Christer & Cat

Well, we’ve been at the hospital a total of about eight hours and we’ve managed to come up with another little girl. I swear Catherine is going to win medals someday for her extraordinary baby-pushing abilities. Let me tell you a tale, and we’ll let you decide.

Dad is stretched out on the uncomfortable Father-couches. (You know, those green couches that are not deep enough to get comfortable and not quite long enough to stretch out on, but are there to give visitors the illusion of being welcome. It’s really just a ploy by the Hospital to keep cycling the people through.) He is rudely awakened by Hospital staff moving in carts and monitoring equipment. When he gets the sleep cleared from his eyes he notices that the doctor is already fully covered in plastic. Looks like he’s ready to get dirty.

Dad gets up and stands by Mom’s head. She’s doing great. No pushing yet, just basking in a medical-induced glow. Contractions have been regular and we’ve made a lot of progress while Dad has been napping.

Not a moment later the Doctor says to grab Mom’s leg and hold it up. The nurse on the other side does the same. The Doctor takes a peek and mentions that the baby is facing the wrong way, “but we’ll take care of that with a good solid push.”

Mom pushes. Doctor peeks. Baby is facing the right way. If hindsight were with us, he’d mention that we were now about halfway there.

Doctor tells Mom she can rest for a few minutes. He tilts his head, as if he’s remembering something, and settles his stance for better traction. It’s time to push again.

Dad again helps Mom with the leg and Mom pushes. If it were a cartoon there would have been a loud “POP”. We seem to have the larger part of a baby. How ’bout that! One last mini-push, one that doesn’t even really qualify as a push–more of a grunt–and we’re all done. Good work Mom! The time is 6:23 am.

Baby is long. And Big! When it’s all said and done she is 9lbs, 7oz, 22 inches. All the nurses have wide eyes. The anesthesiologist is in the corner mumbling something about how Mom had enough pain medication to stop an Ox, yet there she is moving her feet already on here own. It’s quite the feat. Dad is quite amazed that in the first twenty minutes of being awake he’s now a Father, again.

We’re still deliberating on the middle name, but Elizabeth is here to stay and she’s a beautiful monster!