All is well and our little family of four has grown to a happy family of five. On May 16th, Luke and I went to the hospital because I had been having irregular contractions for two days. When we got an ultrasound it showed that my placenta was being used up and that was why my body was starting labor early. We were hooked up to an IV by 11 to try to make my contractions regular and to help me dilate so that I could attempt to have a natural birth. After 8 hours of induction - our doctor checked me and saw that I had pretty much made no progress and gave us two choices - stop the induction, come and again tomorrow and try all over or just get a c-section. We talked about it and asked the doctor about our chances of the IV working and she said that most likely (because I had already been in labor for two days) I had less then a 40 percent chance of a natural birth and would probably have a c-section tomorrow night. After that we just decided to go for it.
On the way to the hospital
The doctors were all amazing and made me feel really comfortable, especially since I have never had surgery before. The nurses were also amazing and made me feel much much better. We started the procedure around 9ish I think and Owen was born at 9:35 pm on a very stormy night in La Ceiba. He was 7lbs. on the money and 48 cms long. He has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. We were instantly in love. Poor Luke could not be in the room (not that he would want to be) but had to wait in our hospital room for both Owen and myself. The hardest part of the c-section was the fact that they took him away and then I was wheeled to recovery, so I didn't get to see him for about three hours after he was born. However, it was worth the wait because he is amazing.
Since he was a c-section baby, we stayed in the hospital for two days after and had a great experience. The nurses were beyond fabulous and had a lot of fun coming in and talking to me (in my broken Spanish). We were the only ones there for most of the time so they also liked coming and seeing baby Owen. We spent the first day trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we actually have a son now and that he is here. Luke was just so happy with how much hair he had he instantly said "we need to go get him a haircut" as a joke of course. :)
Our friends here were so great and came to visit and see baby. We are all very lucky to have such a great support system here in Ceiba.
We are also very lucky because my mom flew in early to be with us and help us. She arrived in Ceiba on Friday and has been a lifesaver. On her way into Honduras she kept showing picture of her first "nineto" or grandson and all of the people were so excited for her. She stayed with me in the hospital the last night while Luke went home to take care of the dogs and get some sleep before the real adventure began.
Saturday morning we were discharged and headed home. We are sorry we haven't been able to update soon since we didn't have internet until late last night and we were all pretty much ready for bed. :)
Owen is fabulous and we are all obsessed with him. He is learning how to eat really well and enjoyed his make shift bed since the cradle hasn't arrived yet. The dogs are also doing amazing with him. They are very calm (surprise!) and the only time they seem to get nervous is it Owen starts to cry and little and they don't understand why we aren't helping him faster. Owen has gotten both Wan Tzu and Tofu kissed but we are still taking it slow.
Another super fun fact that we semi-forgot was that in Latin American countries, the children are always given two last names, no matter what. They take both their mother's and father's names as their last names so they end up with four names. Well, because Luke and I are both Martin, Owen's name is officially Owen Stussi Martin-Martin. As you all know, Luke was so against hyphenating Owen's last name as Stussi-Martin, believe it or not, he did not mind the Martin-Martin hyphen. I was a little annoyed at first but honestly, I kinda dig it now and I think we are planning on keeping it Martin-Martin, as a fun story if anything else.
Here are a couple photos from the hospital of Owen and our little family. We love and miss you all and can't wait to Skype!
Cheers,
Cary, Luke, Wan Tzu, Tofu and Owen!
