“So, Do You Have A Birth Plan?”

Yesterday, #2 of 2 of our summer babies joined us! (yes, Aleki is not living with us anymore, but we still consider him our son)  

TAU'AHO PEARCE BRADSHAW

Tau'aho's long awaited, prayed for and stressed over arrival was 29 July. He was 7lbs 15oz and 20.5 inches long. 

Lady Hiva had a C-section scheduled for this Friday, but early Sunday morning (0500 early) she started to have contractions. We pulled out the I-pad and took track of the contractions as they happened. (And yes, they have an app for that! Several actually) After two hours of hard contractions, we called the doctor and she said to wait an hour and see if they continue to worsen. Lady took a shower and got ready. Sadly, the shower slowed the contraction down. We spent the day waiting and counting...and waiting some more. The contractions never stopped, but they didn't become worse either. 

We went to bed (I say bed because we really didn't sleep) speculating when Tau'aho would finally come. We also made bets on how much he would weigh. Lady chose 8lbs 5 oz and I went 8lbs 2 oz...(see above so I don't have to tell you all who won. hehe) Again, about 0500h the contractions intensified. This time the doctor told us to come in so they could check. They didn't want Lady to tear through her cerclage. 

We packed all of the "go bag" stuff just in case and we rushed off to the hospital with all the morning traffic. 

When we arrived and the nurses set Lady up in the triage, the first nurse asked us, “Do you have a birth plan?” HA! Yes, we had a birth plan: try not to go into labor for 39 weeks, then make it to the hospital before the contractions cause the cerclage to rip through the cervix. That pretty much sums it up…

We didn't really tell anyone at that point because we weren't sure anything was going to happen. But after two doctors checked, they decided that Lady was starting to dilate through her cerclage (gulp! Sounds painful) and within twenty minutes she was in the operating room. I only had time to send one rushed text to Heather as I put on my scrubs and was herded back to Lady's side. 

I have said it before and I will say it again, Lady Hiva is one tough girl--emotionally, spiritually and physically. She was having contractions that put the Toco line way off the chart--literally, there was nowhere else for it to print--and when the doctor would come in she would smile sweetly and say, "Oh, its about a five..." (On the 1 to 10 pain scale)

 

In the operation I was designated to sit at Lady's head as I had other times. She didn't want me to see so they put up a curtain just below her neck...such a bummer I wanted to watch! I mean, who doesn't want to look when you hear the voices on the other side of the curtain say, "The bladder is out"? The anesthesiologist told Lady to tell him if she could feel pain or heavy pressure. Lady doesn't like attention so much she didn't say anything but she was squeezing my arms and hands so hard her fingers were white and I had bruises. Like I said, she is a tough girl. To say that I am proud of her is a complete understatement. 

When they lifted Tau'aho out we both were full of gratitude to hear him scream. It wasn't a rush to get him breathing as it had been with Vaitafe; Tau'aho screamed enough to let the world know he had arrived. Lady looked over as they were washing and weighing him and the first thing she said was, "He's so WHITE!" haha (Don't tell her that he has a white daddy...haha) 

Just out of the womb

I walked away from Lady just long enough to take a few photos of Tau'aho before he went to the nursery. Don't tell Lady but I was able to get a good view of the surgery several times too...at one point the doctors had four hands in Lady's stomach--no wonder it was hurting. 

As they stitched Lady up I went to watch Tau'aho be washed and all of the 'new baby testing done.' I loved it when he cried, not because I want to see my baby suffer, but because it meant he is healthy. It made me smile. As one of our good friends commented, "He's Lucky #7!" 

We settled into the day with our chubby cheeked guy. He was so heavy compared to any of other other children. We held his hands and wrinkly toes. We laughed as his hair curls when it is wet and talked to him as he sat wide eyed as if in thought. 

Once again, thank you all for your continued prayers and love. It is now time to celebrate once again because our little Lucky has joined us.