Ninja - 3 1/2 months

He put up with the camera so well.  And then he was done.

Ninja's first week

Sleep deprived and overwhelmed first time parents.

Sweet Ninja is a great sleeper, so far. He's very mellow and low key.  He cries to be fed and that's about it.  He's a good eater, but still small.

Thanksgiving 2004

We spent Thanksgiving this year with both families together.  Everyone wanted a piece of Ninja! I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it's always wonderful to be with family at the holidays.

Ninja's Birth Story

            I had a fairly uneventful pregnancy.  In fact, I’m sure I had a pregnancy that most women only dream about.  I was barely sick and felt pretty normal throughout most of it.  I never had heartburn, back pain, or trouble breathing.  I even worked up until the week before Ninja was born.  I was planning on working that last week too, but decided to take the time off to prepare the house and relax a bit. 

            I really wasn’t planning on Ninja being early.  I was just hoping that he wouldn’t be two weeks late!  Ninja’s due date was November 19^th, a Friday.  On Thursday, November 11, I was supposed to baby sit my friend Cortney’s kids.  I baby sat them every week and was still feeling fine enough to do it again.  That morning I was feeling pretty lazy and uncomfortable.  Antonio was home from school for Veteran’s Day and we wanted to do some things together.  I called Cortney and told her I wasn’t going to be able to come over.  She understood, seeing that I was due to have a baby in a week.  Antonio and I spent the day shopping and what not.  We went to the grocery store and got a few Christmas presents.  We spent a lot of the day walking, but I was feeling pretty good.  Eventually I got tired and more uncomfortable and we went home.  The evening was spent lounging and cleaning the house.  In my last month of pregnancy I got on a huge cleaning kick.  I was cleaning everything!  Antonio liked it because the house always looked good, but I think my cleaning craziness annoyed him a bit too.

            I had slept in so late that morning that I wasn’t tired early like I usually am.  I was sitting on the couch playing solitaire on the palm pilot while Antonio was playing video games on the floor.  All of a sudden, I felt as if I were peeing.  I knew I wasn’t even though it felt like it.  I quickly stood up and calmly said, “Oh my gosh, I think my water just broke.”  Antonio’s head whipped around and as he looked water started pouring out of me.  I just stood there staring between my legs as a fountain of liquid came gushing.  I’m not really sure why, but I thought that this was the funniest thing that could have happened to me.  I just looked at Antonio and started laughing so hard.  I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time!  Of course, every time I laughed more water came out.  I told Antonio to get me some towels because the carpet was soaked.  He went into the kitchen and grabbed one dish towel.  He threw it under my legs and within seconds it was soaked.  He quickly realized that one was not going to be enough so he proceeded to grab all towels in the drawer and throw them at my feet.  I soon had a small mountain of towels at my feet that were quickly getting wet.  As soon as the water flow slowed down I waddled up to the bathroom.  I paged my midwife and waited for her to call back.  Even though it is her job, I felt really guilty for calling her so late.  My water broke at 11:45 pm.  It was just after midnight by the time I paged her.  She quickly called back and I told her what happened.  She said that sounded consistent with ruptured membranes (of course) and to just wait until contractions would start.  She didn’t send me to the hospital immediately like an obstetrician would have done.  I was grateful for that because I got to do most of my laboring at home.  She advised that we try to get some sleep because we wouldn’t get any after labor started.  Antonio and I climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep.  That proved impossible.  There is no way that you can sleep when you have just realized that you are going to have a baby in the next day or two.  I was excited, anxious, nervous, and scared.  And it didn’t help that I had so many pads on I felt like I was wearing a diaper.  I thought I would have at least a few hours before labor started, but I didn’t. 

Right at 1 o’clock in the morning my contractions started.  They didn’t hurt (yet), it just felt like a mild cramp.  My stomach would tighten up and then relax.  It was an odd feeling that I couldn’t control the muscle contractions.  That’s probably a good thing because I wouldn’t have been so willing to experience them if they were voluntary.  They started coming every 10-12 minutes apart.  I tried to sleep a little in between, but that just wasn’t enough time to really fall asleep.  Antonio sat next to me on the bed and recorded all the beginning and ending times.  I told him as soon as one started and finished.  He kept them all logged in his palm pilot in a spreadsheet.  That was the accountant coming out in him.  Everything in a spreadsheet!  We called my mom at about 1:30 in the morning.  She was obviously very excited to hear what was happening.  I really wanted her here for the birth and I was afraid she would miss it because she lived in Medford, a 5 hour drive away.  She told us to call her back when the contractions started getting closer.  She wanted to get at least a few hours of sleep before she had to drive up. 

