Wednesday, September 1, 2004

Baby's Day Out

On 26th August 2004, Mae brought Baby Jesse out into the world. And there I was watching it all! What a trip! If you're an expectant daddy, heck even if you're not, make sure you never miss the opportunity to witness this miracle! Here's a sneak preview - approved by the Censorship... erm... Broad (*ahem*)!


Mae went into labour at 2:00am. She would eventually deliver 12 hours later. That means 12 hours of pain! By the time we checked-in at the hospital at 6:00am, Mae's contractions were at 10-minute intervals.


By 11:00am, the pain was so unbearable that Mae requested for an Epidural. I was fearful, yet on the other hand, it broke my heart seeing her suffer. The procedure was pretty scary. A long tube was inserted into Mae's spine to administer the anaesthetic that would numb her pain. The drug is pumped into her body with this device. Meanwhile, I prayed for the best.


The Epidural took effect 15 minutes later despite some scary moments. Mae is at ease and no longer feeling much pain. I was free to make a nuisance of myself with the camera. Meanwhile, the midwives continued to monitor Baby's heartbeat.


By noon, things had really started to cook. Doc's equipment had been laid out for her. Somehow, I knew it was gonna be a messy affair. Meanwhile, the midwifes had gotten Mae to start pushing.


After almost 2 hours of pushing, Doc arrives and got dressed for the occasion. Mae had gotten very weak by then and Baby was still nowhere near appearing. Baby would have to be vacuumed out. A vacuum suction cup in inserted into Mae and attached to Baby's head. Then Doc began pulling. It was chaotic. Everyone was shouting. And amidst the confusion, Doc snipped a little incision. Sneaky!!

"He's coming!" Doc yelled after 10 minutes. I stood firmly as I readied my camera to catch that decisive moment. Suddenly, Baby just popped out of there like a squished pimple. I felt the little hair stand on my back as tears welled up in my eyes! Nothing had prepared me for that. I stood there gaping like a dumb-ass as the moment passed me by. So no shots there. I was just happy I didn't drop my camera or pass out! Heheh!


Baby is plopped unceremoniously on Mae's belly. She's as shocked as I was. "Daddy," Doc's voice shook me out of my stupor, "You wanna cut?" You bet your ass I did! And so I cut my son's umbilical cord. At that point, I felt like a Superhero or something. Hehheheh!!! Baby was then wrapped up and placed onto a table under a heatlamp.


Soon, Baby Jesse is whisked away. I follow. They weighed and measured him. And they gave him his jabs. Then he was brought back to the Delivery Room and put under the heatlamp again. I give him my hand and he grabs on to my finger. I bend over and whispered into his ear, "Jesse, you are God's gift to mommy and daddy. We will always love you."

And just like that, I went from a Superhero to a softie. It's a amazing how someone so little can make me feel so much. *sigh*

NOTE (as at 1 Sept 2004)
Forgive me for the grammatical mistakes. I know I have my tenses all over the place. Heck, I even cringe re-reading this! It was late and I was half asleep. And now I'm too lazy to correct anything. And oh, btw, when Baby first arrived he was purple and he looked like my dad. Hahahah!!! Thank God he's looking a whole lot nicer now. :)

47 comments:

  1. That was a brilliant entry! And Jesse's a very good name. Congrats Mr. Daddy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. of all the blogs i've read - this is one with one of the best entries i've read all year!!
    ;D !

    ReplyDelete
  3. what can i say? congratulations! now you gotta keep about 1 million ringgit to make your baby into a fully grown man... hehe. ^^v kidding. lol.
    anyway, grats!

    ReplyDelete
  4. sob..sob..sob..makes me want to cry...
    Your explanation can make anybody heart melt...
    Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  5. it just bring tears to my eyes.. sob sob..

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm surprised you didn't faint with all the commotion! And by the by, you brought on all this 'pain' remember? Someone got someone knocked up mahhhhh... ;)
    Congratulations again...so when can I come with big Teddy ar?

