Baby Jonathan

Baby LJ, Jonathan aka Peanut

Well my tension-filled pregnancy all came to a wonderful end when we had baby LJ in Hong Kong on Feb. 27, 2008. We got accepted to have the baby at the hospital (Matilda) about three days prior to having him. Pretty much as soon as we got the acceptance letter, my HK doctor wanted to induce me. It all worked out well. My BP was getting pretty high so it really was necessary. My induction only took about 8 hours. They made me have an epidural, but they allowed the medicine to run out so I could feel the contractions. I just wanted to know what they felt like. This experiment took place at the very end when the contractions were on each other’s heels and very strong. I think about thirty minutes or so into it I was asking for the whole experience to be over with. It took a while for the medicine to kick in and never really felt like it did before they took the epidural away. Overall assessment: stupid experiment. I’ve changed my mind completely over my long held dream of an all natural water birth.

It's a boy, 7 lbs 12 oz

The whole experience was so different from when I had Michaela. First off, I had no idea people pushed for a long time to get the baby out or that this stage was difficult and exhausting. Michaela was 3 lbs and crowning when I started pushing so I only pushed twice. In the end pushing out LJ only lasted 25 minutes or so, but I was completely taken by surprise by the difficulty and length of this stage. I also wanted to get all emotional and angry in labor and yell and scream like women do on TV, but it just wasn’t that way even when the pain was the worst and I guess this is just not a part of my personality. I do remember when the contractions were really bad Michaela was in the room watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and they were singing that song “Whistle while you work.” It was really annoying to hear that song during the contractions. I was so happy when the China-bought copy suddenly seized up. I think it was truly an answer to prayer. It was also so nice to hold LJ right away. With Michaela they let me see her for a brief second (I couldn’t see anyway because of the magnesium sulfate and all the swelling) and then whisked her off the NICU. And then to get to go back to the room with him right away, it felt amazing. And he was (and still is) a really good baby. Even the nurses remarked about how rarely they see a baby keep their eyes open and look around so much without fussing.