Asa's arrival, part two

First, a picture to whet the appetite:Now then, where were we?

Ah, yes.

Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels...

Oh... sorry. Wrong story.

So M. had been in labor for 47 3/4 hours, she was finally dilated, and the room was full of people. Because of the epidural, she couldn't feel the contractions, so we had to wait until one showed up on the monitor for her to push. Made for some interesting breaks in the action. But it only too two big pushes, and out he came, our little boy. Specifically, our little boy blue. The OB asked if I wanted to cut the cord, and as I moved down I noticed something odd about the umbilical cord, but didn't think much beyond cutting. (Note: by this point, he hadn't made a peep.) Someone got him over to the warming pad and the neonatologist and the nursery nurse spent several eternal minutes suctioning and rubbing him. He pinked up pretty quickly, but never did much more than whimper. Talk about the longest couple minutes of our lives. Finally, we got to hold him, not for nearly long enough, but still... at that point, we knew it would all be okay.

During the pinking of the boy, the OB was getting M. stitched up and put back together. Finally, he held up the umbilical cord. "I think this might be the reason you went into early labor," he said, and we saw a perfect single knot, loosely tied, in the cord. A true knot, the doctor said, and only the second one he'd ever seen. Talented kid, our Asa, and a sailor born, apparently.

After just a few minutes, Asa and I went up with the nurse to the nursery, stopping briefly in the waiting room to see Grandma, Poppy and Uncle Spaghetti. They cried and cooed, and remarked on the amazing similarities to M.'s birth - right down to the weight, as she was also 5lbs 13oz.

By morning, Asa was in the NICU, because his blood sugar was so low. He had an IV, and very soon thereafter, a gavage tube - after two days in labor, he was just too tired to eat.

That was Sunday afternoon. Since then, he has made great strides. He's met most of his Mommy's family, including good snuggles with Grandma and Poppy...
And Uncle Spaghetti.

Yesterday, his blood sugar was so good that the IV was discontinued. Last night, he pulled the gavage tube clear out, and they opted not to put it back in. He's been a much better eater, mostly by bottle until Mommy's milk comes in.

He did get a little jaundiced today, which is almost par for the course for a pre-term baby. Rather than putting him in an isolette, they just slipped a "bili blanket" into his onesie. Result? Our very own firefly. (M. will forgive me for the awful picture, I hope.)

So here's our Bean, our adorable little Asa. He didn't come where or when we'd planned it, but he's here and we couldn't be happier.