He's here!

We were going to a doctor's appointment last Tuesday when we were halted by a civil defense drill. A siren went off, and men wearing yellow armbands shooed everyone off of the road. They even turned off the traffic lights. We were at a market, so I decided to make use of our time and buy a lot of produce. This turned out not to be a serendipitous move.

We got to the doctor's and went through the same rigamarole as always. She did an ultrasound, checked his head size, torso size, and thighbone. The shot of his head showed him drinking amniotic fluid. I knew he loved to eat! She listened to his heartbeat. Then she breathed through her teeth. This is Korean for “something is not good.” She told me the baby looked good, but she wanted to do a non stress test. I went to a little room, and they strapped some sensors around my belly which read the baby's heartbeat (and, as I later found out, contractions). After 20 minutes, we went back to the office and the doctor told us that she wanted to do another test after hydrating me. We went to a delivery room and I got an IV. We called the neighbor and told him we would be late coming home and asked him to take the dog out. After about two hours worth of fluid, I got another test. Then Dr. Choi came in and told me that she wanted to induce me because the baby's heartbeat was a little low.

I was certain that I wanted a natural birth and prepared to fight for one, but once the doctor said the baby may be in danger, I was willing to do anything. This is probably how some mothers get roped into unnecessary C-sections. I felt very bad that Xander would not be able to come on his own terms (and a little sorry that I bought all that produce). Fortunately, I had already packed my hospital bag.

We stayed overnight—the hospital had a nice futon for Bobby to sleep on—while they tried a non-invasive method for inducing delivery called a vaginal cap. It didn't work, so the next morning they started me on pitocin. I started labor that afternoon, and by 6pm had only progressed to 3cm. Since I hadn't eaten all day (and had adamantly refused an epidural), the doctor decided to stop the pitocin and start again the next day at a higher dose. I had a big meal, slept a little, and started pitocin at 6 the next morning. By 6:30, I was in labor again. By 12, I was at 4cm. I was dealing with the pain by walking around, but after 5 ½ hours of walking, I was exhausted. The contractions were coming on top of each other, and then my water broke. There was muconium in it, which is a sign of fetal distress. The nurses immediately put me on another non-stress test, which required me to lie on my side. The pain was unbearable, so I asked for an epidural. Notice how non-natural my delivery has become?

Throughout my labor, the nurses had been administering non-stress tests. Sometimes the baby's heart rate dropped dangerously low. When this happened, the nurses turned me on my side, turned off the pitocin, told me to take slow, deep breaths, and gave me oxygen. It made Bobby and me panic, but the doctor assured us that since his heart rate always rose again, it was not an emergency situation. She did ramp up the pitocin to ensure a shorter labor, since it was obviously hard on the baby.

During the four hours I was on the epidural, my labor progressed quickly. I by 4, I was at 8cm and it was time to push. The doctor ordered the epidural cut off, much to my dismay. The nurse made me lie on my back and push while she located the baby's head. Everyone knows labor hurts, but I was not prepared for that kind of pain. The nurse told me not to yell, but to concentrate all of my energy on pushing. That wasn't so easy.

They left me alone for awhile to push on my own, which I sorta did. I needed someone to yell at me to put my all into it. The doctor came in and did that for me. A nurse pressed on my belly and found out when I was contracting, then she and the doctor told me when to take a deep breath and push. After a few good pushes, she announced that it was time to deliver my baby. A bunch of equipment appeared in the room. They set up stirrups, got Bobby to put on a gown, and brought in three nurses. One got on the table and pushed on my belly, and two held my legs. I made one final push, and Xander emerged at 5:58pm on November 17 (with the help of a suction cup). He screamed like we hoped he would. They laid him on my belly and told me not to touch him. Bobby cut the cord, and a nurse wrapped the baby in a huge pad. They laid him on my chest. He was very sticky, screaming and coughing intermittently. The nurse leaned over and sucked mucus out of his nose and mouth. She told us that she was taking him to the nursery to give him oxygen, since he had swallowed some amniotic fluid. I still wonder if this was a translation error, and he had in fact aspirated it, but I'm not sure. I think babies who aspirate amniotic fluid go to the NICU.

I thanked Dr. Choi, and she left. Someone immediately came in with a stretcher to take me to a recovery room. After 48 hours, it was finally time to leave the delivery area. I shook like crazy, which is something my mom did, too. It kind of worried the nurses, but after labor, it was nothing to me. The nursery kept the baby overnight to monitor his breathing. I was not supposed to get up for 12 hours, but Bobby went to see him in the nursery. He said when the nurses held the baby up for Bobby, the Koreans in the area crowded to the window to see him.

We left the hospital after a day in recovery, and brought Xander home. After being peed on a couple of times, putting a diaper on backwards, and trying to get the hang of breastfeeding, I have to say we get a little better at parenting every day. Xander was born on my sister's wedding day, which is one of those things I don't even see in fiction. They mentioned him in the ceremony.

I'm completely in love with him and learning more about him every day. Since this a blog about living in Korea, I have to give my kudos to the Korean medical system. It was frustrating at times to have nurses with limited English, and they actually sent in a poor candy striper with no English to do my non-stress test while I was in a pretty painful part of my labor. She wisely brought in a nurse when I started shouting at her. Nonetheless, we had a wonderfully huge delivery room, and lots of English speaking good care. There was always an English speaker to help me, whether in the delivery area, the recovery room, or the nursery. And, of course, the fantastic Dr. Choi, who brought Xander and me through the process safely and soundly, also speaks fluent English. I was not pushed into a c-section, but was allowed to take 48 hours to deliver. When we were discharged, our English speaking coordinator apologized for the bill, which was approximately $750 for five days in the hospital. We laughed. We have seen some substantial hospital bills during our relationship, and this was nothing.

He's one day old

With daddy

In his boppy