Since your dad had already written up a story, I thought I would paste it in below. Here is what your dad wrote about your birth... and continue on from there - and fill in a couple of blanks. This is a longer entry into my blog, so please bear with me (no pun intended). :)
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We have a new addition! Theo—Theodore Malcolm Kneen—was born at 3:55 am on May 4, 2006. He weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and both he and Soha are doing very well indeed. We had intended—and indeed started—to have a natural childbirth at home with a midwife (Teresa Brandowska) and a midwifery student (Kristin Robinson) assisting, but Theo tried to come out back to front (though still head first)—“posterior” presentation—and after an afternoon of increasingly painful and fruitless labour we went to the hospital to have a more detailed assessment. After many more hours of painful labour with little progress, Soha decided to have an epidural anæsthetic. The anæsthesiologist, however, was stuck in emergency surgery, and not available until two hours later—by then over 24 hours had passed since labour started. An hour later, as the fœtus’ heart rate was elevated (170-180 beats/minute) and dipping dramatically (to 50 or less) between contractions (rather than moderately, in sync with them), and since it had been a day and a half since the waters had broken, increasing the risk of infection, both midwife and doctor recommended a Cæsarian section and within about 3/4 of an hour there he was.
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Yes, you were born on Thursday, May 4, 2006 at the Montford Hospital here in Ottawa. But things really did start much earlier than that. My water actually broke around noon on May 2, 2008. Teresa, our midwife and friend stopped by to check on me and did some test to confirm that my water had really broken. We were off to the races - slowly!
I was already off on maternity leave. But it was happening a week earlier than expected. My due date was actually May 11, 2008. C'est la vie. Either way, my water broke and I immediately called your dad who was at work. We were both so excited! But since my contractions had not started yet I told your dad that he could stay at work and that I would let him know if anything happened. But nothing really happened that day. After work we went for dinner. I had been dying for spicy Vietnamese noodle soup! So that night we went to the Pho Bac on Somerset Street. It was great!!! But you should have seen the owner's face when I told him that labour had started! *grins* It had not really, just my water broke, but I was so excited!!!
My contractions did not start until about 1:30 am on May 3rd. I woke up because of that, but went to sleep again as they were so far apart and not that strong yet. Your dad stayed home with me that day while we were waiting for things to progress. Later in the afternoon the contractions got stronger, but not too strong. My friend Liz came over that afternoon and pretty much stayed with us for the entire labour! Thanks so much Liz!!!! You were awesome! No matter how hard things got and how big the needle I had to be given was!!!
Teresa dropped by around 4 pm to check on me. My contractions were still the same, but getting closer together. But things were not regular yet. By about 6 pm or 7 pm Teresa suggested for us to go to the hospital for a more detailed assessment on where we were at (since my contractions were still quite irregular). I went into active labour in the car on the way to the Montford hospital. That hurt!
When we got to the hospital I really had to go to the bathroom. So your dad dropped me off right in front of the entrance and I went in. I asked the person at the front desk where I could find a bathroom and he directed me to the closest one. Well, that may have been the one closest to the front door, but it was not the one that was most commonly used. While I was in there, I had two or three really strong contractions in very quick succession. I couldn't come out and no one could hear me very well. So when your dad came looking for me, he could not find me. So he ran upstairs to the maternity ward to look for me. I wasn't there. When I finally managed to come out of the bathroom I could not find your dad - all I could do is slowly walk over to the seats on the side - as I had another contraction. You should have seen that poor receptionist's face when he realized that I was in active labour, that your dad had gone upstairs and that I needed his help! It would have been pretty funny had I not been in the middle of a contraction! So I was calling for his help! At that moment your dad showed up and rescued me and brought me upstairs where everyone was waiting for me. Liz was there too. She only left the room while I was getting the epidural and then went home while I was having the C-section. She came back the next morning with her boyfriend Ben whom I met for the first time at that time! I had never met him before that day and I had been joking about him not existing as I had only heard stories about him before that. So when he walked into my hospital room I smiled and said "you do exist". He smiled back and said hello! He's very nice. You've met him a couple of times since then... :)
Your birth was a wonderful if painful experience as you insisted on coming out in the posterior position. I never even dilated to 3 cm. Your dad pretty much covered what had happened during the birth in general. The parts that I want to remember and want you to know about are the funny parts. When I finally decided to have an epidural (which took me 3 hours to decide to have - I had really not wanted to have one unless is was absolutely necessary) it took an additional 2 hours to have it administered as the anæsthesiologist was in emergency surgery. But once I got it everything got better - almost as if everything took on a rosy light. My whole body relaxed and I fell asleep very soon after getting the epidural. I remember watching the contractions showing on the monitor of the machine we were hooked up to and not feeling a thing. It was so great! What I don't remember is that as I was falling asleep I had asked your dad to tell me a story. Your dad used to tell me stories - or read them to me - quite often. I guess as I was relaxing and falling asleep that's what I wanted to have. :) Your dad was absolutely wonderful during your birth! He was there every step of the way no matter how difficult things got. Your dad is quite wonderful you know!
