Here is a quick version of our birth
experience.
Titus Anker was initially scheduled for a
C-Section on the 5th of January, 2016, due to Angela’s arthritis. His due date was the 10th, so the
doctor chose a weekday when he would be about 39 weeks.
At her 37 week check-up, Angela’s scan
showed that Titus had only grown 200 grams in the last 4 weeks, which should
have been 400-600 grams. The cause is
difficult to pinpoint, however, the doctor suggested moving up the delivery
date to the 31st of December, 2015.
We didn’t want our logic to dictate the due date, so we took the
suggestion of the doctor and changed the date.
We arrived at the hospital on the 30th
in the evening. Registering took over an
hour (due to Matt’s refusal to approve a CHARGE on his credit card of more than
the birth would cost, finally they settled on doing a HOLD). We got a single room (not sharing) which had
a fold out chair for Matt to sleep on. A
few hours later some friends came and took Addison to sleep at their
house. Addison was excited for a new
adventure.
That night we tried to go to sleep around
10PM, but it honestly felt like Christmas Eve.
The anticipation of what Titus would look like, whether he was developed
and big enough, etc. were all in our minds.
Both of us finally started falling asleep when a nurse came in to check
blood pressure or something, waking us both up enough that it was hard to fall
asleep again. It was definitely after
midnight when we fell asleep.
Angela had to wake up at 5AM to begin
preparing for surgery, but we both woke up around 3:45AM and the anticipation
got the better of us. At 5 the nurses
started coming in, doing various things, and at about 7:30 Angela, a nurse, a cot
pusher (what else do you call him?), and I walked to the operating room. Once there, they went through a list of
questions with Angela. The most amusing
one was, “Do you know what operation you are having today?” Of course, we understand they’re just doing
their jobs.
In Malaysia, fathers are never allowed in the
operating room (except if the father is a doctor at the hospital, I learned
from another doctor… too many Asian father questioning the doctor’s actions I
guess).
At about 8 they asked me to wait in the waiting
room and took her into another room. I
think the wait in the waiting room is just about the best and worst time in
anyone’s life. There is so much
anticipation and unknown. The surgery
could take up to 2 hours, and I have no idea if they will keep to the 8:30
scheduled time.
Needless to say I did lots of praying and
listening to music. Perhaps it was rude
to play music aloud on my phone when I was not the only one in the waiting room
(to my defence, the few others seemed very relaxed, as if someone they knew was
having a routine surgery). I didn’t have
headphones and now wasn’t the time to go get them.
At 8:35AM, I heard a congratulations. I looked up and it was our paediatrician. She quickly told me that he was healthy and
came out with a good set of lungs. I
thanked her for coming to see me and she went on to her other work.
At about 8:45, I heard strong baby crying…
I knew this must be Titus. It got slowly
closer under I heard a cart being wheeled close accompanying the cries. There he was, blond haired and SOOO little,
crying his little heart out. The nurse
quickly confirmed who I was and together we walked to a waiting room near the
nursery. In the elevator she showed me
all his body parts and proved he was a boy, hehe.
In the waiting room, I remember feeling
rushed with Addison. There were two
nurses, and they seemed in a rush to get her into the nursery (not for any
medical reason, I must add). In Malaysia
the mother has all the rights for the baby at a hospital, so while Angela
recovers, the baby must stay in the nursery.
The father cannot request the baby.
I knew that my time in the waiting room would be the only time I would
have with Titus until Angela recovered in a few hours. This time the nurse was very relaxed. She let me take my time, and not once did she
say anything to make me feel rushed. I
was able to spend time with Titus in his first moments, feeling relaxed. We prayed together and I let him go to the
nursery.
After 10 minutes, the nurse met me in the waiting room and gave me Titus' measurements - 2.28 kg (5 pounds) and 43 cm (16.9 inches), born at 8:30AM on the 31st of Decemeber 2015.
While I wanted to spend time with him, I
also wanted to take care of my wife when she came out of the recovery
room. I quickly grabbed a proper
breakfast and headed back to the room.
Angela arrived about 30 minutes later,
maybe around 10, and they brought Titus to us about 10 minutes later. When Titus came into our room, he was calmed
down. In fact, his eyes were wide open,
looking around for the next hour.
Addison came to see Titus the night, and
she was so excited to meet him. I’ll
share the video later.
The rest of our time at the hospital was
very nice. We didn’t get quite as much
attention as with Addison, which was fine.
We just enjoyed being with Titus and enjoying seeing him experience the
world.