The title of the Blog is The Grateful Gahans...While I do listen to The Grateful Dead every day on my way home from work (thank you Sirius), the title of the blog has more to do with the people that surround us. Our families, our friends, and the people we work with...
We've been through so much over the last couple years, and seeing/sharing your care and compassion, nervousness and trepidation, and most importantly your excitement and joy, is so appreciated that words cannot do justice to the feelings we have for you all. While we have whole new set of responsibilities, relief is a special kind of sublime and hope continues to spring eternal for us.
We are more ready, because of you...
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Starting pictures...bear with me...
So we've tortured you enough!! I'm truly sorry that it took me so long, but we were without power for over 24 hours shortly after we got home. Most insane storm I've seen around here in awhile...I'm pretty sure I was born during a blizzard in 78', so it is only fitting that Grayson have a simlar story...I'm not sure who responded to the storm better, me or Grayson...
Grayson arrives!!
So this is how Ed sees his daughter as he arrives the next morning just before delivery...It's tough to see an old man cry! She was shaking/shivering (hormonally influenced), and in need of oxygen to ensure that Grayson was getting enough should his umbilical cord be getting crunched in the birth canal.
While time-wise, the labor and delivery only took from 10PM - 12:48 PM the next day (short when compared to other horror stories), there was plenty of drama to go around...
Due to blood thinners that Allyson was taking during the pregnancy, she was not allowed to have an epidural until 12 hours past her last injection (7:00 PM). That's right, she got to lay in bed all night and writhe in agony through the first part of her labor without any real pain meds. But shortly after 7:00AM (read 7:45 hospital time), relief arrived with an anesthesiologist in an Irish smock with four leaf clovers all over it. Too bad it took her 4 pokes to get the port in the right spot! Irish Luck indeed!
They were just about to start a new poke because Allyson wasn't feeling the pain relief, so we started to move her when she looked up and said "I can't feel my ass...". This is a good thing! The medicine was flowing, and she laid back and signed in relief...
Everything is going well, because she goes from 4 cm dilation to 10 in 90 minutes. The Dr. says that we can turn the inducing agent (read: contraction speeder upper) off. They just want to see him work his way down the birth canal a little further before she starts pushing. Well another 90 minutes go by and nothing has happened. They have her push a little, and re-introduce pitosin.
His heart rate drops as soon as the pitosin hits the blood stream...A few short words between Dr. and nurse..."Allyson, we need you to push now, it is too late for a C-section"....Pitosin is stopped...A team of NICU personnel and other nurses rush in...Allyson is crying, but the Dr. is confident and calm...Allyson is pushing, and pushing strongly...man that vacuum thing they have attached to his head is weird... THERE HE IS FOLKS...Grayson Michael Gahan!!!
And he is pissed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grayson packs his bags...
The advice I heard from people about "speeding things along" was plentiful...each person/couple has their own recipe...
Take a long walk...eat spicy food...drive over railroad tracks...and of course, the ever-popular "have sex"!
For Allyson? All it took (in addition to these other methods) was a simple glass of champagne. One of our best friends Courtenay came to the house with a bottle that I think was supposed to be used at the hospital after Grayson's grand arrival. But if you know us, that concept was lost as soon as we saw the bottle walk in the door!
First, she had a contraction (which she had been having for weeks), but this one was a doozy. Courtenay's response? "I bet you go tonight...". Prophetic words indeed. Courtenay left, and I was headed to bed for "one last good night of sleep" since the first step for induction was scheduled for the next day.
At 10:00 PM, "Umm, either my water broke, or I just wet my pants..." My father-in-law Ed and I were upstairs, my sister-in-law Megan down with Allyson. Everybody freezes...Well? Which is it?! My response is to break out the baby books. What does it look like? What does it smell like? None of these descriptions are helping since Allyson just has wet underwear and holding them up for inspection isn't helping...We decide to wait for a more effective presentation...After all, pregnant women do have accidents, right? :)
At 10:15"Umm, I'm pretty sure my water just broke!" Ed and I stand up in unison...what!!?? I'm standing at the top of the stairs and Allyson comes to the front door landing and stops to look up. I turn on the light to see that it definitely now appears that she wet her pants. Her hands are shaking and held out to either side, with a look on her face that could only be described as a combination of excitement and fear. She says "I think this is it!". This IS truly it...after what seemed to be an eternity of emotional roller coaster rides over a period of 3 years (if you know us there is no need for details), THIS IS IT!
My first reaction? I went into her closet and grabbed a pair of flip-flops to give her since she was in in bare feet so she didn't get her feet wet...Yep, I have NO idea why that was my first reaction either...I'm still confused as to why I went there.
My sister in law has video of the rest of the action (which I will hopefully find a way to post)...and ultimately we collected enough of our marbles to start making decisions again.
In the end, the "Go-Time" bag was packed, and the trip to the hospital 10 minutes away was uneventful...
So here we go!
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