One week ago my beautiful wife gave me a son.
Actually it was more like a surgeon removed my son from my beautiful wife, handed him to a paediatrician who cleaned him up, I ceremoniously cut the cord and then the paediatrician handed me my son and I presented him to my beautiful wife. But that description seems a little less romantic.
Either way, we now have a complete family with the addition of Dean Patrick Harris, born on 22nd September at 3:34pm New Zealand time. One whole week after his sister Serenity had her first birthday.
He weighed in at a very reasonable 4kg (8lb 15). The odd thing is he is taller than his big sister, but his feet are a little smaller. Though his toes do seem almost freakishly long. You can find some pictures on www.facebook.com/blackmael/photos.
This time we ended up opting for an elective caesarean section. As such, it was quite a different experience from Serenity’s emergency c-section. Last year, after a 19 hour labour, rushing into theatre after being up all night was much more surreal.
So tired. So emotional, So stressed,
The whole procedure went by in such a blur. You barely had time to think. And I had the easy part.
This time around you noticed everything.
My wife noticed everything.
Last year, she was so tired the surgeon had difficulty keeping her awake enough to confirm if the epidural was working sufficiently to continue with the procedure.
Being fully aware of what was going on has a significant downside. Of course for both Dean and Serenity, the main action was hidden from us behind a curtain. But this year we had time to hear everything and the procedure sounded very different from what we remembered from last year.
The most noticeable sound was an awful lot of snipping. A serious amount of snipping. I don’t remember any snipping from last time.
Then there is the physical tugging and pulling. I cannot imagine how that felt. Dean is a longer than the average baby and it seemed the surgeon and her assistant had a little difficulty even pulling Dean out.
Eventually Dean was pulled from his warm home of nine months and was quickly presented to his parents over the top of the surgical curtain. Suddenly it was all worth it.
All the pain and discomfort of pregnancy and surgery was instantly cast aside once we met our baby boy for the first time.
No more fears. No more anxiety. No more stress.
At least until the euphoria of child birth was worn off and we then have the fears, the anxiety, the stress of raising and caring for two children…
