It’s a boy! Like the first two, we chose not to find out the gender until it popped out.
When Shiow-Lih was starting to have contractions early Tuesday morning, we thought it would come out that day. However, we tried to delay checking into the hospital for as long as possible. We knew that if we checked in too early, they’d probably give some pitocin to induce labor. I wanted to at least be near the hospital, so we stopped by Einstein’s to get some soup and stopped by Barnes & Noble’s to browse some books.
Finally, when Shiow-Lih said it was getting too painful to walk, we decided it was time. We checked in at 9:30 PM and fortunately the doctor we were seeing was on call. During several of the doctor visits, I’d entertain the kids by making some big paper birds out of the WSJ. The doctor liked how the wings could move when you pulled the tail. So, I had told her that if she delivers our baby, I’d make her a paper bird also.
To expedite the process, the doctor broke the water and the contractions were soon 3 minutes apart. At midnight, she was ready to push. So, after 3 hours on the hospital bed, the baby was out.
Zachry was born on Nov 24 at 12:26 AM. And coincidentally, it’s the same birthday as Sarena, his older sister.
I was with her all the time and watching the whole birth process, it’s incredible that it all works. And really it doesn’t need much help if it all goes OK. And praise God that everything went smoothly.
Today, we got home from the hospital. We were hoping to get back yesterday during Thanksgiving, but they wouldn’t discharge us. Apparently if the baby loses more than 10% of its birthweight, then it has to stay in the hospital for at least 48 hours for monitoring.
My schedule is all out of whack, but I should try to get some sleep now.
Here are some pictures.