“Four Days In New York”
At least that’s how my pictures showed up in a collection on
my phone. But of course the story of
Baby Brother starts before then. I just thought it was funny.
We found out about the baby right before Christmas, which
meant Marcus and I went to Arizona for a Gardner Family Christmas while I was
puking with morning sickness. It was
still so early that we didn’t want to share the exciting news, but I’m sure
someone had to have noticed. Eventually
I got the morning sickness under control with extra pills, but it was rough
there for a while. Bless you, Modern
Medicine! I am positive that’s the only
reason I could continue teaching at both the music school in Manhattan and the
Suzuki School in Connecticut into July.
If I forgot to take the pills even in the last month, I’d get really
sick, so they really saved me.
Marcus and I both expected that Baby Brother would actually
be a girl, so we were shocked at the sonogram showing a little boy. Of course we were excited, and I am not sure
why we both thought it would be a girl.
That started the quest for a baby name that didn’t end until the
hospital. I kept a running list of all
names we liked, with a few we knew we both really liked, but we agreed we
needed to see Baby Brother before deciding for sure.
My doctor, Dr. Worrell, scheduled a C Section for Monday,
July 27th. After delivering
Chase, she anticipated another “Buddha Baby,” as she often referred to
Chase. She was also worried about the
uterus lining getting thin from the previous C-section, and that could
potentially cause serious issues. We
really like and trust her, so we were confident following her
recommendation. We started making plans
for Baby Brother’s big arrival on the 27th. Marcus’ mom would come out the night before
and watch Chase while Marcus and I were at the hospital. Then she’d be at our apartment for a week to
help with Chase when Baby Brother came home brand new. Marcus would take a few days off during the
beginning and then a couple more days between when his mom and my mom came out
in August. Really, it seemed super
smooth. Angela and two of my other
friends were planning a baby shower for Saturday, the 25th. Life was moving along towards the 27th.
Thursday, the 16th
I went to my regular scheduled 38 Week Appointment. My doctor was out on vacation this week, so I
saw one of the other doctors in her office, Dr. Lam. I really liked Dr. Lam, but I was annoyed
that she wanted me to go get a sonogram within the next two days because she was
worried about the size of Baby Brother.
I was excited to get to see him once more, since our last sonogram was
probably four months ago, but the copay bugged me at the sonogram office. Plus I was hoping this could be the last
appointment before the scheduled delivery.
But no, now I had a sonogram and follow up appointment (and of course the C section) to attend
within the next eleven days. Getting
around was pretty wobbly, and the doctor’s office is five long blocks from the
train. Oh well, I shouldn’t complain too
much. Better safe than sorry!
Friday, the 17th
I got to see Baby Brother!
Yay! He wasn’t very cooperative
for the sonogram and kept his hands over his face, but there he was. Chase also wasn’t too cooperative and didn’t
want to see Baby Brother, but we expected that.
We were told Baby Brother seemed to be a health 7 pound 3 ounce guy, so
he was just tucked in nicely to appear smaller.
The next few days were extremely hot and humid. We’d go out in the mornings, come home before
lunch, and hide inside with our AC and fans the rest of the day. It didn’t help that I was of course much
warmer than everyone else naturally now and didn’t have a ton of energy. I would only plan one activity per day because
that’s all I could handle.
Wednesday, the 22nd
Our big outing for the day was a trip to the park in the
morning. We stayed for several hours
playing with the De Leon boys.
Occasionally I’d get an uncomfortable pain, but it wasn’t that often. I wasn’t too worried about it. Chase and I went to the store on the way home
and then made lunch. The pains were
still far apart, but they were a little more painful. They didn’t feel like contractions – more
like heavy pressure. But we had a full
birth plan, so it couldn’t have been anything serious. I was telling my mom about it on the phone,
and she called me back a little later suggesting I call my doctor, just in
case.
Yeah, apparently it was pre-labor pains. Dr. Worrell said to keep observing them for
an hour or two. She gave me a few signs
to look for to make sure we wouldn’t need to rush to the hospital for a C
section as well as some ideas to create the possibility of a regular
birth.
I took that time to pack a bag and come up with a Chase
babysitting plan, just in case. That was
obviously the right decision because the pressure had turned into more of what
I described as “Having to pee a bowling ball,” and it was coming every few
minutes. I called Marcus with the plans,
and suddenly, there we were on the train to the hospital five days before the
scheduled C-section. (Our good friend
Jessica came over to watch Chase. She
had been watching our little friend Heidi, so both came over for the
evening. I’m sure Chase loved having
friends over to play.)
It may seem crazy that we took the train to the hospital,
but remember we live in New York City.
It was 5:00 PM on a Wednesday, and rush hour here is atrocious. This was seriously the fastest way to the
hospital! We were at the same hospital
as when Chase was born – Mount Sinai Beth Israel. It’s in the Lower East Side – where Phoebe
had her triplets on Friends.
