… arrived like a locomotive steaming past the train platform. It was surreal that all this time we had a date on the calendar for baby #2s birth in lieu of the mystery of when he would want to come out. So when the 2nd of December was finally here, we casually drove to the hospital at 7 am along with the other Monday morning commuters and got checked in like we were staying at the Marriott (OK, maybe more like a Residence Inn with bad coffee, but I digress).
After a painful ordeal with the IV insertion, Kris walked back to the OR on her own feet and was prepped for surgery. She had already met with the anesthesiologist and warned her that she was a cheap date, but it still seemed that the spinal tap was overdosed a tad and for a brief moment of excitement, Kris’ blood pressure dropped really low. Kris said later that she was watching this all from a tunnel and she could see what was happening, but couldn’t react. Her lips turned blue for a few moments before they brought things back to normal when the pit crew began opening her up.
After tugging and pulling and Dr. Solomon (same doctor who delivered Ryder) as well as all the techs in the OR all said “cheeks!” which was one of Ryder’s many baby nicknames. “How big was Ryder?” as Solomon? “9 – 3” Kris replied. “Well, you know how to make em big cause I bet this boy is bigger”.
Out he came and for the first time I got to see his chubby cheeks and long body. We have another boy! They clipped the cord and whisked him into the room adjacent to clean him up and clear his lungs. All was good but he was labored in his breathing so they want to take him to the NICU… me: “uhhh?”
They wrapped him like a burrito, handed him to Kris for some quick loves and a few photos and then we went over to the NICU where they were very careful to say that he was not being admitted into NICU, which is another whole process, but they are much more equipped to clear his lungs out. They can keep him for up to 6 hours before admitting him. They put him on oxygen and monitored his system after a few small procedures to help him clear his lungs while Kris was getting buttoned back up and moved to the recovery room. Baby was measured and weighed confirming Dr. Solomon’s observation: 9lbs 7.6oz and 21 3/4″.
All in, he was in the NICU for about 3 hours before they felt his breathing was clear. While he was coming off of oxygen, they handed his little body to me so I could hold him for the first time and feed him a few mls of formula. He is beautiful.
Kris had already been cleared out of the recovery room when he left the NICU, so we went straight to the room for more feeding, snuggles and loves.
A few hours later, Lois and my mom came with Ryder after picking him up from school so Ryder could hold him for the first time. He was so excited and couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. He is truly enamored with him just as we all are and I don’t think any boy on the planet is a happier big brother.
Each of the following visits by OBs, nurses, pediatricians and the like went great and by Wednesday morning, we had the green light to go home. By noon, we were relaxing in the living room, passing our new family member around to enjoy his warmth.
Welcome home Ethan John Wienold.
