If the next 18 years pass as quickly as the past month, Alex will be heading off to kindergarten before I ever have a chance to write anything on this blog. Before now, I always found it strange when relatively new mothers told me they didn’t remember certain details about their pregnancy or child’s birth. And suddenly I feel the same. The details of our pregnancy and Alex’s birth actually do seem distant now that I am preoccupied by why he is gassy and whether or not he’s bored lying on the bed next to me listening to African lullabies and my chit-chatty conversation with him. Will he be as sentimental as I am about documenting life with pictures and words or will he just remember me as a sappy story-teller? Anyway, these are the basics of what we have to tell Alex--and you--about his birth and our first month together. We’ve also included some proud parents’ pictures.
Dr. Paulo
Flexibility, a sense of humor, and internet access to www.babycenter.com are key to having a baby in Brazil. A friend asked why I didn’t write about the saga of Dr. Paulo (my OB/GYN) on my blog—well, the blog host doesn’t provide enough web space to adequately describe our eccentric prenatal appointments, his politically incorrect comments about my husband’s and son’s Bahian origins, his bear hugs, back slaps, and forehead kisses, or the fact that the only thing that could calm me after the 9 or 10 p.m. appointments in Copacabana was a chocolate popsicle. So, why should we be surprised when, on May 16th, despite my insistence on wanting a natural birth and after waiting more than a week beyond Alex’s due date with no sign at all that he was interested in coming out, Dr. Paulo proclaimed that regardless of the method, I would have a baby the following day? Or when, on the morning of the 17th, he called to say that he was changing the hospital because he couldn’t get through on the phone to reserve a room at the planned hospital where we had already gone to take a tour (we suspect he just forgot…)?
The Hospital—Perinatal de Laranjeiras
(May 17)
Waiting…
While waiting for Dr. Paulo to arrive at the hospital (www.perinatal.com.br) very late as always—we played Yahtzee (a dice game). When he finally arrived (around 8:30 p.m.), the nurses rushed into the room and asked nervously “who is the patient?” The photo below explains just how comical that was.
I jumped onto the gurney and was whisked down the hall before even saying goodbye to Roque, Mom, Dad, Ana and Zé. I was taken to a room to have an IV inserted and Roque soon appeared in hospital garb to hang out with me in a waiting room for a couple of hours.
The commotion and noise level in the delivery area was such that Roque and I weren’t sure if there was a party going on or if people were fighting. C-sections are so common in Brazil (approximately 80-90% of births in private hospitals) that 8 of them were scheduled between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. that night and doctors and staff were rushing around preparing patients and rooms and celebrating succesful deliveries (thus the party-like atmosphere!). The surreal and comical scene is all a bit blurry now but will certainly be a great basis for family lore as Alex gets older.
The main event… 11:16 p.m.
The actual delivery was a far cry from that serene and spiritual experience that I had often fantasized about. Staff whisked about cleaning-up/preparing the room while I got my spinal block and lay on the table shivering from cold and a bad reaction to the drugs. At first only one leg fell asleep and I remember panicking because I thought that only one side of my body was anesthetized and that I would soon feel the scalpel. I also remember telling Roque NOT to look over the curtain below my chest because I was sure he would faint. Before I knew it, he whipped out the camera and disappeared behind the curtain, the anesthesiologist was pushing down on my chest, and Alex was crying. Our beautiful little boy was entirely different from what I had expected and was more than I could have ever dreamed. I was told that Roque went with the pediatrician to the nursery and that he simply stood in front of the incubator (another Brazilian idiosyncrasy for all newborns) staring at his son. The family found out the good news on a big screen TV in the waiting room where the names and pictures of all newborns appear for the gathered cheering families. Around 1 a.m., Alex was brought to meet everyone, the medical team (Dr. Paulo, Dr. Alberto, the anesthesiologists, and the pediatrician) came to say goodnight, and instead of sending Alex to the nursery as most new parents do, we kept him in our room for the best night of our lives.
Click HERE for more photos of the delivery.
(NOTE: If you’re interested in the “real” photos of the actual, actual birth
(i.e. Alex’s head popping out of the incision in my abdomen), let me know. I
figured they might be too intense for a family blog….
The 33-hour marathon recovery…
33 hours passed from the time Alex was born until the moment we walked out of the hospital. C-sections are so common in Brazil that they send you home right away—ready or not. Actually, we were ready and, as we soon discovered, we had the most amazingly patient and calm baby in the whole world.
Click HERE for more photos from the hospital and Alex’s first family visits.
Home
First days…
I didn’t feel so bad. Alex was great and slept what seemed to be 23 hours a day. Family was happy. Visitors came and went. Until the breastfeeding battle began, everything was just perfect.
Click HERE for photos of the first days.
Mom or Dad?
At first look, Alex didn’t really look like either of us. Whose baby was he, anyway? Well, one glance at Roque’s baby pictures and everyone swore he was an exact copy of his Dad when he was little.
Roque and his parents on the eve of his trip from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro
On second look, he may actually look a bit like Mom too!
Festa…
(May 22)
No Brazilian birth is complete without a big, loud, warm family welcome. Roque’s father’s family—the Bahia clan—came over to welcome Alex (and offer a great deal of friendly advice).
Click HERE for more photos of the party.
Continued Bliss
The first weeks were filled with continued bliss and thoughts of “he’s just too good”. Of course, I tried diligently to keep track of all his “firsts”—his first trip outdoors (to get a vaccination), his first taxi ride (to go to the doctor), his first bus ride (to Leblon), his first visitors at home (Kari, Yolanda and Liam), his first restaurant (Kilograma), his first trip to the park (in Bairro Peixoto in Copacabana), his first webcam appearance (with Amaia in France)…It’s just amazing how many firsts a new little person experiences each day!
Click HERE for more photos of our little nugget's "first" activities.
