What's that famous rhyme? When the Peonies bloom in June, the baby's coming soon? Well, maybe that's not famous, but Cate knew when the Peonies were in bloom, it was safe to have this baby. Teo Charlie was born three weeks early on June 4, 2009 at 4:11 am in front of some freshly trimmed Peonies from our yard. And what a day it was.
Let's start with a little recap of labor. Let me just say this first...holy crap my wife is a warrior. Here's how it all went down. We met with Emily and Carrie, our doula and backup doula Tuesday June 2nd, wrapping up our crash course in child birth at 9:15 pm. After both of them asked several times if we had any more questions, they went home. We set off on a walk with Can Opener and at about 9:30, mid-walk, it started happening. Of course neither of us thought it was the real thing. We both tried getting some rest, but it was a no go. For whatever reason her contractions were consistently 2-5 minutes apart, right from the get-go (the books all say it goes down much differently of course). Cate labored through the night, and at about 6:30 am I called Emily and gave her a heads up. She came over at 8:00 am and started helping Cate get through the contractions as they got more and more intense. A few more hours later, sure that Cate had progressed quite a ways on dialating her cervix, we decided to head to the hospital. Of course we weren't ready for this. As Cate was getting through contractions, I was frantically putting together a "birth-mix" on the iPod to have at the hospital. Soon as it was done copying, we left for the hospital.
We arrived around 3:00 pm on June 3rd, and even though she had been having contractions 2-5 minutes apart, for what was now about 17 hours, she was only at a one (for those who don't know, you need to get to a ten). As Cate put it, "Well, that's disappointing." But she stayed focused and trudged along. Another 4 or 5 hours later brought her all the way to a three. After a few more hours and no progress, the doc suggested breaking the bag of water to try and get things kick started. Not ideal, but Cate was getting so exhausted she was getting nervous about not having the energy to push when the time came. Once the bag was broken, things started speeding up. Contractions started getting very intense and after another few hours, things were to the point where Cate went inside herself to get this baby out. She was awesome, it was really amazing to be a part of. I can't imagine going through something like this without drugs, but she did it. I have to admit, the last hour was nasty and I was really getting worried for her. Not being able to do anything for someone you love going through that amount of pain is undescribable. My job was simple...just keep pressure on her lower back...but I wished there was more I could do. The next part was a blur. Cate was ready to push and our doc was not at the hospital. Some other doc came in and hesitantly sat down, told Cate to give one big push, and out came Teo. One big push. So after all that work, he basically just popped right out. Sure beats the 2 hours of pushing that is typical of a first time mom.
I cut the cord with the unknown doc and Teo, nameless at this point, was on Cate's chest with smiles and tears all around. What an emotional 31 hours with an amazing ending. I'm so proud of my wife.
First person I called, at about 4:20 am, was Grandma Dianne. Poor Grandma, how dare we have a baby 2 hours before she leaves on an Alaskan cruise! She opted to not run up to the hospital for a 10 minute visit and begrudgingly went on her trip. It took us the full 2 day stay at the hospital to come up with a name. Way harder than either of us thought. But we had our list, and Teo just kept coming to the top. Oh, Teo is pronounced Tayo or Hey-Yo or Mayo :)
Jackson and Micah were thrilled. I've actually never seen their eyes light up like they did when they first met their brother. Pretty cute to see them touch his cheek, hold him or just talk about him. The pics say it all.
So that's that. As I write this, it's 2:30 am on Tuesday June 9th and I'm sitting at the hospital, Cate asleep, and Teo under the PhotoTherapy lights because he has high bilirubins (Jaundice). We were home 1 day before we were back. I'm sure it'll be just fine, because this is what kids do...make you nervous and throw you for a loop. I'm getting used to it.
A big thanks to Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Tom for all their help and support over the last several days.
Jason --- There are lots more photos here.
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