We wee back at the gynae’s again on the 12th of September, on a solemn Monday morning. The news was the same as the week before with the exception of the prodromal contractions that the wifey was experiencing since last week. Upon checking on the ultrasound, everything looked ok – fluids were fine and baby was fine. Technically, there was NO need to even induce he baby.
And so the decision fell on the Father to decide what to do. To wait until Week 41 or to start doing the inducement on a scheduled day. While I was sympathetic towards the wife (I knew she wanted to have the baby come naturally) it was also added pressure on me to also get the baby sooner (mental note to self : for future deliveries, don’t take leave so early!) and so we agreed on a date – 16th September.
And so the days passed, slowly but with incremental anticipation and finally on Thursday evening, the day came and we prepared ourselves for what would be a long night. Wifey’s dad came on Thursday evening to collect the little on as he would be staying with his grandparents for about 2-3 days while we birthed his baby sister.
The feeling for this birth was different from the previous. While wifey was duly admitted to the delivery suite without any issues or hiccups, I found myself feeling rather calm and composed throughout the process. Strangely I didn’t feel any sense of restlessness although Wifey’s dilation rate was slower than the first delivery. By 5 am, after some short periods of eye-shut and watching Rambo on my iPad she had only dilated around 3 cm. Her rate was slow to say the least. I ended up going home in the morning to freshen up and have breakfast and was back in the hospital at around 10 am. Dillation was still a measly 4-5 cm and by the time it was noon she was about 6 cm. Her gynae came in the morning to check in on her and assured her the baby will come out by the day (that I think was the only thing I was a bit anxious about) and so by the time we hit around 1.30 pm suddenly post 6 cm, she started to dilate faster and at around 2.08 pm her water miraculously broke! It was a gushing sound that startled both of us!
And that was when the excitement and action truly began. WIthin the next 30 minutes, wifey would be pushing and pushing and at about 2.35 pm the gynae came back again and the next thing we know, I saw hammie’s little head emerging below, her hair socked with amniotic fluids and blood as the gynae skillfully delivered her smoothly. At 2.58 pm she was born (a friend of ours would later go on to observe that Hammie was born on the Holy Hour of 3 pm on a Friday!) And so Hammie’s dad once again had the opportunity to cut the umbilical cord to welcome her into a new world.
Hammie came into the world without much fuss or pomp. She didn’t wail like her brother. She cried a little, and was soon settled on the warming light seat and slowly she opened her eyes for the first time to see what new world she had come into. I was hoping for a quick skin-to-skin moment for mummy and baby but alas it was not to be as wifey had to be immediately wheeled out as she had a retained placenta which required immediate medical attention.
Baby also had to be sent to the nursery for her quick check and to be cleaned and for the first time I found myself alone in the maternity ward. I had the urge to inform family and friends but I decided against it as I was frankly quite worried for mummy. Doc told me the procedure should take about 30 minutes but after an hour of waiting in the maternity ward, I began to wonder whether my wife was ok. No baby, no wifey, just me, alone in the ward. I paced around and began wondering if I should check with the hospital. I even paced around the nursery to see if at least I could see my daughter – yes the loneliness was subconsciously affecting me! Bu I couldn’t see her as well.
Finally, at about 4.50 pm I got a text message saying wifey’s surgery was completed and she will be wheeled back into to the maternity room soon. I breathed a sign of relief and I was hoping I would see her in good spirits instead of being unconscious (a mental image of my mum after she returned from her colon surgery). Mummy was wheeled into the room in a fully conscious but severely weak state an within a few minutes baby was back with us.
It was a beautiful moment seeing our daughter again. Feelings of uncertainty and not being sure on what to do with a newborn no longer haunted us this time. We were filled with joy to pick her up and hold her and at the same time not get all overly excited and anxious.
And that’s the story of the birth of Hannah Lucy. LIttle did I know Lucy meant light and later that night after heading back with my heart filled with joy that both mummy and baby were ok, I googled the name Lucy and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Lucy is the Latin derivation for light. She being our light was truly apt for us – having prayed and waited so long for this child, she truly was God’s light to us. For this Child we have prayed.
