On July 31, 2018 at 11:17am Alva joined the family
weighing 7 lbs 12oz and 19.5” long. But let’s back things up a bit and start at
the beginning.
Leading up to my final few weeks of pregnancy I
was both anxious about the birth (I hadn’t experienced natural labor pains with
Oskar and wasn’t sure what to expect) but also ready to get the party started.
My doctor, aware of my history and hesitations gave me two pieces of hope: I
was given the green light to go to the hospital when my contractions were 7
minutes apart rather than 3 minutes to ensure I had time for an epidural (one
of my biggest fears was not having time for one thanks to a horror story told
by Erin) and if the Gerken hadn’t arrived by my due date we would schedule an
induction. Both eased my concerns and fears and thankfully both weren’t
necessary.
On Monday afternoon I started to feel some
intermittent cramping. Thinking they were just Braxton Hicks contractions, I
didn’t pay them much attention. But by early evening and a few large glasses of
water, the contractions, while not stronger, were becoming more consistent.
Still not 100% sure this was labor, I decided I should at least let Martin know
what was going on…
At 10pm Martin recommended that we let my
parents know just in case as they were on stand-by to come over to stay with
Oskar. Still unwilling to admit what was going on (for fear of a false alarm
and probably due to denial) we waited until midnight to sound the alarm and
have my parents come over. With no traffic they were there thirty minutes later
and Martin and I were to the hospital by 1am with contractions every 8 minutes.
The first words out of my mouth when checking
into triage was a request for an epidural…it wasn’t that I was in that much
pain, I just didn’t want to miss my window of opportunity. But I apparently had to wait until things had
progressed a little more before I could get one so we spent some time walking
the halls and were finally admitted around 3am. I felt the rush of relief of
the epidural around 5am (while chatting with the anesthesiologist about
Switzerland) and got a little rest before sunrise.
The doctor ended up breaking my water a few
hours later to kick start active labor and around 10am things really began to
happen. A few excruciating pushes later
(she was coming down side ways and finally turned face up at the last minute)
our little Gerken was born!
Similar to Oskar, we waited to decide on a name until we met her, and thankfully it only took 24 hours (as compared to 48 with Oskar) to agree on Alva Ellia… it might have helped that we started the conversation the night before and we arrived at the hospital with a short list of names.
Similar to Oskar, we waited to decide on a name until we met her, and thankfully it only took 24 hours (as compared to 48 with Oskar) to agree on Alva Ellia… it might have helped that we started the conversation the night before and we arrived at the hospital with a short list of names.
We are officially home now, settling into our new
routine as a family of four with Oskar embracing his role as big brother and
Martin and I embracing the experience the second time around (this time with a
little more confidence).
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| Oskar meeting Alva for the first time... he asked "can I touch him" |
