In the end, Allison's dream of natural childbirth was never meant to be. Aniya was simply too big to be delivered naturally. Allison has been a champion both during and after labor. She started having contractions Friday night and delivered the baby Tuesday evening - about 90 hours, and these contractions were painful. Some women have easier labors and other's don't, and my poor wife dealt with a lot of pain but Aniya was too big and never moved down, so Allison finally demanded a c. section. She has recovered very well and was walking around and took a shower today for the first time since getting to the hospital. There is a chance she will be able to leave tommorow which is a day earlier than expected.
The first words I will use to describe my little Aniya after beautiful, angelic, gorgeous, etc. etc. are "breastfeeding champion". She took to Allison's breast pretty much immediately and always wants more, and so far, she is a very quiet baby. She is a natural suckler - she is a baby that likes to suck on anything and all of her ultrasounds seem to prove it since her hands were always near her face. Right now the only alternative to a breast is Allison's pinky. I left the hospital tonight and we decided to leave the baby in the nursery as opposed to the room. Since Allison is walking around again, the baby can stay in the room with her at night - dads are only allowed to stay until 10:30 PM. Aniya had recently fed several times and we were hoping both baby and mommy could get some much needed rest. Aniya settled down for about 10 minutes before she was wide awake, ready for some more "special sauce". After yet another feeding session, Allison finally needed to sleep, but my sweet Aniya was not satiated. The nursery was an easy solution, but tomorrow night a fussy baby might be the start of our new lives. I am eagerly waiting.
I returned home to Gabru and let him smell one of Aniya's wet diapers. He smelled it twice, demanded some love as I explained the situation to him, and then he went back over to the plastic bag the diaper was in and I showed it to him again. For some reason, I think he understands. I think things have been hard for him... he saw his mom go through a lot of pain for days and suddenly she disappears and I am only home for a few hours every evening before off and running in the morning. For a dog, I think that's pretty confusing, but we are both confident that as long as I can pay attention to him, he will get over his initial grouchiness and welcome the arrival of Aniya with love.
Childbirth is such an amazing experience, but I am still at a loss of words to sum it up. There were such a range of emotions that I felt and am still feeling. I am a little timid with my baby girl - simply meaning I am afraid to make a mistake and somehow hurt her, and it is showing. I still hold her a little akwardly at times - I know I will get much better within days, but she is just so small and tiny and beautiful I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I caused any harm. I am told I will be handling her like a football within days.
As for my wife, I couldn't be prouder and happier that I found such a beautiful and strong woman to be my life's partner. She was so strong during the whole ordeal and now her maternal instinct is evidently very solid. I can't describe how much I love both of my girls.
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