Today Koa is one year old!!! I can't believe how fast the time flies. We're about to have a pancake breakfast and sing happy birthday to our special guy. I'm sure I'll be posting more pictures of today - of course I'll have to get a shot of him eating some birthday cake this afternoon. But for now I'm remembering one year ago today and holding a newborn baby in my arms.
Remembering one year ago today... (this post was originally published November 5, 2009)
Resting in daddy's hands
sleepy baby
The name "Koa" means strong or brave in Hawaiian. It's pronounced like Noah with a "K." We had a really hard time selecting a name for our fourth boy. He wasn't officially named until his second day of life. I don't really know how we came up with this name, it wasn't even on our lists. It just seemed to fit. Jeffrey is his middle name and he is named for Scott's brother. He was born
November 1st at 8 a.m., weighing 6 lbs. 3 oz., 18.5 inches long. Our smallest baby.
My mom arrived in Costa Rica on October 31st. We picked her up at the airport and Rachel made us all dinner. That night I knew I needed to get some sleep and get to bed early. We were leaving for the hospital at 6 a.m. to be there for our 8 a.m. c-section appointment. I woke up at about 2 a.m., just uncomfortable and wide awake. I tried as hard as I could, but I never could go back to sleep! I finally just got up at about 5 and showered and got ready to go. Too much excitement, I guess!
Our plan for the day was that Rachel would stay with Kai, Ezzy and Jude while mom, Scott and I were going to the hospital. Paola would join Rachel later in the day and stay the night. We were a little nervous about how Jude was going to do. The whole week before he started waking up and climbing in bed with me at night. So I had a feeling he would be looking for me at night and might be upset when he couldn't find me. Paola did night duty and she did great with him.
Mema at the hospital - we were lucky they let her into the surgery
Scott suited up and ready for surgery
Everything went really well. I was really nervous about the anasthesia because I've had problems in the past with the epidural not working (this is my 4th c-section). I actually asked the anasthesiologist if I could have general anasthesia! He was so sweet, he said if I really wanted it he would do it, but he didn't recommend it and reassured me that it would be ok. So I went with his advice. During the surgery my mom stood right by me and held my hand. Scott actually went around and video recorded the whole surgery!!! He is crazy! It's a pretty intense surgery.
This moment was really sweet. I could hear Koa crying and crying and when they put him by me he just stopped crying - he knew his mommy! Unfortunately they still had a lot of work left to do with me so Scott went out with the baby while mom stayed with me. It took a full 2 hours to finish the surgery and recovery time. During that time Scott was with the babe. The nurses had him take his shirt off and they put him right on his chest - no bath or blanket or anything! It was bonding time for Scott and baby. They were like that for the full two hours! It is interesting how different countries and hospitals do things differently. In California they had the babies washed, dried, swaddled and in Scott's arms while he waits for me. So this was a different experience, but so sweet!
Scott spent the night with me at the hospital and by the next day we were heading home. This is also different - usually after a c-section I stay 3-4 days in the hospital. In Costa Rica patients only stay one night. I was a little nervous about that, but by the next afternoon I was glad to be going home anyways. I'm not a huge fan of hospitals and I'd just assume be in my own bed.
The only hard thing was the only pain medicine the doctor prescribed for me for home was tylenol and motrin. I didn't realize that until the next morning I woke up in so much pain I could barely even walk to the bathroom. That was not fun. But our friend Mar was able to get a hold of the doctor and get to the pharamacy for us to get some better medicine.
Being home has been a little crazy so far. Luckily we have Mema with us who has been cooking, cleaning and playing with kids - we're keeping her very busy! She leaves Saturday and that will be a sad day. But luckily Scott's mom, aunt and cousin fly in on Monday. I'm feeling better day by day too.
Okay, one of the craziest things is seeing our "baby Jude" all of a sudden look sooo huge! I think maybe other moms will relate to this feeling. He just looks so massive now. The boys are really happy with their baby brother. I think having extra attention from Mema helps a lot while I'm out of commission. The first day back I was in the bathroom and I could hear Kai in my bedroom talking away. I was wondering who he was talking to - when I came in he was sitting there just talking to Koa. "What are you talking about, Kai?" I asked him. "I'm just telling him about the world and that God is with him. He's going to learn that this is a nice, cozy place."
Koa is the smallest baby I've had. The doctor took him out about 2 weeks early. I just can't seem to put him down. He's so tiny, I just want to hold and cuddle him all the time. He is the cutest, snuggliest little thing. It's got to be hard adjusting to this new life outside the womb, but I think he's going to learn, like Kai said, that his new home is a cozy place.
Welcome baby Koa, we love you!
