Welcome to the world Isaac Andres Lao!

It is hard to believe that 11 days have passed since Isaac made his entrance into this world. People kept saying to me, "treasure every moment, they will go by so quickly". They were not kidding! I wanted to share with you the story of Isaac's arrival, it really was an amazing 48 hours for us. My sister-in-law Shefa was there for most of my labor and wrote his birth story...

The Birth of Isaac Andrés Laó

Sunday, April 13, 2008

2pm: Since Jonah and I moved in this summer, our families have been slowly moving towards the goal of clearing out and organizing the storage space in the garage. With Isaac’s arrival growing imminent, we finally worked together to clear out an enormous amount of unneeded baggage left from previous tenants – essentially making space in the underbelly of our home for a new phase of life. Aaron was elated with all the discoveries the garage unearthed – bicycle helmets and hard hats to try on, brooms to sweep with, and toys he hadn’t seen since he was “little”!

6pm : After a long afternoon of hard work, we decided to celebrate with a sushi dinner at home. Little did we know we were commemorating our last evening at home before our newest family member would arrive! After I put Aaron to bed, Elisa and I headed down the street to pick up dinner from Coach Sushi, while Jonah cleaned up and Marc finished the last details of the garage. During our drive, Elisa mentioned that she had been having some contractions that seemed to be getting stronger. Since she had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions, she was skeptical, but these seemed to be a little different than what she had experienced before.

When we returned home with the food, Elisa went to the bathroom and noticed a large clot. I saw her come out of the bathroom and she said she thought her mucous plug just came out! She went outside to tell Marc while I told Jonah. The plug can come out weeks before labor, so we weren’t sure what this meant exactly, except that Elisa and Marc were one step closer to bringing Isaac into the world!

Elisa called her doctor to check in about this new occurrence. He asked that she come in to the hospital to be checked out just to be safe. We overheard Elisa asking, “Is it OK if I finish dinner first?” As we ate dinner and chatted, we timed her contractions, and noticed that they were “disorganized”, meaning the gaps between varied between 4 and 10 minutes. Based on this, we figured it wasn’t actually labor yet. We had an unrushed dinner and afterwards,

7:30pm: Elisa and Marc changed clothes and headed to the hospital. Before leaving, Elisa commented that while she was glad she was getting checked out, she felt pretty sure it was unnecessary and they would send her back home.

9pm : I get a call that the hospital confirmed that she was in early labor and had noticed that she was registering slightly high blood pressure, so they wanted to wait for some blood tests before deciding whether she could continue labor at home or not.

11:30pm : I get a call that although Elisa’s blood pressure was fine, the hospital wanted to keep her for observation. They asked me to join them in the morning so that I could get some sleep and be the one rested person of the team if necessary.

Monday, April 14, 2008

6am : When I wake up, I immediately call to check in. Elisa and Marc are both doing fine, although neither of them slept much. They have me pack a bag to bring to the hospital for them. It was five days before Elisa’s due date, and although Marc and Elisa had, at times, predicted that he would arrive early, a hospital bag was something on their list that they hadn’t gotten to yet!

9:30am : I arrive at the hospital. They are in Room 23 on the 3^rd floor of Alta Bates in Berkeley. When I entered, the room was very calm and the lights were low. Elisa is in the bathroom and Marc is lying on the couch awake. Because he was cold earlier, he has tied a blanket around his shoulders that makes him look like a super hero. Elisa comes out of the bathroom looking very calm for a woman who has been laboring all night. The nurse and the doctor both comment this morning on how amazingly strong Elisa is and how well she is handling labor.

Their nurse on this shift is named Joanne. I find out that Elisa was 7 cm dilated at an earlier exam, the baby’s heartbeat is running a little fast at times (tachycardia), and Elisa has a wireless belt around her waist that tracks the baby’s heartbeat. Elisa’s labor position at this time is standing while leaning on a birthing ball on the bed. Joanne suggests she imagine crouching like a sumo wrestler while contracting. Elisa is having body shakes with her contractions. At Joanne’s suggestion, we start giving Elisa watered-down Gatorade to replenish electrolytes.

10:30am : The doctor does a cervical exam and discovers that Elisa hasn’t dilated much more in the past three hours and suggests breaking her water. Elisa and Marc agree, the doctor breaks her water, and contractions begin getting harder. At this point Elisa moves into the transition stage of labor and gets very internally focused. Elisa labors for a while in a side lying position.

11am: Elisa switches to a child's-pose position on the bed.

11:30am: Elisa moves to a standing position leaning over the bed.

12noon: Elisa begins to get sick to her stomach and she feels relief after emptying her stomach a couple of times. Joanne is concerned that fluids aren’t able to be digested, and dehydration can raise the baby’s heartbeat.

12:30pm: Elisa moves to a labor position at the end of the bed, supported by a birthing ball. Marc and I take turns doing massage for Elisa during her contractions.

12:45pm: The doctor comes in to say she is going into a surgery and will check back in afterwards to see if progress has been made and if not, pitocin may need to be considered.

