To my wife, thank you

My wife endured nine difficult months of pregnancy that culminated in the birth of our first child and son on April 20th, 2010.  As much of a joyous occasion it can be, it is preceded by long, painful, and usually uneventful hours upon hours of waiting.  My intention is to show the full range of emotions of our long day, not just the Hollywood happy ending.  I hope this series of photos and captions will connect you to our experience.

My wife woke up at 2am from contraction pains.  At 5am, she woke me up and told me we may need to go to the hospital.  We arrived there at 6am, full of questions and concerns.  We had some small doubts that this unpredictable day finally arrived.  The nurses here were incredibly helpful and provided physical and emotional support through the day.

A lot of sophisticated machinery.  We had no idea what they did, but we know we’re in the care of top-notch professionals.

And then the waiting game began.  We tried to entertain ourselves, but the long, boring hours made it difficult to endure.

Of course, exponentially worse than the boredom of waiting was the pain and discomfort my wife had to experience.  It was easy for the rest of us to entertain ourselves or sleep, but my wife couldn’t ignore her body’s signals that the baby needs to come today.

Thank God for modern medicine.  A quick insert into her spine finally allowed her peace and rest.  She will need as much rest as possible for the upcoming hours and days.  The nurses remain ever vigilant of any changes and signs from the monitors.

As the day passes on, it’s becoming increasingly more apparent that the baby is having trouble coming on his own.  Finally the evening arrives, and her physician is concerned that the labor has gone on too long.  Any longer, and there is a high chance of infections for both mom and baby.  To my wife’s disappointment, the obstetrician highly recommends a Caesarean section.  We followed her obstetrician’s advice and went ahead with the C-sec.  Our son finally arrives into our world, almost unwilling to leave the comfort of his home for the last nine months.

Such a long, exhausting day for my wife.  But in the end, it was all worth it.

Hello son.  Hello Mommy.  I love you son.  I love you too Mommy.  Thank you, dear wife.