at the hospital with our brand new baby boy

 

i wanted to share a few more photographs from the time we spent as a brand new family of three at st. thomas’s hospital after moses was born. we ended up staying at the hospital for two nights. i was really itching to go home, and there were some aspects of our stay that were quite uncomfortable, but when i look back at those 48 hours i am filled with sweetness. it was such a tender and beautiful slice of time.

 

before i share, though, i’d like to respond a little to the comments left on my last post detailing moses’s birth story. i really appreciate all the well wishes and support expressed and am so glad that many readers shared tidbits of their own experiences with childbirth and varied perspectives and opinions stemming from those experiences. i am grateful to understand how my storytelling was interpreted differently by different readers and i truly value the opportunity certain comments have given me to examine my fallacies and broaden my perspective.

i think it’s important that i clarify that while i do believe that cesarean sections are largely over-utilized, and while i had a strong personal preference to avoid one if at all possible, i do not think and would never assert that they are "horrible," (as was stated in some comments). actually, i think that c-sections are really amazing and awesome, and i am so, so glad that they exist for those rare times when vaginal birth is dangerous or impossible. although i recognize the varied benefits of natural childbirth, i definitely do not presume that delivery via c-section is any "less than" vaginal delivery, or that any mother or baby that experiences this incredible surgery (whether by choice or necessity) should be regarded with any less awe, respect or pride. a careful reading of my published birth story will reveal that i never asserted any such opinion.

however, i can see how my story could be interpreted in a way that could lead to such a conclusion, especially by a reader that has experienced a c-section. i should have been more careful in my wording and tone, even through a frazzled, sleep-deprived, hormonal postpartum brain. i sincerely apologize for any offense that was caused. i have edited my original post a little (as much as time has allowed, since moses is pretty needy towards this mama these days :) ).

i also want to make it clear that my overarching fervent desire throughout the childbirth process was to be able to use what i learned and practiced during pregnancy to stay calm during labor and delivery and create an atmosphere of love and tenderness for our son to be born into. it was that hope that i refer to when i say that my prayers were answered and promised blessings were fulfilled – and i consider the miracle of our story to be that i was able to remain at peace in such a stressful situation, and that my cervix responded by opening quickly. my strong feeling that our son was not intended to/didn't need to be born via c-section does not mean that i am any more blessed or privileged than any other birthing mother, and i do not feel that i had any divine promise that moses would be born vaginally. i could have had a similar impression that he was intended to be delivered via c-section, and i would have felt, in that case, just as zealous about advocating towards that outcome. i am certain i would be grateful and in awe no matter how moses was born (but in any circumstance i wouldn’t discount the challenges that accompany interventions and complications).

there's a lot more i could say in response to the response of my birth story, but i'll leave it at that :)

back to photos from the hospital! i was hesitant to post some of these because some are not very flattering pictures of me. but you know what? this is what i looked like after i gave birth. and although i don’t look glamorous, i do look really happy, because i really was – happy in a whole new, spectacular, incredible way. during our hospital stay, ian and i both were delirious with this novel joy and so full of love for god, each other, and our tiny son.


^^ this is how things looks during routine checks of my temperature and blood pressure – it seemed like these were constantly happening and some points! ^^

^^ i am so, so grateful my mom was there with us. there is something so special for me about having my mom with me as i became a mom myself. ^^

^^ with our doula, mars, and the midwife who attended our son’s birth, eirini. we all shared a conviction that heaven was involved in the process. ^^
 
^^ sorry if this picture makes you queazy. i just think the placenta and the umbilical cord are so so amazing! my body built an entire organ to sustain a growing human life inside of me. wow. // moses weighed 3.18kg at birth. we had to google a conversion to pounds! – 3.18kg is just about 7 pounds even. he was 52cm or 20.5 inches long. ^^
 
^^ a few hours after moses was born, we were moved to a bed in the postnatal ward. the space was cramped but the views were incredible! ^^

^^ my mom snapped this photo of us on day two. all three exhausted. ^^

^^ so incredibly happy to be a mom. ^^
  
^^ delighting at being a dad. ^^
 
^^ it was so fun to tell people that moses is my mom’s twenty eighth grandchild. she’s the best grammie ever. ^^

 
^^ moses’s first smiles! ^^

^^ in the discharge room, about to go home! ^^
 
^^ baby boy was required to be in a carseat for the taxi ride home. we were giggling so hard at how tiny he was in this gigantic-looking seat we borrowed from some friends. ^^
^^ our tiny boy arrives at his tiny central london home! ^^

we are so grateful for our moses. he is teaching us so much.