Happy 1st Birthday Astrid!

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Astrid.
Happy birthday to you!

Astrid is one year old today, and what better day to tell our baby story.

Our doctor called the night before to tell us that the c-section wouldn't take place in the morning, but would instead be in the afternoon at 4 PM and we were to be at the hospital by 1 PM. That meant that I could eat a light breakfast as long as it was 10 hours before the surgery.

So at 6 AM Uwe woke me up with cereal on a tray (frosted mini wheats) and told me to eat even though he knew I wasn't hungry, because it would be a long time before my surgery and if I didn't eat now, I wouldn't be able to eat for another 10 hours. Through the fog of sleep I smiled and ate my cereal and thought I had the most thoughtful husband in the world.

We drove to the hospital (Good Samaritan Hospital in Downtown Los Angeles) and parked in the same parking structure we had used when we attended the birthing classes there. Uwe and I were joking around and giggling and having a great day together. We both agreed that for us this was the way to go, rather than waiting for my water to break and rushing around and stressing out and not knowing what to expect. This way we felt like we were very much in control of the situation and because of that we were relaxed and in good spirits.

Here we are in the birthing room. I loved this room. It had beautiful wood floors, a nice TV a stereo system, and a view. Madonna had her first child in this same hospital.

We're told that the 2nd surgeon is running late so Uwe and I watch TV. At 3 PM we watch Oprah. The long delay and wait is making me anxious. At 4 PM we start watching Family Feud when the nurse comes in and tells me they're going to bring me into the OR (Operating Room).

Here we are in our surgical scrubs. Uwe looked so cute. I wish I had taken photos but by this time I was NERVOUS.

I'd never had a surgery before and even though I will be fully conscious through it all (as I wanted), I will have a needle put between my vertebrae into my spinal column, before the surgery begins to numb me from my abdomen down to the tips of my toes.

Uwe has had surgeries before and he tells me that if he could do it for me he would and because I believe him, it brings me comfort in knowing he's more worried about me than I am.

(When I first got pregnant I didn't think I wanted to have my husband in the delivery room. But Uwe was adamant about wanting to be there and experience the birth of his child with me. So we agreed that I'd allow him in as long as he stayed up by my head and didn't look at what was happening down below. As it turned out, I'm glad Uwe changed my mind because it was a blessing to have him there with me.)

There are two shots. One to numb the area of my back, and the other longer needle that goes into my spinal column. The nurse is great and holds me and tells me to take a deep breath and lean into her. I'm sitting on top of a surgical table with my robe open in the back for the anesthesiologist to do her work, and I'm leaning forward into the nurse standing in front of me. It hurts a little but it's over quickly.

The OR is white with stainless steel surgical instruments laid out. The air conditioning is on full blast and with just a paper thin robe that covers only the front of me I'm freezing. They lay me down on the table in a Jesus position with my arms spread eagle, and put warm towels over me. I start to feel a warm sensation run down my body as I feel my legs going numb.

The two doctors and a second nurse (who will take care of the baby) rush in. (The 2nd nurse is the instructor we had at our birthing classes. What a coincidence.) I can sense that the other doctor (the one who was late) is anxious to get started, but I hear my doctor say, "Not until the husband is here. Go get the husband." A nurse rushes out to get Uwe.

Knowing that they're going to start any minute, I try to move my feet and I can. I ask the anesthesiologist, who's standing by my head, "Excuse me. Am I supposed to be able to move my feet?" In response she exclaims, "You can move your feet!?" Uh yeah. You think she would have asked me and/or checked before starting, but I guess she does umpteen births everyday and it's a routine procedure for her. (As you'll see from her behavior later.)

Uwe comes into the room and is all smiles but his pupils are huge. I can see that he's trying to stay calm for my sake but it must have freaked him out to see me lying like Jesus on the cross with my big belly. He caresses my forehead and tells me everything is going to be fine and when it's all over we're going to have a baby.

There's lots of activity in the room and Uwe looks up (later he tells me that the doctor said something and the nurses rushed over). The umbilical chord is wrapped around the baby's neck twice and is pulled very thin.

(Later our doctor tells me that I made the right decision to have a c-section because there would have been fetal trauma if I would have tried to have the baby vaginally and the chord was stretched so thin that it was a good thing we scheduled the surgery for today. I thank my lucky stars that I didn't sit and wait at home for the contractions to become a minute apart like they tell you, because the baby might not have survived. My doctor repeats, "You made the right call. Mother's intuition." When his wife comes to visit me and the baby the next day she looks at me like I'm Nostradamus and asks, "How did you know to have a c-section?" My real reason was because it was the best decision for me. When my mother had me she had a 21 hour, very difficult labor. They also thought my baby would be much larger and my doctor kept saying it had a big head. There were just too many unknown variables in a vaginal birth that made me very anxious. Plus I wanted to avoid all of the female issues after the birth. I'm not saying c-section is great...both suck...but the baby has to come out some way, and for me it was the best decision for myself and as it turns out for the baby as well.)

We hear the baby cry. I can hear the emotion in Uwe's voice when he says, "oh...that's the baby."