Around 6:00 we were all registered and waiting for the
doctor. Dr. Worrell wasn’t on call since
she was in the office. One of her
partners, Dr. Choy, was there.
Contractions had definitely kicked in.
We talked about the options we had as I hadn’t progressed much. No surprise there. She had talked to Dr. Worrell and knew the
anticipated fears and the plan for a C-section.
We decided that would be the best plan.
Sadly that meant I needed to wait for my drugs. I had already come to terms with the C
section and knew it would be the safest option, but with it being scheduled,
that meant I shouldn’t have to have contractions, right?! Well, there was one person ahead of me for a C-section. They have two operating rooms, but they only
will do one surgery at a time. I had to
wait about two hours until they were ready for us. They wanted to wait so I could get the spinal
tap instead of an epidural.
Finally I was able to waddle into the OR. They had music from the 90s on the stereo –
it was like reliving all the elementary and junior high dances I ever
attended. It also reminded me of the
songs they’d play at the dance studio.
Definitely a distraction from the poking and prodding that had started. Marcus was able to be in the room too, but he
kept his sensitive self on the clean side of the curtain. And then I finally was given drugs. That made everything so much better. The spinal tap made me a little sick, but I
was nearly as shaky as from the epidural from Chase’s birth. Worth the wait!
At 9:52 PM, we
heard some tiny baby noises, and bam, there he was being held up momentarily
over the curtain. They whisked him back
over to clean him up – and clean me up too.
That process took awhile, but Baby Brother was here!
Dr. Choy told us the C-section was definitely the right
choice. Just like Dr. Worrell had
suspected, the uterus wall was getting stretched thin, so it wouldn’t have been
safe to push. He was also a decent size,
7 pounds 10 ounces. (At this rate, he would have been pretty huge
by Monday! Just like Chase!) They didn’t tell us how long he was and they
didn’t write it down, so I had to track down that information later from the
pediatrician. He was 51 centimeters (AKA
20 inches).
We were given a semi-private room on the 5th
Floor. It had been really busy weekend
with lots of babies born, but luckily we never were given a roommate. Marcus stayed until I was all situated and
then was in and out over the course of my stay.
Thursday, the 23rd
Since he was born pretty late, and I was on all kind of
medications, it was really fun to see him in the morning. I was shocked at all his dark brown
hair. So different from Chase! And he had really dark blue eyes. His skin tone is also much more olive than
super white. Plus he was like a pound
and a half smaller than Chase was when he was born. It’s amazing how different both newborns
were. However, they both had extremely
round heads and made several of the same facial expressions.
We had narrowed down the names, but we wanted to both see
him before deciding for sure. A name is
important, and we felt the pressure choosing the right one. We decided on “Ty” – Tyler K Hardy. Tyler
because we want to call him Ty, and K to use the same middle initial as Marcus.
Friday, the 24th
Marcus brought Chase to meet Baby Brother. This was a slow process, as Chase wouldn’t
even come into the room for a long time.
I think he was overwhelmed with the new surroundings, his mom in
hospital clothes, and a new brother. He
walked down the hallway and sat on the floor for a while. Finally a lollipop convinced him to go in the
room. Then Ty’s present for Chase helped
him warm up a little. Marcus and Chase
stayed for about three hours. We had lunch
together and Chase played with his new Duplo bus. He eventually passed a bottle over to help
feed Baby Ty, but he still wouldn’t look at the baby. Progress.
Saturday, the 25th
After several final checks, we were ready to head home. We had been planning to buy our own car seat
for the baby but were holding off until the baby shower (that was supposed to
be today) because they were planning on a car seat group gift. The baby shower had been canceled, so we had
to borrow a car seat to get home from the hospital. (Random side note: We don’t even own a car
seat for Chase. Never have. You don’t need a car seat in cabs, and that’s
about the only time we’re in cars. We
hadn’t seen the need to buy one. Plus
Angela has an extra one so we use that if we go anywhere with her.)
Around 11:00 AM we were headed home in an Uber. Ty was wearing a little green onesie and was
wrapped in an amazing soft green blanket Nana made for him. Chase met us at home a little after we
arrived. He was much happier about having
a brother now that we were back home. He
would even look at the baby!
Sadly the story of our hospital stay didn’t quite end
because we had a paperwork mix up. Marcus
had to go back to the hospital later that night to turn in some birth certificate
stuff that had gotten mixed up. But then
we were good.
Ty is a great baby – he sleeps for at least three hours at a
time – and sometimes up to five. He
already eats about 4 ounces each feeding.
And of course, he pees, poops, and burps regularly. I love his sleeping sounds and inadvertent
smiles. He really is a cute baby, and
Chase is starting to like helping.
(I am doing okay with recovering. Bending obviously doesn’t work well, but once
I’m standing or sitting, I feel pretty good.
Just extremely sore. Everywhere.)
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