1:30pm: Elisa moves to a standing position supported by a birthing ball on the bed. The doctor, whose surgery was delayed, does a cervical exam while Elisa is standing during a contraction and finds that she is only at 8cm. She suggests a small amount of pitocin is suggested, which would mean putting Elisa on an IV. The IV would also be able to replenish fluids, which would be helpful for Elisa’s exhaustion and the baby’s heartbeat. After deliberation, Elisa and Marc decide to proceed with the pitocin.

1:50pm : A very small amount of pitocin is administered. Elisa’s contractions already seem to be getting stronger before the pitocin is added. Elisa is seemed extremely tired at this point but she is doing an amazing job of working with each contraction.

2pm: Joanne helps Elisa and Marc get set up with the IV in the bathroom so that Elisa can labor in the shower. Elisa sits on a birthing ball in the tub initially and Marc sprays water on her back. Elisa is doing a great job getting through long, strong contractions. Marc is completely grounded, present, and committed to staying with Elisa every step of the way.

3:15pm: Elisa gets out of the tub and labor on a ball at the end of the bed.

3:30pm: The doctor returns and does another exam that shows that Elisa is still at 8, maybe 8 ½ cm dilated. She suggests an epidural and says that this often will immediately open the cervix the rest of the way. They are supportive of continuing to labor without an epidural, but warn that doing so may be futile, and what’s worse, may exhaust Elisa and Isaac to the point that an emergency Cesarean would be needed. At this point Elisa hasn’t slept for 32 hours.

3:45pm : After deliberation, Elisa and Marc make an informed decision with a great amount of integrity to agree to the epidural. Elisa had labored beautifully for 20 hours and had made a huge amount of progress on her own. A small amount of pain medicine is introduced into the IV while they wait for the anaesthetician.

4pm: The anaesthetician arrives. Since only one guest is allowed in the room at a time, I leave while he gives the epidural.

4:45pm: When I return to the room, Elisa is already beginning to look relaxed. The doctor suggests that Elisa take a nap while labor continues, so that she will have a little energy for the pushing stage.

5:15pm: Nurse Joanne ends her shift and is replaced by Ashley. Ashley puts in a catheter. The doctor checks Elisa and says that she is already fully dilated and can begin pushing at any time. Elisa decides to wait half an hour so she can rest.

5:30pm: Elisa is resting and Marc is making a few phone calls. I sit with Elisa and sing to call in the angels and sing the Shema with her. I bless her and call in all her ancestors, family and friends to support her in readying for the next stage of labor.

5:45pm: Both Elisa and Marc are sound asleep and snoring. Thank God for epidurals!

6:30pm: Everyone is awake and Ashley shows us the pattern for pushing – at each contraction, Marc and I hold her legs up, Elisa grabs behind her knees, takes a deep breath and holds it like she’s diving underwater and bears down. She does this 3 to 4 times each contraction, trying to inhale quickly and bear down again before Isaac loses the ground she’s trying to gain for him. We are all in a good mood and Elisa comments how much easier pushing with an epidural is compared to the labor she was in earlier.

Elisa rests in between contractions. She looks really beautiful and peaceful.

6:45pm: Ashley takes a break and another nurse relieves her for a little while. This nurse shows Elisa how to labor in a sidelying position.

7pm: The new doctor on shift comes in to introduce herself.

7:15pm: Ashley comes back. As Elisa contracts, the nurse stretches her perineum and I can see the top of Isaac’s head start to appear.

8:15pm: Pushing for over an hour now. Isaac is close enough for Marc and I to see a curl of his hair pushing out and remaining in view between contractions.

8:30pm: Something is happening with Isaac’s heart rate that seems to concern the nurse – his heart rate is dropping? The doctor is called, Ashley puts an oxygen mask on Elisa and she is asked to stop pushing during contractions. I hum the angel song to Elisa and I can hear her humming along.

8:35pm: The doctor arrives and begins helping move the baby during the contractions. She says that if the baby doesn’t come out soon, they will need to use a vacuum. Isaac’s is crowning! The doctor guides Elisa’s hand down so she can feel the top of Isaac’s head. Elisa makes the most wonderful sound of glee and we all start to get weepy. All the hard work she had done was now coming completely to fruition!

8:45pm: Isaac’s head pops out and they stop to suck out the meconium before he can be born and take his first breath.

8:52pm: Isaac is born! He’s immediately put on Elisa’s chest. He’s born without any interventions!

9:05pm Isaac is taken to the warming table to be checked out and Marc goes with him. Isaac is 7 pounds, 11 ounces. I stay with Elisa while she births the placenta. The doctor finds that there was very little tearing.

9:10pm: The doctor sews Elisa up while Isaac is brought back to her. Isaac sinks into his Mama’s body and looks around with big eyes. Elisa moves Isaac closer to her breast and Isaac eyes the nipple like he’s trying to will himself over to it. Everyone starts leaving the room except for the nurse.

9:15pm: Isaac finds the nipple for the first time! Good job, little baby!

9:30pm: The new family is given time alone to enjoy each other. Phone calls are made to the new grandparents.

10pm: I drop off a celebratory meal from Whole Foods – chicken wings, macaroni and cheese, and potato wedges! We try to rouse Isaac from the nipple for a family photo, but he lets out a yell of protest that makes his preferences very clear. I head home, leaving the happy family to their first night together.

Welcome Isaac!!