    ReplyDelete
  7. wahh...reading this too had made me feel da pain of da jabs of epidural and all...
    how's Mae now? how's baby Jesse? and i know you're fine...heheheh..
    congrats~ :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks, Sapphire Pearl.
    Now you made me blush, Grace! :)
    It's beginning to look that way, Noor Hidayat! Oh boy!
    Not my fault Lisa. It was Baby Jesse! ;)
    Babies can have that effect on people, Nurul. :)
    I know Mei. And I was so afraid Mae would start yelling at me. So thank God for the epidural. :lol:
    Nothing beats experiencing it for yourself Glinar! Hehheh!

    ReplyDelete
  9. No, no, I will not shed tears. Must... not... *sniff*... no, that wasn't me ... *sniff*....
    Good post there, James. Looking forward to more! Jesse's first steps! Jesse's first word! Jesse's first... err, anything lah! :lol:

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congratulations James! Wish your new family all the best, and keep writing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. oops wrong face!! was supposed to be the crying face!! whoopssssss!..Congrats to u and Mae btw =)

    ReplyDelete
  12. i almost fainted reading about ur wifey's pain. but at the same time, i'm really happi for you both, congrats on the healthy baby boy :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the pic of baby Jesse holding your finger... ;) Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Grammatical errors? I'm an English teacher, but this post was so cool I didn't even notice any. Definitely looking forward to seeing Jesse's progress:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi there!
    I stumbled upon your blog to the Malaysians community on LJ and I am so glad to discover it. I've enjoyed reading your accounts of Mae's pregnancy and the eventual arrival of little Jesse. He's such a precious baby.
    I am currently pregannt with my firstborn who will come out soon next month. I can definitely identify with some of the things you've written.
    Mae really went through almost all the works for this pregnancy huh? From epidural to episiotomy and even suction delivery! Those are the things that I am most worried about but at least baby Jesse is safe and sound :) I hope my delivery won't be as dramatic.
    Congrats on being a new dad! :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. Awww...he's so cute...."Hello, Baby Jesse"
    Again, congrats James and Mae!

    ReplyDelete
  17. was crying and laughing while I read this post. looking forward for more.

    ReplyDelete
  18. hey james! sorry i couldn't congratulate u earlier. was in bangkok from 26-30. shopped until my legs drop man! congrats for the new daddy!!!! whee!!! *throws confetti*

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great great great great great. Congrat congrats congrats. I dont know if this is the first blog that describes pregnancy to birth (and more), but may be you should register it for the
    Guiness Book of World Records,, or the Malaysian Books of Records. I believe you surely set a record. Bring baby to the blogger's meeting, okay?

    ReplyDelete
  20. this is one post that left me gapping with my mouth open... my colleagues thought i was high or something.
    don't know how many congratulations you've had so far... but here's that little extra one... and welcome to the world, jesse....
    when jesse becomes a handsome teenager and you have one of those father-son arguments, he's got to come back here to see this. like wow.

    ReplyDelete
  21. awwwww... *gushes* he grabbed your finger! james, i gotta say, this blog made my day! such drama! haha... thank you so much for sharing this with us. you rock! (and so does baby jesse...)

    ReplyDelete
  22. goshhh yr latest blog really had my memory jogged! it happened in the labour room 2 years ago... my boiboi just turned 2 on 24th!
    glad everything went well. congrats again on the arrival of baby jesse.
    hope u'll hv at least sometime to blog everyday about jesse, well IF u hv a lot of time left dat it haha...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Congrats to the Dad... and the Mum.... and also to baby Jesse for making a safe arrival... Both of you are parent's now!!!! WHooooo!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. so proud of ya. so happy for all of ya.
    can baby jesse grab my fingers too?
    and oo... i can see james' fingers too. heh.
    *hop hop hop*
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Congratulations again James! I'm so proud of you - you seemed to have remembered most of the details. The 2nd picture of Jesse is an Anne Geddes calendar shot!Take care and God bless. Looking forward to meeting him in person.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Very detailed account of the delivery. Glad everything turned out well. Congratz again, and baby Jesse is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Great pictures dude. Baby Jesse is just so adorable!
    By the way what camera are you using?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Congratulations James and Mae.....Baby Jesse is adorable and i'm really happy that everything went well!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. congrats to u james (and mae). praise the lord the delivery went well and mother and child... and father... were well and healthy.
    thanks for sharing the very detailed story of the delivery (complete with pictures). very good!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Everyone loved that shot of Mae with the wedding ring.
    Should put the video where Jesse cries. So cute coz daddy is able to pacify him in less than 20 secs.

