Hello world: Delivery

I have to admit, I was very unaware of how the whole delivery process would go. Would our midwife speak English and understand 'give me drugs'? Did I want drugs? What exactly did the midwife do vs. the doctor? Would an hour drive to the hospital be too long? And on and on.

We'd chosen a hospital in Starnberg, south of Munich, as their info-abend was impressive: the delivery rooms were recently renovated and looked more hotel than hospital, the staff seemed nice and older (to me, that meant more experience), and we could move into a 'residence' part of the hospital after the birth with WiFi, etc.

Our decision could not have been any better. I've already asked Tim if we could fly back here to delivery baby #2 in Starnberg - it was that great.

Cramps started around midnight, and we were on our way to the hospital with contractions between 5-8 minutes and lasting a minute by 1:30am. Once we arrived at the hospital, they confirmed labor had started, hooked me up and said I was already 2 cm dialated. On our way! By this point, I already knew I wanted a PDA (similar to epidural, but not as strong and doesnt penetrate the spinal cord). Within an hour, I'd dialated another centimeter and they wanted to move me into a birthing room. From then on out, I pretty much progressed at a centimeter an hour. But after the PDA, I really didn't feel a thing and both Tim and I got to nap for a while.

Our hebamme's were awesome - super nice, spoke perfect English, had a lot of experience to discuss options with us, and were willing to follow any and all wishes we had. Although, things dont always happen as you wish - I wanted the enema, but due to someone else being rushed to deliver via a c-section, the anesthetist had to give me my PDA immediately and there was no time for my enema. Needless to say, I poo'd during delivery (TMI? Well, stop reading). I don't recommend poo'ing. Even through the pain, it's embarassing. If you're debating, get the enema.

Everything was going perfectly, until the PDA started to wear off around 9am. Although, in hindsight, even that worked out well. I could have had another dose of drugs, but it would have slowed the delivery. So, we proceeded without and by the time his little head was pushing through, there was a lot of pain! I kept my eyes closed during all the pushing, trying to focus on when the contractions were starting since it was hard to tell, it seemed to hurt all the time. At one point, I shamefully admit this, I begged both Tim and the hebamme to 'just get him out'. I was tired, and it hurt. The hebamme saw his head, and said he had a full head of dark hair. That gave me a boost of excitment. Then his head was out, and she asked if we wanted to see, and both of us said 'no' - I was still concentrating on pushing. But one more push, and out he came at 10:14 am - all pain seemed to go away and we were ridiculously happy to have our baby boy.

They wiped him off a little, Tim cut the umbilical cord, and then they laid him on my chest. Van was warm, small and all curled up on me - the powerful rush of emotion is indescribable. We were a family and it was the best day.

Dad then got to hold little Van and gave you your first kiss, and Van went through the reflex tests, scoring a perfect 10 on the Apgar. Coming out of my delivery haze, I remember hearing "Lovely Day" on our ipod. Then the doctor and hebamme discussed my tearing, and proceeded to give me 20-25 stitches downstairs. Thank goodness for anesthesia.

An hour or two later, we were wheeled to the regular section of the hospital to our private/family room and started to get to know our little man. To say we stared at him a lot is an understatement. Stared, slept next to him and stared some more. We treated oursleves to a margarita pizza that night (and every other night following), a little to the nurses dismay (she said it could cause me to get sick, but no problems).

It was wonderful. All of it. I felt overwhelming love for both Tim and Van. Seeing them together was... perfect.

Welcome to the world, Van. We love you and are so happy to have you in our lives.