Introducing Noah
June 25th was a life changing day for me. I spent the morning agonizing over the choice I was about to make. June 25th was D-day, “delivery day”.
After having had the worst delivery experience with my first child three years earlier, I was hoping to avoid a repeat. Big brother Levi had made his debut after 40 weeks and three long days, induction, 12 hours of hard labor, three failed epidurals, one failed intrathecal, a failed spinal block and then a lot of general anesthesia for my cesarean section. That was followed by two weeks of intense spinal headaches and a year of daily back pain. But after six weeks of recovery, I was finally able to walk to my mailbox and back with enough energy to collapse on the couch. In a word I would describe my first child birth experience as ‘terrible.’ My first words upon awaking from my surgery were “I’m never having another baby.” And then came Noah.
The tough decision for me was whether to risk the chance of repeating spinal headaches and back pain for the chance to be awake for Noah’s first appearance, OR to jump straight into general anesthesia where my husband wouldn’t be able to attend and I miss the whole event yet again. I had felt so robbed of my first child’s entry into the world. It was a scary decision. The anesthesiologist explained procedures and tools to me and I decided to risk the spinal block. After much crying of course.
I felt no pain. I was awake when Noah Jesse German arrived at 9:13am on June 25th, 2009. He weighed all of 8 pounds and was 21″ long. I heard his first cry and I cried too. Little Noah had the same boyish voice his brother had. The Dr’s first comment about him was that he had dark hair. Shocking because Levi didn’t have a lick of hair at birth or the next 12 months. I was so relieved to have reached the end of my pregnancy and to finally hold my baby.
Noah is calm and snugly. His skin is soft and kissable. He has long skinny feet and toes. So far, he only cries when he’s hungry and when he’s naked. This child does not like to be exposed. He was born with modesty.
These first images of him were taken during a nice long newborn nap. I’m guessing he’d blush if he knew the world had seen him bare. But newborns have a very sleepy nature at first, and before 10 days of age, they will cooperate amazingly well for photographs. There will be more images to come. Here is a little introduction.
