Hank

Welcome, my little grandson, Henry Alan.  He's just perfect!

My daughter went to the hospital to have this baby three times, three days in a row. The third time was the charm, they finally admitted her and put her in a labor and delivery room.  Her husband called me to let me know and I scrambled to find a babysitter for my puking little girls.

Do you know how hard it is to find a babysitter for a couple of pukers?  It wasn't happening and my husband was at work. He had to work at Saturday school and babysit the hundreds of middle schoolers in Saturday detention. Those darn kids! He was getting off work at noon, but he called at 12:40 and said he was just getting on the freeway and traffic was terrible. Ugh.

He got home at 1:20 and I hit the road at 1:40 and left him home with the sick little girls. Off I went to San Diego so I could pace the hallway or lobby and wait for word that baby Henry was born.  I was hoping I could see him an hour or two after he was born and see my girl on her first day of being a new mommy.  If not, well, she would at least know I was there if she needed any extra moral support. Her husband was there of course and she hired a doula (paid for by the Navy since her husband was deployed (but now he's back)).

I arrived at the hospital at 2:40. Traffic was easy! I managed to get in the gate at the Naval Hospital and found the parking structure. Then I had to find the right building and floor. That wasn't as easy. I walked all over the place! I finally found it and was directed to her room.  And then I got really nervous. I didn't want to just barge in!  I went and found a nurse to go in and check with Katie and Andrew and see if I could go in, ask if the baby was born already, and just give me a quick idea of what I was walking into.

All was well. Katie and Andrew were happy I came and they wanted me to come in. She was contracting but no baby yet. It was 3pm and they both looked great for being up all night and dealing with early labor for 2 days. Too great. My first thought was that this was going to take all night and maybe another day. She's just looking too wonderful.

She wanted me to stay, but I hid in the corner when the nurse was working on her and adjusting the baby's monitors and such.  I told Katie and Andrew to just let me know when she wanted me to step out because I want to respect their family experience and not be in the way or whatever.  All I got from Katie was a plea to stay and Andrew agreed.  Ok, then. I'll stay as long as they can stand having me in the room.  Andrew was alone with her mostly since the nurse was running from patient to patient, and the doctor and others would only show up at the last minute. The doula wasn't there and I didn't want to stir up anything so I didn't ask where she was. Best to just leave that story for later.

Poor Andrew had been rubbing Katie's back for hours on end. I took over and we took turns. Henry was "sunny side up" and giving Katie horrible back pain. He finally twirled around and gave her back a bit of relief. Andrew and I took turns wiping off her forehead with a damp washcloth, and telling her to breathe. She was really having big contractions so the nurse checked and said it was almost time for him to be born.  Really? Already? Wow!

The doctor and a few more nurses came in and we all welcomed Henry into the world together. Katie did such a good job of having her first baby without any pain medications at all!  Andrew was the proudest daddy I've ever seen aside from my own husband when our girls were born. The doctor and the nurses were full of praises for Katie for having a nearly 9 lb baby without an epidural.

I have to say, being present during a birth of a baby was an amazing experience. I've been present at 5 births before but never as a bystander.  The first one, I was the baby and I don't remember it.  The next four, I was the mama and I only remember bits and pieces thanks to the natural amnesia that helps a mother decide to have another one. This was a very special experience for me as well and I'm thrilled that Andrew and Katie shared their experience with me. Such a joy to be one of the first to say "Welcome to the world, Henry". 

Henry weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces and he was 20.5 inches long. He was born at 5:30pm.

After an hour, the nurse had Katie get up to use the bathroom which was about three steps away.  Katie took two steps and fainted. The nurse caught her and Andrew sprinted across the room and they sandwiched her to hold her upright so she didn't fall to the floor. The baby's nurse ran over to help so I stayed by Henry (why I thought he would roll off of his little table I don't know, he's not big enough to roll yet but I stayed by him to make sure and let the professionals tend to Katie). They moved as a group closer to the wall and the nurse reached in a cabinet and grabbed some smelling salts. As soon as she waved them under Katie's nose she came right to. She didn't know what happened and then she just kept apologizing. 

They laid her back down and the room filled up with doctors and nurses, some hauling equipment on wheels.  They put stickers all over her and did an EKG all the time she was apologizing and denying that anything was wrong with her. She said she faints sometimes but its not a big deal. I felt so bad that I didn't think of her fainting spells, I totally forgot! Plus, the same thing happened to me with two of my babies and one was Katie. How can I forget that and just let them let her up to walk?

The EKG came out ok, guess she wasn't having a heart problem. Her blood pressure was fine. They drew blood to check for other things and they brought her some brownies and juice to bump up her sugar.  She earned herself an extended stay at the hospital too. Two nights instead of one for the girl who faints!

She is just fine now and should go home today. Here are pictures of Henry. I took a few and hoped I would get some good ones. Got home and found out that I took 169 photos!  Haha! Off to a good start in my new job as Henry's Grandma!

Here is what you've been waiting for:  Hank!