Stardate 100203.5

Austin Lance Werner was born yesterday, Feb 2, 2010 (Groundhog Day), at 1303 ET. He weighed 7 lbs and 10 oz at birth and measured 20.5 in. Everything went very smoothly. The mother and the baby have recovered remarkably well since birth and are both resting at the moment. Austin has been eating very regularly and has been crying only minimally.

That is just the result. Here is a recounting of the events that led up to Austin's birth...

Brittany and I fell asleep on the night of Feb 1st around 1100. I was shaken awake shortly thereafter by my concerned wife. With no warning whatsoever, the light came on and nearly blinded me. Then she informs me that her water had broken. Now, I have heard multiple recountings from other fathers who say that they were panicking and scrambling around in a frenzy. Fortunately, I did not experience that. We had a bag pre-packed for just such an occasion, so it was just a matter of getting dressed, grabbing the bag, and heading out the door.

Shortly after I woke up I found that I had been alseep for barely an hour before her water broke. We left the house around 1230 and made it to the hospital fairly quickly since the roads were clear. We were settled into a room at just before 1 am and then we waited.

When we arrived, Brittany was only 2 cm dialated, so it was going to be a little while. By 0500 hr, she was 3 cm and the contractions had started. 0800 rolled around and she was still 3 cm, but the contractions were getting bad, so she had the epideral administered. By the time that was done, we found out she had gone from 3 cm to 8 in just 30 minutes! I called my mother to let her know and she exclaimed, "Oh,my!" and ran out the door in order to rush to the hospital. Another hour passed, and she was at 9 cm. Then, at 10 she made it to 10 cm and the real work began.

In an effort to stay civil, I will gloss over all of the hard work Brittany went through over the next three hours. She worked extrememly hard and I am very proud of her. She endured the pain and at 1303, Austin Werner was born.

Right after the baby arrived, everyone in the room went crazy moving from the mother to the baby and back again. I was allowed to cut the umbilical cord. :) After the baby was clean and Brittany had been rearranged comfortably, we got to hold our baby for the first time.

In my experience, it is a rather strange feeling to hold your child for the first time. In a previous post, I mentioned that Brittany had a far greater emotional attatchment to the child than I did, because he was inside of her and therefore the connection was much more intimate. But holding Austin for the first time, I found it rather amazing that I was holding a child that belonged to me; a child I had a part in making; and a child that I would have as a son forever. It is hard to explain adaquetly, but as I said before, it was an amazing feeling.

We are still in the hospital, and shall be for another day. They told us this morning that we should be released some time tomorrow afternoon. Now we have to adjust our home life to accomidate this new addition. Austin's room is ready for him. The crib and changing table are ready to go, and his clothes and toys are all organized. It will still be an adjustment with the lack of sleep and such, but something we are more than willing to weather for our son.

Until next time,

Lorimer