After 9 months of anticipation and having Olga read to me what was happening to our little girl during each week of the pregnancy our little bundle of joy finally joined us. Екатерина Елизавета Льюис (Katherine Elizabeth Lewis) was born at 7:49PM Moscow Time on June 30th. She made us wait a bit longer to see and hold her than we had anticipated (her 'due' date was June 25th), but the wait was well worth it!
We went in on Monday the 29th to see Olga's doctor and she told us to come back on the 30th at 8AM, as she didn't want to have Olga go any longer and was going to induce labor. I know that I was a bit shocked to hear that, but mostly because it finally sank in that we were going to be responsible for a little person that couldn't communicate to us what she needed or wanted (well, no more than a cry or a fuss that we would need to interpret). We had another ultrasound on the 29th that showed all was well with the baby and we went home to plan our attack for the next day.
We arrived at Перинаталный медицинский центр (Perinatal Medical Center) at about 8:30AM and after a brief check-in I was shown the locker room to change into the scrubs, Olga was checked out and changed into a robe and off we went to the birthing room. I know that you have all heard me say this quite a bit, but the accommodations and the personnel at Перинаталный are SOOO much better than at the Soviet-style place that we had been going to...it was like night and day.
Once in the birthing room, which reminded me a bit of a surgical room, Olga's doctor came in and checked her out and then began the inducement around 9AM. The contractions started around noon and the epidural was administered around 2:45PM...so much for the LaMaze breathing techniques that we learned from the video we bought. Around 6PM the real pain started and the nurses came to the rescue with the second epidural. Or did they? This one didn't seam to do much for the pain. I have to admit that it was killing me to see Olga in that much discomfort and I would have done anything to take the pain for her (I'm sure I would have changed my mind after feeling that first strong contraction!).
Around 7:15 everyone agreed that Olga was ready to deliver and they gathered the team for the main event. Olga pushed for first time at 7:30 and little Катя (Katya) made her debut at 7:49PM. OK, she's not really that little. She weighed in at 3.83 kilos (8.4 pounds) and 53 centimeters long (20.87 inches). It is true what they say, that first scream from your child is the best sound that you have ever heard. A few hours later they sent us to Olga's room and took little Katya for a more thorough check up. All in, it was most definitely the best day of my life to this point. I now have not one, but two beautiful Russian women in my life.
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