Updated
February 2, 2001
Well, we had
a baby!!
It's been long
enough since we got home that I'm able to take a little break now
and update you all on the flurry of activities. Of course, many of
you know that James Porter Lee was born on January 30, 2001 at 1:52
in the morning. Be sure to check out his
announcement and the little video
of his first few moments in life. Of course, there's
photos, too.
How did it all
come about? Well, on Monday night, we were having dinner and all seemed
just fine. We had been planning on going to the hospital on Wednesday
morning to have Porter induced, so all things were pretty well planned.
I had gone to
get my hair cut that evening, so I got home a little late -- didn't
even really get a chance to change out of my work clothes before it
was time to play with Jackson for a little while and put him to bed.
Right after that, we sat down to eat some pasta alfredo that Katie
had put together and watch some TV.
After dinner,
about 8:30, Katie had a brief moment of pain -- I asked her if she
thought the baby was coming, and she said, no, she didn't think so.
"Just a pain in my stomach."
I figured I'd
sit down at the computer and do some work since TV was all reruns
and garbage anyway. Katie hung out in the living room and read for
a while, and about 10, decided to go to bed. Between dinner and bedtime,
though, I could hear her having more 'pains'.
Well, between
10 and about 12, Katie got up from bed several times -- gosh, about
once every 10 minutes, then 8, then sooner.
Anyway, at a
little past midnight, I asked her again, "Don't you think the
baby might be coming?" "I think so," she said!
Ok, so we got
on the phone to the doctor's office and got a hold of his partner,
who was on call. After explaining the situation to him, he said to
head on over to the hospital. I immediately got on the phone to call
Carolyn to come and sit with Jackson, but she was asleep and didnt'
wake up.
That meant a
ride over to her house to rouse her. I also called my mom while I
was driving over to Carolyn's. She and Row left right then to come
to the hospital.
I got over to
Carolyn's in no time -- she's just around the corner. She was already
up when I got there and just had to put on some clothes. I told her
I'd meet her at the house, then I took off again.
Since I figured
I had a few minutes, I thought I'd run get some film. I didn't expect
to go to the hospital until later in the week, so I hadn't gotten
any film for Katie's camera. I had video tape and my digital camera
all ready, but she wanted 'real' film, too.
My first thought
was a quick trip into Stop n Go on the corner -- no go. Just 35mm,
not Advantix. As I was leaving, a constable who was parked in the
lot with a broken car asked me if I could come over and help her for
a minute. "My wife is in labor right now, so I really can't,"
I said. -- "Well get to the hospital!" she said. "Go
have a baby!"
Ok, but not without
that film -- so I went to Rice right across the street, but they had
just closed 5 minutes earlier. Oh, well. Whatever film was in the
camera would have to do.
So I got home
and found that Katie had packed everything she needed. I started loading
the car, and within minutes, Carolyn got over.
We had a quick
ride to the hospital -- it's only about a mile away. Of course, at
that time of night, there's no real traffic; and Katie made me run
the lights / stop signs along the way! (I figured I was safe anyway,
with the constable broken down at Stop n Go.)
Once we got into
the hospital, they put us in a delivery room right away and started
hooking Katie up and checking her. By now, it was just after 1 am.
On the first check, the nurse said Katie was between 5 and 7 centimeters,
so things were going fast. Her water also broke then.
About 5 minutes
later, after they got the IV in and things working, they checked her
again -- and immediately every nurse in the place ran out of the room,
and even more ran back in! Guess we're almost there!
They said the
doctor was on his way, and to just keep breathing -- Katie didn't
know it, but I did: we had to keep her from having the baby before
the doctor got there!
By 1:45, Dr.
McBride got there and the whole room was already prepped for delivery.
In one push, Porter came out for all to see!
A few minutes
later, my mom and Row got to the hospital, and we all waited and watched
while the doctor finished with Katie and the nurses took care of Porter.
After about another
hour or so, Katie was allowed to nurse Porter for the first time.
Then we gathered our things and got ready to move to the regular room.
I went home at
around 4 am and showed Carolyn the photos of Porter -- then she went
home to rest for a few minutes before work. I was really too wired
to sleep, so I just worked on editing the video
and making Porter's online announcement.
Jackson woke
up at about 7:15 and I told him all about his brother -- although
he didn't understand a word I said! We palyed a bit and had breakfast,
then I took him to school and went back to the hospital.
The rest of the
day was a whirlwind of activity in Katie's room -- nurses checking
both of them, flower deliveries, and time to hang out with my new
son. My friend Travis brought us lunch -- gyros, my favorite -- and
throughout the day, we had even more visitors: Carolyn, Susan, Tim,
Christina, Trevor, Kyle, Tom, Laura, Taylor, Eric, Sara and Kiara.
My mom came the
next morning (Wednesday) and that evening at 6, we left the hospital
for home. Carolyn still kept Jackson so that Katie and Porter could
settle in, and so yesterday was the first time the two brothers met.
So far, things
are going well -- Jackson is starting to interact with Porter, but
I still think he doesn't really fully understand the whole thing.
Really, it hasn't seemed to affect him at all, just yet. We'll see,
though!
And now, Katie
just got up from a nap and is feeding Porter. I think I hear Jerry
Springer or something on the TV in that room, so I better go make
sure things are all right!