    ReplyDelete
  31. wow, the pics realli make this into a REAL experience for us readers. So glad tht everything went rather smoothly :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you Jess.
    :lol: That would be quite the epic adventure, Sashi. Imagine, all his virgin exploits documented here from now until adulthood. Ehhehheh!!!
    Awww... Annu... thanks. :)
    Like the old saying, "No pain, no gain," Snoflek!
    Seeing it still sends a shiver down my spine, MandY!
    Ah, nice of you to say so, Jordan. Thanks.
    Thanks for dropping by, Ariel. I guess you might say we got our money's worth! :lol: Here's hoping that your delivery will be quick, safe and simple.
    If he could, I'm sure he'd "hello" you back, Papi! :)
    :lol: Norzu, that's exactly the way he makes me feel!
    Hhehheh, better late than never, Olivia. Thanks for remembering. :)
    :lol: Thanks for saying so, Andreas, though I'm not sure if I'm record material. :)
    Thanks Minishorts. For the congrats and for having the faith that Baby will be a HANDSOME teenager. :lol: Here's hoping.
    :lol: CC! I guess we just a dramatic little family.
    Wow, 2 already! Bet you have lotsa fun with your boiboi, Babe_KL! And yeah, Baby Jesse's keeping me quite busy these days.
    Yeah, Alvink! Mae and I are still pretty amazed that we're parents now. :)
    :lol: James has stubby fingers, kev!
    Thanks for dropping by Hung Lan. I remember cos it wasn't all that long ago and with this blog, hopefully I'll be able to revisit the whole thing many years down the road.
    Thank you Janus. There were some harrowing moments but we made it! :)
    I'm on the Canon A80, Yahkid!
    Thanks Revlon. :)
    Praise God indeed, Lucia. :)
    Wedding ring? Really? Why Gina? And no, pls, no videos of daddy pls! :lol: It'll scare all these nice folks.
    Pictures paint thousand words eh, Andrea. :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. a reader of your blogSeptember 2, 2004 at 2:15 AM

    James, I am so happy for you !
    and thanks for all the wonderful pictures and entries....your blog is now a must-read to me !

    ReplyDelete
  34. *sniff* Congrats James and welcome to the world, Jesse. I'm in love with your boy already. Reading this might just kick start my non-existent maternal instincts. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  35. had to say this also, james.
    i think you just set the standard for most of us girls hoping for our prince charming... when i get married, this is the kind of daddy i'd want for my baby... :P

    ReplyDelete
  36. james..congratulations...mae looks so calm and peace.....for me, i might throw or break the hospital bed into 2 because birth pain is 10X stomachache..:P

    ReplyDelete
  37. CONGRATULATIONS! how wonderful for the two of you. glad to hear that baby jesse is safe and sound.
    if mae needs any support with breastfeeding, there is an online breastfeeding forum for malaysian mothers at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/msianursingmom/
    i'm a member and find it very useful to have localised info and also "local" moms to share that info with.
    hope this helps. once again, congrats and god bless your family.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Congrats James and Mae,
    He look so beautiful..As I've anticipated, you are able to utter something sweet to your son...:)
    Will pay you a visit provided I got my damn Picanto... :) Hugs and kisses for baby Jesse... :)

    ReplyDelete
  39. usually i run a mile from baby stuff...but very touching james...
    congratulations

    ReplyDelete
  40. Such a lovely small little baby!! I'm so happy and excited for you! Congrats again!

    ReplyDelete
  41. And thank you for dropping by, Reader.
    OoOoo Fly, when the maternal instinct kicks in, boy, does it ever!!! Better be prepared.
    HEhhehe... why thank you Minishorts. Though I think you give me far too much credit. :)
    Repeat after me, Phoenix, "Epidural can take away the pain!" :)
    Thanks for sharing that, Kate. Mae is struggling a little. I think every bit of support from other mothers helps!
    Hurry up and come already, WY! :)
    Hahaha, Toru! Thanks.
    Thanks Amanda. He's at a lovely size right about now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  42. JAMES!!! Congratulations! What an entry! *sob sob* Good luck being a daddy james. You and mae will be wonderful parents!

    ReplyDelete
  43. I like that one too, Natasha. :)
    Thanks Hani. *sniff* sniff*

    ReplyDelete