BUT in the mean time...... INTRODUCING,
Kailen Christopher Bellar....
Here are the details of his arrival (for those of you who are interested).
May 28th was a great day for Aiden, especially as we would later find out that it was his last day as "only child" (on the outside at least!!). We spent the morning at an indoor playground at one of the fancy malls in Bangkok and then he got his favorite thing for lunch...french fries (healthy, I know!). Then after a nap with mommy we headed to a large outdoor park near the guest house we were staying at in Bangkok to ride bicycles...and YES I do think people got a kick out of watching an 8.5 month pregnant white lady ride a bicycle! After our bicycle ride we walked across another large park to the sky train (an above ground rail system) which Aiden LOVES to ride and we went to one of the stops for a yummy blueberry smoothy to end our day. Aiden was content and so were Chris and I.
We made it back to the guest house and got Aiden in bed. I fell asleep with him (as usual) but finally woke up around 9:45 or so. Chris was wanting to watch an episode of 24 (we are only on season 3, by the way), but unfortunately for him, I was feeling a bit cranky and didn't want to do that. I reflect on this point of time now and realize that my crankiness was the only sign my body was giving me that I was in ACTIVE labor!
At about 10:15 I decided to get up and after going to the bathroom I was having very mild cramps, not anything I would consider contractions, and I told Chris that I was going to pack my bag just in case the cramps were the start of anything serious. He nodded in agreement and continued what he was doing. I literally spent about 10 minutes packing my bag and by the end of it I was having such strong contractions that I was sitting on the floor trying to manage them!
I told Chris that he needed to kick it into high gear and get himself ready. Seeing as how my labor with Aiden was about 7.5 hours long he didn't see a need to hurry too much and he continued to walk around our room 'piddling'. After a minute I told him QUITE firmly again that he needed to kick it into high gear, that I was pretty sure I was in labor. He looked at my shaking body and decided that we would time a few of the contractions to see where we were at. After realizing that my contractions were only 3 minutes apart and each one almost a minute long he got into gear and found someone to come to our room to sleep with Aiden and ordered a taxi to come and take us to the hospital.
Our taxi arrived and we left the guest house around 11pm. Unfortunately our driver didn't listen to our desire to take the expressway to the hospital and he took his own route. What should have been a 20 minute drive ended up being a 45 minute ride! Needless to say, managing hard contractions in a taxi in the middle of Bangkok is not something I EVER want to do again!! We actually thought at one point that our driver was lost! We realized later that he knew exactly where he was, just couldn't get to the street we needed to be on!
We arrived at the hospital emergency room and checked in at 11:46pm. They wheeled me up to the birthing unit and as I walked in I could hear the water running in the big jacuzzi tub (I was hoping for a water labor and delivery). I could feel myself relaxing with the thought of that nice warm water...but unfortunately that wasn't to be.
I got into the labor room (nothing like what they have in most hospitals in the States) the midwives checked me only to find that I was already dilated to a 9. They quickly told me to roll onto my left side and NOT to push even if I felt like it. They then turned off the water that was filling up that wonderful jacuzzi tub and ran to call the doctor.
The next 15 or so minutes were the longest and most intense I have EVER experienced, and I really think that I almost broke Chris' hand while squeezing it during contractions...and he tells me I ripped some hair out of his leg when I grabbed his pants during one contraction. (Thanks for NOT complaining of that in the heat of the moment Chris...you were an amazing labor companion once again!)
Finally the doctor arrived and after seeing that I was fully dilated, he broke my water and told me to push at will. I did find it hard to relax and push as I had just spent the last 15 minutes trying my darndest NOT to push and keep that baby inside!!! ;o) But finally I got myself to relax a bit and with about 3 pushes Kailen Christopher entered the world at 12:23am on May 29th.
It was an amazing experience....a long, hard pregnancy, a long wait in Bangkok, and an insane delivery but this sweet little guy was worth every moment!
We love you deeply Kailen....welcome to our family.
I will post LOTS more pictures soon....I promise!
No comments:
Post a Comment