Sooooo…today was a pretty big day (as you’ve already guessed from the title). To give away the ending, Thomas Lee S. has transitioned from his role of kicking Meredith from the inside to being adorable on the outside. Here is a photo to tide you over, while I ramble through this post.
OK…to tell little Thomas’ story properly, I need to go back a couple of years. Way back when we got married, as I believe other couples believe, we often feared that longing glances might produce a baby. See the following example, from xkcd.com:
For a little while, we didn’t feel ready for a baby. When we were ready, we were wonderfully blessed with Gabriella, as regular/irregular readers of our blog already know. We decided at that point that we would have babies about every 3 years, so they could be friends, but so Mom and Dad could forget how fun poopy diapers were in the intervening year
When 3 years AG (after gabriella) rolled around, we started the process of bringing another kid into the world. They must have been on backorder at the time, because nothing happened. We continued on that path for the obligatory year before we went and saw Meredith’s Obstetrician. He laid out a plan for us on things that we should do to pick items off the list and hopefully end up with a baby. We took that list and started down the path.
As you probably know, with any path that involves something as emotional as bringing a new life into the world, there is a lot of associated hope, which is associated with a lot of hurtful disappointment. Every month was a roller coaster of emotion, where we would try something, wait for the test, and then comfort/cry. We got to the point where we could no longer deal with the monthly roller coaster, and took a few months hiatus from the ride.
At the end of last year, we reached a critical junction. We had done many of the steps on the list, up to Intra-Uterine Insemination (IUI), and then on to things like In Vitro. We decided that if we did nothing else, that we needed to try the IUI series (3 attempts in 3 months), just for the peace of mind that we had done everything on the list that was in the “affordable” category. Items further down the list would require more thought, prayer, and of course, saving.
Month 1 was a bust—we had gotten used to the monthly disappointment, so it didn’t hurt as bad as other months. They tried something a little different on the second try, and on December 24th, 2010, we got an early Christmas gift—a Pregnancy test (and probably a couple of them—you don’t take one test on things like this) that said “Pregnant.” We were unsure of the path forward, and as soon as we were there, Meredith went into the “Oh crap, I’m pregnant! Now what?” mode. However, Meredith being the conscientious woman that she is, we arrived at today with only minor drama overall.
So…now that you’ve endured that little history (congratulations!), you can begin to understand the significance of our little event today. On to today’s events:
Because Ella was born via Emergency C-Section (water broke, Ella was upside down, lots of cord), Meredith decided that she was most comfortable going through another C-Section. We arrived this morning at the hospital at 6:30, paid a bunch of money (Ella cost us like $170 to bring home, including OB/GYN. This little guy, including IUI, will have cost us quite a bit more—he was worth it), and then headed up to the pre-op area. Meredith got many pokes (several more than generally necessary, since her veins are apparently quite tricky to poke) and then left the room. I gave her a quick blessing that she would know that Heavenly Father knew her, loved her, and was involved in the plan—He would make sure that His plan went off correctly. I could not, because of the emotion of the past 24 hours, bless her that she would survive—my personal desires were so heavily skewed, I did not feel that I could see past my own emotions. Perhaps this is a failing of mine—I just didn’t want to try to impose my will into a process that I already knew was critical to Heavenly Father’s plan. After some doctor and nurse introductions, away she went! I hung out in the Pre-Op room for a few, after which they brought me back, gave me a surgical mask to put on, and went in to be with Meredith.
She was in very good spirits, and talked with the anesthesiologist, who was quite a nice guy. As the surgery progressed, the OB’s bantered about shows on TV and events they had attended—I am sure that was for our benefit, as it notably reduced the tension. Several minutes later, one of the doctors said he saw a hand, and that our baby was giving him the finger! We soon heard the tiny cries of a newborn baby, and I began to cry at the amazing miracle we were a part of. I got up, and with trembling hands took a few photos of him as he laid on the table, crying from the cruel separation that is birth.
I could offer him no words of solace, however, as every time I went to open my mouth, more tears flowed.
My surgical mask was soon covered inside with a nice coating of tears and snot. Yeah, awesome visual I’m sure. During Ella’s birth, I did not want to cut the cord, but did so out of a lack of willpower to say no (I was pretty noodly that day). Since I did it for Ella, I decided that this little guy (nameless to this point) would get the same treatment. Also different from Ella’s birth, they bundled him up and allowed me to take him over to Meredith, where she was able to hold him for a few minutes.
By the way, you can probably tell that the photo quality and processing is not as good as the normal posts. Our super user will be back to work on this stuff in a couple of weeks I’m sure. Also, we forgot the nice camera at home this morning—classic. Fortunately, advances in camera phones have allowed us some pretty decent pictures. OK…back to the story.
After that, the little guy and I were whisked out to the nursery for measurements and to allow Meredith to go through the final portions of the procedure. He got weighed (6 pounds, 12.6 ounces) and measured (19 inches).
They bundled him back up in classic “baby burrito” style, and then I got to hold him for a bit.
He was obviously more thrilled than this picture shows.
Anyhoo, I fed him his first non-cord meal, after which we went back to the Post-Op, where we got some more photos.
After a while, Erin and Ella arrived with the nice camera, and I was able to take some good photos, in between all of the blurry ones. Meredith and Erin took a few of them too—I have no idea which ones are which, so here’s the rest.
Ella and Erin feeding him
Jazzy editing! Wahoo!
So, in closing, Mommy and baby are great. Baby is named Thomas Lee—Thomas for his pioneer great-great-great-great(?) grandpa, and Lee for his awesome (since he’s not “great”) grandpa. We hope that his names will serve the same purposes my name serves for me, and that Nephi and Lehi’s names were intended to serve for them in Helaman 5:6-7:
Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.
Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.
Sorry for this super-long post. I needed to tell you this emotional story with a super-happy “ending”. Many of these things have been in our hearts and minds for so long—I felt it was the right time to share them with you.
