Quite an Entry, My Son!

Well Ben, you sure know how to make an entry!

Yesterday (Monday) morning around 3:30am, Christine started having contractions. She kindly let me sleep until almost 7, and then woke me up to have me start cancelling my scheduled day. I was supposed to be in Burlington for a whole day of meetings – looks like I need to reschedule those!

Christine and labour go very quickly, so we bundled the kids off, gave them kisses, and I drove them up to hang out with friends for the day. Apparently we were in a hurry – we didn’t even tell them why they were going to be at Nick & Monica’s all day. They made up their own stories, but none were as good as the truth!

By the time I got back, Christine was in a now familiar stage – sleeping between contractions. She had her computer open and was waking up just enough to record them. I caught up quickly – 10 minutes apart. We’d called the midwife by now, and by the time they were 8 minutes apart, I got jumpy enough and bundled us off to the car. Christine called the midwife en route, and off we went to Stratford. 30 minutes later we were there, and the contractions were 5 minutes apart (for those that haven’t had the pleasure of attending a “labour”, the medical professions decides that at 5 minutes apart, you’re really in labour – what that other stuff before it is, I’m not sure) and we wandered slowly into the hospital. Christine refused the proffered wheelchair. Stubborn lady.

Less than one hour later, there was a boy in our arms. Zoom. It wasn’t without it’s drama, though! Everything was progressing normally, albeit quickly, until the final moments of labour when she really started bearing down. Turns out there was a prolapsed cord – a VERY serious and rare occurrence. It means that somehow the cord managed to get over the baby’s head and between the head and the cervix. That means that it was being squeezed off at two points. There was near panic in the room as the OB was called in, and the split-second decision was made to just push the baby out – a risky call because while that’s happening, the baby isn’t getting oxygen. The other option, though, is an emergency cesarean, which takes time, and during which time the pressure has to be kept off the cord (by shoving the baby back in!). We were praying and pushing (I think Christine was more effective than me at both, but I was right there with her!!) and in very short order, Benjamin Gordon Feser was born. He weighed in at 8lbs 13oz, and just shy of 20″ long. Calm returned. On her way out of the delivery room, the OB thanked the midwives. To paraphrase her, she has to have one prolapsed cord every five years or so, and it’s just as well that everything works out that way. To quote the midwife, Ben is a miracle baby. He had no ill-effects from the prolapsed cord, his heart rate remained steady throughout delivery, and his APGAR score was 9.

So Christine and I are thankful to God that we’ve got him and I’m thankful that Christine is alright (she’s in excellent condition).

Now it’s off to the races for the boy. Today was a totally down day (Jacob and Tasha both have a horrible flu), and tomorrow will be slow as well, but the boy-o has already met his Aunti Nadine, been held by the whole Blurton family, snuggled with Jan, and  he’s doing well. Stay tuned for more as the little dude heads out to see the world with the rest of the family starting somewhere around next Thursday! Oh, and we can always use a little prayer!!!