Birth Announcement – El Chinito

Last pregnancy blog from me!

By Kasandra “La China”
April 20, 2010

Baby came out before I could blog the last few weeks of pregnancy.  Oh well.  All I have to say was the final 3 weeks was absolutely horrible because I caught a nasty cold and bronchitis.  Here is the aftermath.

Birth Announcement

I am happy to announce the birth of our son, Konnor Davis Buchanan!  He was born 7 lbs 8 oz on April 20 at Burnaby General Hospital.  The due date specified by the ultrasound was May 5 but according to the delivery doctor, the chronological due date should have been April 21.  So in fact, Konnor was just about on time.  Too bad we thought we had 2 more weeks otherwise we would have been better prepared! 

I guess that means I danced flamenco till the bitter end again, around 37 weeks.  Let the record show, Kasandra La China danced till 37 weeks pregnant both times around.  Yes, ladies, it can be done.  You can do it too…but I would recommend stopping at 35 weeks.  (That’s what I said the first time too.)

Konnor was born into a busy family. His older sister Jassmone is almost 2 years old now and Shiba Inu dog, Ruby, is about 4 years old. It was great to have a couple days in the quiet hospital alone with Konnor before bringing him into the din of our full lives. 

I am thankful that delivery went well this time around. (See birth story below…) It was a debilitating 3 weeks before the birth with a cold, bronchitis, ear infection and terrible cough. But all is over now, I’m glad he’s out and he seems to be very glad to be able to stretch out. I am very thankful for Konnor. He is really sweet and precious. 

How’s Jassmone doing? Aside from just a couple bouts of temporary jealousy, Jassmone has been doing really well and is really taken with Konnor. Life is going to be great! Life is eat, sleep, pee, poo, diapers, potty, high chair, play, teach, eat again, have fun and the only thing that matters is the family’s well-being.

Kids sleep to Jack Johnston. Gotta get his CDs.

I’ve been putting on the Mozart CDs for Konner, but somehow they always end up being Jack Johnson and his Hawaii folk tunes. I need to personally thank Jack for his music because honestly Jack Johnson’s music is the answer to making kids go to sleep for long periods of time.  I haven’t really played a lot of flamenco for Konnor so far, but he probably heard plenty in the womb…especially of my crappy Triana and bulerias cante. From his older sister, our family has all kinds of nursery rhymes, kids songs, music school CDs, so he’s inherited a lot of baby music material.

I’ve been out a few times for walks and feeling pretty good. I’d say I’m well ahead of the game compared to the first time around.  I have 2 stitches this time and only 2nd degree tear, let me tell you it’s a walk in the park compared to a 3rd degree tear. 

What else? Oh, I am the proud owner of a Toyota Sienna Minivan. WHOO. This is a huge milestone. I can’t believe I am going to be driving a minivan. O so cool. Oh well, I guess it will be the future Flamenco Gig Bus.

Birth Story

(read on ONLY if you want to really know how labour is…)

3am – I started just feeling bad.  (For those of you who have never been through this, labour is like having menstrual cramps, diarrhea or food poisoning all at the same time and it is hard to discern what is happening.)  Honestly, I have never really known what a “contraction” is.  In this instance, I just knew I felt pretty bad for about 25-40 seconds intermittently throughout the night.  I thought it was false labour or braxton hicks contractions.  But again, I have never really known what “braxton hicks contractions” are. I just didn’t think I was in real labour because it was too early since the due date was May 5.

8am – I was still feeling pretty awful.  I told my husband to stick around today just in case, and called my parents to pick up and take care of Jassmone and Ruby (the dog).

10am – Dang, I realized I wasn’t going to make my long awaited pedicure appointment with Cyrena.  We’d been planning this and putting this off for weeks.  And man, my toes need help.  I called Cy and said I didn’t know what was happening but I felt like crap, could she cancel the appointment?

10am-12 – Somewhere in there, the mucus plug came out.  So I knew I would be going to the hospital at some point.

12 Noon – By noon, I called the hospital to let them know what was happening to me.  They said they had lots of people in but if I wanted to come in they could examine me.  Based on what was happening, they didn’t think they would admit me right away and probably send me home.  Okaaaay…I guess I’ll wait a bit longer then.

1pm – By 1pm, I had the sensation to push when the contractions came.  My first thought was, “Aw crap, if I’m pushing I can’t get any drugs or an epidural. (*&^%^$##@” (Note to all women, forget the natural childbirth crap and get an epidural if you can. It’s blissblissbliss.)

It took all my will power and strength to leave the bathroom and get into my husband’s car for a 5 min drive to Burnaby General Hospital. I wanted to tell my husband to call the paramedics/ ambulance, but somehow managed to get into the car.  When I got to the hospital, the woman in admitting was fabulous, but the maternity ward was not going to admit me.  The woman thought they were mad, so took me up there to have some nurses look at me and Dr. Silverthorne, who was the same doctor who incidentally delivered my first daughter Jassmone.

2:30pm – When they saw me, they were like, “Oh man, it’s time for you to push”. I got on the table and I pushed and my water broke, no EXPLODED, movie-style, on the nurses and the doc. 

2:58pm – 4 pushes and 28 minutes later, El Chinito was born. Seriously, we almost didn’t make it to the hospital in time.  I think I probably only had about 10-12 pushing contractions and the baby was out. Dr. Silverthorne said I was getting to be a pro at this childbirth thing and asked me when I would be having the next one, as he was going to retire in a year.  YEAH RIGHT, doc. NOT!!!! OMG…

Dr. Silverthorne checked the charts and said that based on the chronology, the baby’s due date was April 21, not May 5th as specified in the charts. The ultrasound redated the original due date to May 5th but was wrong. As far as he was concerned, El Chinito is a full term baby at 7 lbs 8 oz. 

Already, reading this document, this labour seems almost comical and worthy of creating a tv or movie skit out of it.  But truly, labour is really honestly probably the most uncomfortable, painful, animal experience imaginable. 

EDIT NOTE: I should also add that we were not officially “admitted” to the hospital until long after El Chinito was born. I don’t think we signed paperwork until after my shower…

This sequence of events was so contrary to my first labour with Jassmone, that there was no way to compare or use knowledge from the first birth experience and relate it to the second.  With Jassmone, my water “broke” but was a slow leak over about 12 hours. I calmly, under no stress or duress, booked an appointment with the hospital at noon the following day and was induced with oxytocin.  Since I was not dilated at all and do not have any recollection of mucus plug coming out or anything.  I do remember prelabour was many hours and pushing labour was under foggy circumstances with laughing gas and 2 epidurals. 

ANYWAY, the moral of the story is, I really didn’t know what was happening this time around.  I guess if I had another child, NOT, I would know a bit more and be able to recognize the signs.

Anyway, I hope this is useful for anybody that is going to have a baby.  At the end of the day, I look at my children and know it is all worth it, but man, don’t let anybody tell you how “beautiful” the labour process is. It is absolutely brutal and harsh. Women should get a medal for just being women. Men will never have any clue what it is like to have a child.

 Good news is, I’m not too injured.  Only 2 stitches.   I’ll be back pretty fast!!!  Will dance very soon! Yea!