On October 4, 2018, Amanda was at home with her mom, and I was at work finishing up some projects. We were expecting to give birth the next week on October 9, and so we were taking it slow. Amanda had walked in the morning, and she was getting cramps in her stomach. She didn’t know these were contractions!

Around 5pm, I received a call from Amanda, and she said, “I think you should come home now.” I immediately gathered my things and drove home. When I got home, we left immediately for the hospital. It was rush hour traffic, and we took El Camino Real all the way. I was anxious, and remember stopping at a lot of lights, particularly the one at Oregon Expressway. The pain was getting more frequent, a “6” on a scale from one to ten, when the nurses at the front desks asked.

in labor and delivery

Usually, you’re admitted if you are 4 inches dialated. It turns out Amanda was a full six inches dialated, and would need to immediately go into a labor room. We were admitted, and the nurses were on a shift change. Many of them remarked how tall Amanda was because of her position on the bed.

Amanda started pushing near midnight. By that time, another shift change was due, and we traded our older, experienced nurse for a younger one. She yelled encouragement, “Push, push, push! C’mon, momma, push” for each contraction. She told Amanda to push near the bottom, where she had placed her fingers. We pushed for nearly four and a half hours, and the doctor came in a couple of times to check.

Near 4am, the doctor came in with an older, tough, grizzled nurse. She got down to business, and put Amanda in a few positions. We were able to see the head inch forward. So much hair! Everyone exclaimed, “that’s a lot of hair!”

Contractions were coming quick now, and the aenesthesiologist had had to come in a couple of times. When the new, grizzled nurse came in, her yells were loud. “Come on! You can do it!” There were only a few contractions before the doctor immediately stepped in once the head came out. Like an octopus, Clark was a big head and little limbs! He slid right out!

Welcome, Bebe Clark. We love you

hello bebe

Clark weighted in at a hefty 8.5lbs. I asked Amanda if she were tired and wanted to rest, but she said, “I’d like to hold him.” The doctor was taking a while to repair and suture. Near the end, she decided she need more lights and equipment, and decided to go to the operating room. That meant that Clark and I couldn’t follow because of the sterile environment.

So, they took us to the nursery. The nurse that brought me there pointed out that’s where all the circumcisions took place. I arrived, and they weighed him. Meanwhile, a few nurses were practicing CPR on a dummy. One of them got on top of it and started compressing.

I had my breakdown shirt with a zipper to allow skin to skin contact. The nursery doctor came to see me. She was extremely tall, and I strained my neck as I sat looking up at her. Clark and I waited in the nursery. He was calm, and I was enjoying the skin to skin contact. The nurse, an older lady, asked how I was doing, and I replied, I’d like to know ow Amanda was doing. She said that she would check.

maternity

Amanda got out of surgery and we waited in an interim recovery room with very little space. I mostly stood, and a nurse waited with us. We waited for a doctor, but there was extensive tears to Amanda’s parts so she would be in pain for a little while. Still, we were able to head into the maternity ward.

Clark had no problems latching on. We stayed a total of two nights, and enjoyed Stanford’s room service, ordering several times a day. During recovery, we had two roommates. After the first roommate left, we claimed their room, since it was closer to the window and larger. Also, there was a couch for me to sleep on.

We had several nurses that taught us how to feed, bathe, and swaddle the baby. Gabby was one of our favorites, and at the end, we wrote a favorable review for her. She gave Clark a bath, and I remember her looking at my hair, and then combing Clark’s hair in the same way.

the ICN

On the last day, Gabby regretfully told us that we had to stay a bit longer, because Clark needed to be treated for jaundice. They put him under some blue lights for a few days. Amanda got a room, but it didn’t allow men to stay there, so I stayed in the waiting room. I didn’t really need to the accomodations, though, since I was right by Clark’s side most of the time. The nurses figured out that Clark liked sleeping on his tummy, and so when they did that, I was able to get some rest.

Clark was very fidgety, and I attributed it to him being cold. The doctors assured me that they can’t feel cold, and took his temperature several times to assuage me. I used a pacifier to try to calm him when he was fussing.

Near the end, Clark was able to be consoled because we started bottle feeding him. Every few hours, they gave him a bottle of formula, and he looked well enough to go home. The last nurse, Dolores, was a nice elderly woman who also gave Clark a bath just before we were discharged from the hospital.

coming home

Amanda got out of the car first, and we followed superstition to go through the front door. When we got in, I took Clark on a tour of our house.