 minutes later. Things started picking up, and at 2:30 Mom and Julie decided that it probably was time to head to the hospital, so off we went.
When we got settled in at OHSU at about 3:00 they said my Mom was 5cm dilated. Dad and Julie helped her work through her contractions until about 7:30, when the Doctor said she was almost fully dilated. Sure enough, a few minutes later Mom was feeling the urge to push me out of her.
But I wasn't ready to come out yet. I guess I must have a bit of a stubborn streak in me, 'cuz I made my Mom push for 4 hours before I would come out. She did it, though, and at 11:46pm out I popped! That's when they found out what I knew for along time... I'M A BOY!
Right after I was born, I let everybody know I was
a healthy baby by screaming my head off. That actually made everybody quite happy, but
nobody was as happy as my Mom was when they put me on her chest right away. She couldn't
believe she was actually holding me, and, you know, it felt pretty good to me, too, so I
quieted right down. You can see my Mom wearing her labor beads. They gave her lots of good
positive energy from her friends.
Here's my Mom with Julie
right after I was born. Doesn't my Mom look wiped out? Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't have made
her work so hard those last few hours! Nahhhh, she'll need practice for all the work I'm
going to make her do as I grow up! Julie looks pretty happy too, and rightly so. My Mom
says that she couldn't have done it without Julie and my Dad helping her.
This
is a picture from when the nice nurse gave my my first bath. I didn't like it at all so I
screamed at her to stop, but she didn't listen.
I didn't want Mom and Dad to put this picture on my page, but they said
that everybody expects to see a naked baby picture, and I could cry all I wanted, but it
was going on there anyway. I'm such a good baby that I really didn't cry about it much at
all. There are much more important things to cry about right now-- like eating and getting
my diaper changed.
After they got me all cleaned up and weighed me and
stuff, they sent us back to our room, where my Mom and I tried to get some sleep, but
without much luck. The next morning my Dad took these photos of me and my Mom after a bit
of rest. Aren't I cute? My Mom sure thinks so, 'cuz all she does is hold me and tell me
so.
Here I am with my little
hat on. My Mommy is very happy, don't you think? She looks pretty good considering how
hard she worked and how little rest she's had since I was born. I think I'll take a little
nappie-poo now, and give her a break. They said something about going home today. Cool. It
will be neat to find out what the place looks like after all that time in the dark. My Mom
says she can't wait to get out of here so she can get some sleep!
Next: Back to our home
again.
Or go back to Before I was
born.
Last updated: 12/22/2000, Brian Beinlich.
