Nuckachucka Gets a Brand New Friend!

Wednesday, November 26, at 10:03 PM we welcomed into our lives a fine healthy boy of 8 lb and 20 inches. He came swiftly in the end, after keeping us on tender hooks for about twenty three hours. Things moved so slowly all day Wednesday , and at 7:00 PM we were thinking that there wouldn't be anything until the next day.

Then we received a call at 8:20 PM to come down to the hospital, that things had progressed. When we arrived (at about 9:00 PM) the surrogate was resting so we went out to the waiting room thinking it would be hours. About 30 minutes later we were called back to the room as she was dilated to 7 cm and was pushing! We were bedside in seconds, and watched with absolute awe as the baby entered the outside world.

With a gentle yet meaningful cry he arrived.

Jacob Osher (which we are translating as "abundant joy") is quite the sweetheart. It is an amazing thing to see a child enter the world. But to see ones son pass through the birth canal, and reveal himself, is life changing.

He has fine light hair, with dark lashes and almost invisible eye brows. He has a pink complexion and is free of any of the baby blemishes I am used to, save a few milia on his chin. He has eyes that are a dark grey blue which can stare deep into my soul.

We are floating on a wave of joy and happiness. There is joy and wonder in everything he does, he has the ability to change the weather and make the sun shine. It is like nothing I have ever felt or experienced before, and I like it. I like it a lot!

We spent two days in the hospital and came home to grandmas house on Friday afternoon. We will be spending the next 5 weeks here as we prepare for our departure to New Zealand, and our new beginning together as a family of three. We have the perfect set-up here and have been having family and friends over to meet him, which has been lovely.

We are in a nice little groove of sharing feedings and so actually feel very rested and content. I think that not having carried him for nine months, or having gone through 23 hours of induced labour we are going to be in much better shape. So far, so good.

Today he is five days old. Five days! Absolutely remarkable. Time has raced by in a flurry of individually-sealed memory moments.

We left the house for the first time today to go to our first pediatrician appointment. All is well and within the expected norms, which of course settles my prone-to-fret Nursing mind. I was able to ask my paranoid questions and have them set aside by a wonderful team of folks. I actually initially chose the practice because I had known the doctors when they were residents at C.H.L.A. I am now delighted to know that a third doctor has joined, another physician that I was so impressed by when she was in her residency, also.

If I had to put the last few days into a word, I think the word would be "fulfilled", "content" is also up there.

Dean quoted something from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on Friday which I think sums it all up; with a glint in his eye Willie Wonka says to Charlie, "Do you know what happened to the man who got everything he ever wanted? He lived happily ever after".

I now know exactly what he meant.