The contractions slowly started coming closer together.  They still weren’t painful yet, but were a little more intense.  I started using my breathing techniques to stay relaxed and calm during the peak of a contraction.  Around four in the morning I called my mom and told her to start driving.  I was having contractions every 7 minutes and because my water was broken I didn’t know when Michelle would want me to come to the hospital.  They still weren’t very painful.  It was more just really uncomfortable.  I was so exhausted by this time that I actually slept for about 1 ½ hours.  It wasn’t a very deep sleep, but enough to recharge my batteries a bit.  My mom arrived about 9:30 in the morning.  Michelle didn’t think I needed to go to the hospital yet so we decided to keep laboring at home.  Mom got some rest from the long drive and Antonio and I sat around continuing to monitor the contractions. 

I called Michelle around 11:00 am to check in with her.  She decided that since my water had been broken for almost 12 hours she wanted me to come to the hospital.  That way they could make sure I didn’t get an infection and check to see how dilated I was.  I was ready to go now.  The contractions were getting much stronger and I was getting more uncomfortable.  I wanted to labor in the Jacuzzi in the hospital room.  I took a quick shower and got dressed while Antoniogot everything together to take.  I had packed my bag a few weeks earlier, but I was also taking my pillow and birthing ball.  We left the house about 12:10 and mom followed us to the hospital.  As we were driving someone almost pulled into us and caused an accident!  I scared the crap out of me and I wanted to yell and the guy and tell him I was in freakin’ labor!  I was very grateful that there was no accident and we arrived to the hospital safely.

It took me about 10 minutes to walk from the hospital parking lot into the Family Birth Center.  I had to keep stopping during a contraction because I had to concentrate so hard during them.  They were very intense and I didn’t want to move or talk while I was having one.  If I could just focus and zone out for that minute then I was able to handle the pain.  They still weren’t quite painful yet.  They began to feel like a really big Charlie Horse in my stomach.  We finally made it to the Nurses station where we signed in.  Michelle had called them and told them I was on my way so my room was all ready for me.  Thank goodness I didn’t have to stand around too long because my legs were starting to shake from the intensity of the contractions.

We got settled into the room pretty quickly.  The nurses came to take my temperature and blood pressure.  The bed was a lot more comfortable that I thought it would be.  I lay down on my side and had a whole bunch of pillows propped around my body.  The pillows took some pressure off of my body and that felt a whole lot better.  Around two o’clock in the afternoon I was getting really uncomfortable laboring in the bed.  The contractions were getting so intense that I wanted to try something else for relief.  Antonio filled the Jacuzzi with warm water and I climbed in.  The water felt so good and it took so much pressure of my body.  It was a really deep tub so I could just float in there.  Antonio sat on the toilet while I was in the tub.  I wanted him to keep me company and try to keep my mind off the contractions as much as possible.  When I did have one I closed my eyes and focused on breathing through it.  I kept telling myself that it wouldn’t last forever and I could handle it for a few more seconds.  That seemed to really help me get through them when they started to get even harder. 

The contractions had progressively gotten harder and harder since I had arrived at the hospital.  After laboring in the Jacuzzi for about an hour the contractions were beginning to change again.  Instead of mostly feeling it in my stomach area, I was starting to feel a lot of pain and pressure in my back.  The contracting became a whole body affair and I could tell that they were making my body very tired.  I would feel worn out after each one, like I had just exercised.  I starting to complain to Antonio that they were very painful and I didn’t want to do it anymore.  He was very supportive and sat by me the whole time.  I could tell he didn’t like watching me go through this, but we both tried to keep in mind what would be coming at the end.

Soon after I began feel a lot of back pain the contractions started coming significantly closer together.  I would get only about a minute in between each one.  It was difficult to stay focused and composed when they were that close together.  As soon as one would end and I had time to catch my breath another one would begin.  I moved out of the tub and back into the bed because I was getting very uncomfortable.  Antonio helped me out of the tub and get dressed into a gown.  I had to do this all quickly before another contraction started.  I think I made it just to the side of the bed before one came. 

Getting in the bed didn’t seem to make the contractions less frequent.  If fact, the felt more intense now because I didn’t have the water supporting the weight of my body.  I finally couldn’t take it anymore and asked for an epidural at 4:00pm.  I had really wanted to do a natural birth, but the contractions were just too close together.  I was able to handle them individually, but I wasn’t able to get a break in between.  I was so exhausted that I knew I would be completely wiped out by the time I needed to push.  Michelle got to the hospital right about this time to check my dilation.  I was at eight centimeters!  I was so happy.  I knew that it would be almost time to push.  Michelle sent to the anesthesiologist to administer my epidural.  I couldn’t wait for him to get there because I really wanted to rest, especially because I knew I could go from 8-10 centimeters quickly. 