Meanwhile the anesthesiologist by my head has her keys jingling in my ear and she's on her cell phone talking to someone on the other end like she's in her kitchen at home. I ask if it's a boy or a girl and she has to tell the person on the line to hold on, then finds out and tells me, "It's a girl" and goes right back to talking.

Uwe and I shoot each other a look. During all of the ultrasounds we always told the technicians we didn't want to know the sex of the baby. We were happy just to have a healthy baby and we picked out both a boy's name and a girl's name just in case. But the way my tummy was shaped like a basketball and I wasn't carrying weight all over, everyone told me it was going to be a boy. But Uwe had openly said that he wanted a girl. So I turn to Uwe and say, "You got your girl."

Our daughter filling her lungs with air and using her vocal chords.

Astrid Nora Hook
Born: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at 5:21 PM
Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz (3455 grams)
Length: 20 inches Uwe cutting the umbilical chord. He really didn't want to do it, but they made such a fuss about it that he did it and described it to me later since I was lying back on the table and couldn't see.I get my first peek at Astrid. The first thing I say is, "She's got beautiful skin."

Most of the babies featured on "Baby Stories" on TLC came out with this white gooey stuff all over them. I was so relieved when I saw Astrid and her skin was clean and smooth and beautiful. A relieved papa/husband. Check out those huge pupils.

They took the baby into the birthing room where they have a special table for the baby with warm lights to keep the baby warm as it gets a bath. The nurses kept trying to get Uwe to go back to the other room to be with the baby, but I remember him saying, "No. I want to stay with my wife." (Later a nurse told Uwe, "You must really love your wife. Most men run out of the room with the baby.") So Uwe stayed with me while they were stitching me back up. I finally told Uwe that I was fine and to go be with the baby. I had to tell him 3 times that I really was fine and that he should go. He didn't want to leave my side until he knew I was okay. (I still get a flood of emotion when I think about it.)This is that table in the birthing room.

Dr. Porter standing beside Astrid. The hundreds of photos of babies in his waiting room are testimonials to what a great doctor he is. (The next day he went to the wedding of a man who he gave birth to. Talk about a rewarding career!)Pure joy and excitement from a proud papa. Astrid's already looking cute.Astrid doesn't look like me or Uwe. She has her own face.

Afterwards it's all a bit fuzzy due to the anesthesiologist prescribing Demerol to be given to me intravenously through my IV drip (without my knowledge). My doctor had prescribed Tylenol with codeine which I was fine with, but the anesthesiologist had the nurse give me Demerol which made me sleepy and clouded my thoughts. That's the one thing about the experience that I regretted, not being fully 100% there the entire time after the birth.

After the surgery I was able to move my feet again so that was good. And most importantly the baby was doing fine and very healthy.

Feeding Astrid for the first time.

It's funny how Uwe and I can pinpoint the time of Astrid's birth by what we were watching before and after. After her birth we watched Amazing Race, and then Law and Order. Somewhere in there I fell asleep.

They brought in a small fold out bed for Uwe to sleep in, so he could stay with me in my room. It was a blessing to have him there with me and the baby. It was difficult for me to get in and out of the hospital bed because of my incision and the bed being so high up. So in the beginning it was Uwe who changed Astrid and fed her and burped her. He tried to include me as much as possible by bringing Astrid to me and giving me a bottle so I could feed her.

Astrid was getting phototherapy for her jaundice, up in the nursery, so I would go up there for her feedings. I remember the first time I went and I could recognize Astrid from the other babies and that made me really happy.

We stayed in the hospital for 4 days and on Friday 4/22/06 we came home with our daughter.

You can read Uwe's account by clicking on this link: Uwe's Account of Astrid's birthThe birthday girl (birthday #1) playing with her stuffed animal dog.I don't know what she's saying, but she looks cute saying it.I can't believe it's been one year. Look how much she's grown!Papa holding the birthday girl.It was one year ago today that I looked up from my hospital bed and saw Uwe holding our newborn daughter and looking so excited to be a father.It was warm enough today where she could wear her pink checkered watermelon dress.Playing with an Easter toy.This is how she looks when she stands up. She no longer has to hold onto something to pull herself up.Playing with a different Easter toy.I let her play with an envelope and she started using it to wash the wall.Wax on. Wax off.Playing with the remote control.She has all the signs of teething (including putting her fingers in her mouth) yet I have yet to see another tooth cut through.

Here you can see the watermelons better on her dress since she's standing up. Getting to be a pro at standing up.A photo with mama on her birthday.We had to have a cake and candle to sing happy birthday to Astrid, but Uwe and I blew out the candle for her and ate the cake.

(A few days ago Uwe asked me what I wanted for dinner tonight. He offered to cook whatever I wanted. I was a bit confused because it's Astrid's birthday and not mine, but he said it's all about me because I got "mutilated" on that day, not her. Haha. So okay, I'll buy into that. I love the idea of Astrid's birthday being a celebration of me having given birth to her too. So I asked for a German meal. Turkey bratwurst, red cabbage, pickles, and black forest cherry cake for dessert.) Birthday oatmeal.

We'll be having a big birthday party this Sunday for Astrid with friends and family.Uwe and I popped open a bottle of champagne and toasted becoming parents one year ago. We've never laughed so much and slept so little and looked forward to each and every day, like we have since the birth of our daughter Astrid.