I also remember that every time (prior to getting the epidural) Kristin checked on your heartbeat every 15 minutes or so. Well, every time she did this you responded quite strongly and I also had a very massive contraction! It was incredibly strong each time! At one point, when I was sitting in the hot tub (Liz was holding my hand while your dad was getting a bit of sleep - I still can't believe that he folded himself up to fit into that chair lying down!) to actually show down the contractions until I could get the epidural, Kristin tried to check on your heartbeat again - my response was..."Will you stop doing that; I know you have to; I'm really sorry to yell at you; but every time you do that I have a very heavy contraction! I'm really sorry!"
Yeah, I apologized a lot. I never swore or got mad at anyone like some women do. At one point everyone was teasing me about it. So I apologized for apologizing. That set off some giggles! :)
As your dad said above, you were born at 3:55 am weighing in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces. I remember lying there with your dad to my left. He was able to look over the sheet that had been set up as a screen right in front of me. I was very happy about the screen thing as I really didn't want to see my own C-section being done. Your dad did see it though. It was actually quite funny...as things were happening I could see your dad's face. I was asking him what or if he could see anything. He had his camera there. Anyway, at one point he made a face and told me that he wasn't going to take a picture of 'that'! That being the nurses pulling my stomach muscles apart so that you could be lifted out! It was actually hillarious. Anyway, I agreed that that was ok. You were born a few minutes later.
Your dad held you first after you were cleaned up and then you came to me for our first visit.
You were so cute! And you looked so much like your dad at the time! It was really amazing to meet you for the first time!
Your dad went home around 7 or 7:30 am and came back around 10 am. You spent your first night/morning in bed with me. The first time you nursed really well and basically continued to nurse all morning - whenever you woke up!
You ate so much that pretty much all my colostrum was gone by lunch time, which is very unusual. My milk came in pretty shortly after that. We had a bit of trouble nursing as my breasts changed because I had so much milk at that time. That night was very difficult as you cried a lot because you couldn't latch on properly. But by the next morning a lactation consultant came to see us and helped us figure things out! I just loved her!!!!! And it was smooth sailing in the nursing department after that.
Anyway, after your dad came back to the hospital we were still very tired. So I asked him to come and join us on the bed. So the three of us had our first nap together. Kristin came in during that time to check on us, but left again. Unfortunately she didn't have a camera to take a picture of the three of us on the hospital bed. Also, you spent the whole night/morning in my bed with me. All the other moms had their kids in the little bassinets beside their beds. Not me. And we continued things this way until you were over 2 years old. You sleep in your own bed for the most part now. But I still love having you in our bed with us once in a while when you wake up in the middle of the night! :)
Now on a sad note. Kristin died in the spring of 2007. She died in a car accident. I was very sad when I found out about it. She was a lovely person and would have made an amazing midwife!!! We will never forget her.
(Kristin and Teresa in your room when you were only 3 days old.)
We spent two days in the hospital where you also had your first bath. You didn't seem to mind it at all! It was nice actually and the nurse was very patient when she showed me how to do it. We brought you home on the morning of the third day. You definitely didn't like being in the car seat! :)
(Complaining in the car seat)
(The two of us having a nap on our first day at home)
The day we came home Loup ended up for the first time showing signs of old age and couldn't take a step without shaking on all four legs. I bawled my eyes out thinking that we had to put him down. But Jamie took him to the vet and we found out that he had developed chronic arthritis. This was dealt with by giving him glucosamine on a daily basis. We haven't had problems with this since.
Chloe took one look at you on the couch and nearly did a back flip off the couch when you moved. She thought that you looked most dangerous! *grins* She got used to you soon after that. *grins again*
Here is a picture of you relaxing in a sling we used until you got too big for it!
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