Desmond in the 4th Degree

Hey mama, your bump makes me wanna jump!

Monday, 29 September 2014

2am - Cara gets out of bed and paces around the house.  Things feel different.  2:15am - Cara wakes Tommy.  Says things feel different.  2:45am - Cara phones her doula, Mary. "Things feel different, Mary."

3am - Massive contractions put Cara on the floor, like in a major motion picture. 3:01am - Tommy realizes the baby is coming tonight.  Cara has known this for an hour...  3:15am - Tommy phones the doula.  Now the doula knows the baby is coming tonight.  3:20am - Tommy phones the hospital/midwives.  They want to "check" Cara.  3:30am - Like a finely tuned machine, the wheels of "help" are set in motion: Grandma and Grandpa begin the 1.5hr trip to Red Hook to help with Zoster. A great local friend, Mae, is en route to the house to cover the gap. The doula is en route to the hospital, which is preparing a room. Tommy is packing the car, and remotely canceling his Monday classes. Cara is deep into warfare with crippling contractions, now about a minute apart.

4am - Cara, Tommy, & some wild contractions arrive at the hospital.   4:05am - Our awesome midwife, Jane, checks Cara:  She's fully dilated and ready to go. 4:06am - Surgical team and OR are put on standby: a VBAC is ready to push. 4:15am or something like that:  Cara brings the push train to gonnahavababyville. 6:30ish am - Certain medical types begin to bat eyes around the room.  This seems an awful lot like last time. Lots of pushing, not a lot of movement.  Shortly thereafter - The doula kicks into gear; it's all hands on deck, and we're gonna have a baby.  Cara is doing pull-ups & squats.  Finally, it works.  The baby nudges past the pelvic bone, and a few pushes later, starts crowning.  This goes on for some time, but there's progress.  Two steps forward, one step back.  Everyone knows there's only one end to this story now, and it's a natural birth.

8am - Babyboy Costello is born.  He's a hair over 9 pounds, and measures a whopping 24 inches long.  Cara did it.  No drugs whatsoever. A perfect birth.  Everyone in the room is thrilled.

Some time later, babyboy becomes Desmond Clay Costello.  

5 minutes after birth. They look great

Satisfaction.

Of course, wee Des is not alone.  His capable big Zoster arrives on scene in the afternoon to begin teaching him the ropes.  She's been waiting to hold him for the past seven months! 

Even she is proud of her amazing Mama.  Sure, she wanted a little girl named "Elsa" but soon enough she'll discover that it's Papa's fault that little Des arrived as a boy.

 Be well, little guy.

©Desmond Clay Costello, b. 29 September 2014