The New Year: In, a Nutshell. Or, In Other Words, Our New Arrival; A Pistachio

Friday morning began like any other day which begins with uterine contractions. That is to say, it began like many other days in the lives of many other people on earth, granted that those many other people are pregnant women. For us, however, Friday began abnormally; although Alison was (at the time) a pregnant woman like so many other people on earth, nearly nine months of pregnancy experience had conditioned us to expect a noncontractile morning routine of waking up with Isaac, throwing up (sometimes), eating breakfast, and so forth. For that pattern to be so abruptly broken was, therefore, unexpected. Alison notified me when our alarm Isaac sounded that she had had regular contractions since about 0530, and that they had not diminished even after moderate activity. We ate a small breakfast, and I called my mom to notify her that long-distance travel on her part might lead to inconvenience on ours. She showered and came to watch Isaac, following which I retired with my wife to the bedroom to carefully time contractions. By this time they were coming about every 4 minutes and lasting 45-60 seconds.
We had been preparing for a birth using the Bradley method of husband-coached childbirth, which is a non-medicated method which relies on relaxation and coaching to achieve minimal pain and maximal efficiency during labor. So, we were prepared for the idea of Alison not having medication of any sort during delivery. We waited at home for the contractions to get to the point that things were looking serious, and were almost to that point when Alison's water broke. A few minutes later Alison strongly suggested that we immediately head for the hospital, denying the offered coat and socks on our way out the door. I grabbed our bags and we headed for the car. The hospital is usually about 15 minutes away when traffic is good and we obey the speed limit; by the time Alison was halfway to the car she was feeling the urge to push and I wasn't sure we would make it. During the unlawfully fast (but prudently executed) trip, I asked her several times if we would need to pull over; she said she wasn't sure and we were both praying that we would at least make it to the hospital in time for medical staff to be on hand. I was prepared to deliver the baby myself, but of course it didn't seem like the best option.

We pulled up to the hospital and I parked in a very illegal fashion, then ran inside for a wheelchair. I came back to the car and Alison announced that she thought she was crowning; I helped her into the chair and we raced carefully to the second floor, where I declared that my wife was having a baby and we would need a room, please. There was some looking back and forth between nurses for a moment, but when Alison told them the baby was on its way out they raced into action, setting up supplies and sterile fields while other nurses and I helped Alison to the bed and put a gown over her. By the time she was in bed and a nurse checked her cervix, she was fully dilated and pushing and our baby boy was well on his way out. Our doctor was paged while one of the nurses delivered the baby. I said encouraging things to Alison with heroic good intentions, she bore down and there was our new son. I cut the cord and an OB who was in the building delivered the placenta. Our OB arrived in time to stitch up a small laceration and make sure we were all doing okay. We were in the hospital less than 15 minutes before our son was born.

Considering our early aversion to the thought of possible labor augmentation, emergency C-section, invasive monitoring, etc., fate delivered us just what we would have wanted in a birth, albeit somewhat precipitously. The nurse trying to get IV access hadn't even found a suitable vein by the time it was all over, and Dr. Boheen (our wonderful OB) announced that there wasn't much point in starting one now since there were no signs of complications. The nurse who delivered the baby was working her last shift before finishing her last year of Nurse Midwife school, so she was very aware of what she was doing and performed wonderfully. Alison was a champion, and our new baby is adorable.

We had a lot of trouble settling on a name, but finally decided on Aaron Wyler Johnsen. Mom and baby are doing great, and Alison's recovery has been everything we had been led to expect by our Bradley training. The contrast between the unmedicated birth experience and our last two (one with an epidural and one by C-section) was like night and day; ten minutes after the birth Alison looked like she would any other day, composed and beautiful and alert. We are extremely grateful that everything worked out the way it did, especially considering the possible complications we may have faced.

Isaac joined us at home this afternoon after a protracted stay with his paternal grandparents. We were all relaxing tonight and enjoying our reunion when Alison asked me to come look at Isaac's nose because she had noticed what looked like an unusually large and discolored, um, boogey in there. I chalked it up at first to my wife's preoccupation with keeping our son's nose clean and clear, but had to admit that something seemed a little wrong. I got a flashlight and saw what looked like either a growth or a piece of food. I tried pulling it out with tweezers while Alison held Isaac (he held remarkably still for the whole thing), but all I got was the outer covering of a pistachio and a couple very small pieces of the nut itself. I consulted my trusty friend Google while we waited for the doctor on call at the clinic to call us back (he never did), then Alison held Isaac again while I occluded the other nostril, then blew quickly and with moderate force into my son's mouth. A pistachio emerged which seemed too large to possibly have been contained in so small an orifice (for who knows how long), and the crisis passed. This may be one reason for the runny nose and the continual insertion of little fingers into said nose. I have posted a rather blurry picture of the pistachio with my thumb next to it for scale.

So, in sum, things are going well. Our lives are happy and ends are meeting. The Lord is very good to us and we wish you all the same fortune.