The anesthesiologist got to my room around 4:30 and started prepping for the epidural.  I was really scared about having a needle put in my back and I was even more scared when I saw how big the needle was!  He sat down and explained what he was going to do before he did it.  I’m glad that he took the time to do that because that eased my fears a bit.  First he washed my back with iodine to sanitize it.  The iodine was really cold and gave me the chills down my spine.  He then gave me three small shots of pain relief so I wouldn’t feel when the big needle went in.  The shots felt like quick bee stings, much less painful than I anticipated.  I barely felt it when he poked my back with the needle.  I felt a very small prick, but that was it.  It didn’t take long for him to put in the thread and begin the medicine.  He said it would take about 10 minutes before it started working, and about 20 minutes before it would work completely.  I was just grateful to know that relief was on the way.  As he was putting the needle in I had to round my back and sit very still.  That was hard to do when I was having a contraction.  I had to focus on my breathing and try not to move at all.

Within just a few minutes of receiving the epidural I felt a big difference in the intensity of the contractions.  I no longer felt the pain in my back which was a wonderful relief.  It took about 15 minutes before I was absolutely comfortable.  I felt no pain at all anymore and only felt pressure when I had a contraction.  It felt like someone was just squeezing my stomach every few minutes.  I was so happy because I could sit and not worry about concentrating so much during labor.  I sent everyone out of the room at 5:00 so I could take a nap.  I was able to sleep for about 50 minutes before Michelle came in to check on me again.  This time I was at 10 centimeters.  She said it would be time to push really soon and to get ready. 

I had my mom and Mammie come back into the room because I invited them to see the birth.  I asked my mom to get me a mirror so I could brush my hair.  I was absolutely horrified at what I looked like.  I truly looked like I had been hit by a truck.  I guess that is what 15 hours of labor will do to you.  I got my hairbrush and makeup out so I could freshen up a bit.  My mom and Mammie just laughed at me.  They thought it was so funny that I was putting on makeup to have a baby.  But I didn’t want my baby to see me ugly for the first time.  Michelle came back at 6:10 to coach me as I started pushing.  She let me do a few “practice” ones so she could tell me how to do it better.  When I did she said,”Wow, you are good at this pushing thing.  Let’s just go for it.”  I was feeling the urge to push at the beginning of each contraction.  When I did feel the urge I would bear down for about 8 seconds.  We tried to get in 3 to 4 good pushes for each contraction.  Michelle was impressed at how quickly I was moving Ninja down the birth canal.  It didn’t feel too painful yet, but it felt like I really had to poop.  I kept pushing with each contraction and at about 6:35 he began crowning.  That is when it started to hurt!  Even though it was so painful I knew there was no way of backing out.  I just figured the harder I pushed the faster this would be all over so I really tried to concentrate on getting through it.  I tried not to whine or complain because that would waste time.  Michelle told me what I needed to do and Antonio was at my head reassuring me.  At one point Michelle asked me if I wanted to touch the baby’s head.  I said, “No, just get it out of there!”  I was so uncomfortable and in more pain than I could ever imagine. 

Soon, his head was all the way out and I knew it was almost over.  Michelle let Antonio help her deliver Ninja at this point.  Finally his shoulders passed through and he was almost out.  At 6:52pm on November, 12 Michelle let Antonio pull Ninja out and place him on my chest.  He was so tiny!  The first thing I said was, “He is so small!”  I couldn’t believe how small he was.  He didn’t start crying right away.  He really didn’t cry at all.  He gave a few little whimpers but that was all.  As soon as Ninja was on my chest he opened his eyes and began to look around.  He looked at everything!  I kept asking if he was okay because he wasn’t crying.  I thought he wasn’t breathing.  He was so mellow and calm when he came out.  It was great to just hold him and look into his eyes.  He had big, beautiful, blue eyes.  Antonio and I were crying and were so happy that our little boy was finally here.  We had been waiting a long time for him.  Ninja weighed 6lbs 3oz and was 18.5 inches long.

After we cuddled for a while the nurse took him to wrap him up in blankets.  Antonio, my mom, and Mammie doted on Ninja while Michelle stitched me up. Even though it took 9 months of carrying and 18 hours of no-so-fun labor, I would do it all again in a heart beat for my little Ninja.  He is more than worth all that it took to get him here.  My son is the greatest blessing in the world and brings me and Antonio more joy than we could have ever imagined.