New Band Member!

The Oranges are very pleased to announce a new addition to the band. Milo Samuel Johnson was born on May 29 at 11:41 pm weight 7 lbs 14 oz and length 22 1/2 inches. He has not yet chosen an instrument but the existing band members have every confidence that he will be a tremendous asset to the group.

As predicted, he had a HUGE conehead! It was very alien-like. But he's looking much more human now and so precious. We already love him like crazy. It's a little weird that he hasn't always been here. How were we ever happy before? He's a great baby. Such a sweetheart. The only thing that really makes him cry is being hungry. He's a really good sport about being passed around and held and played with. Very polite and nice to everyone. Our little gentleman.

For those of you who are morbidly curious (Margaret), I'm giving you the birth story. For everyone else, skip to the pictures.

The hospital called us for an induction on Thursday afternoon. They started me on Cervadil (sp?) at 7 pm which takes 12 hours to work. I had mini contractions all night and then at 7 am they started me on the Pitocin. At around 9 I started having stronger contractions and as the morning went on they got worse and worse. I wasn't dilated very far but the pain was horrible! Why am I such a wuss? I almost broke Matt's hand squeezing it to manage the pain. So finally I was dilated enough to get an epidural and it was wonderful! Sheer bliss after all that. So all afternoon I was doped up and happy.

Oh but wait. Epidurals can wear off. Did you know this? Why did no one warn me? The epidural started wearing off around dinner time and I was feeling contractions again so I asked for more meds. They reluctantly gave me a little half dose more of epidural. So phew. I was happy again.

Until about 9. Epidural starts to wear off again. At 9:30 nurse checks dilation - whoa! I went from 7 to 10 in an hour and the baby's head is really low. Time to push at 10:00. Nurse gets everything ready and we start to push. Cue the fever and vomiting. Suddenly I can not stop throwing up a lovely dark green substance. We go through that again about every ten minutes. I was actually a little embarrassed in front of Matt. I mean, how could I possibly have looked worse? But he was a total sweetheart and he handled it like a pro. Good guy.

I guess the baby was "sunny side up" which makes it harder to push and then his head was also turned to the side a little which also makes it hard to push. So eventually after an hour of pushing the doctor shows up to "assist" in getting the baby out. They get out the vacuum plunger thing to suck out his head. Oops. The baby has such a big cone head that the plunger won't attach. Guess that won't work. Meanwhile I am absolutely beside myself with pain and panic. I still had the epidural but I swear I could feel everything. The contractions were so painful and I could feel the baby's head with every push. I ask you - does that sound like the epidural was working? Seriously! So not cool.

Meanwhile, I have like 10 people yelling at me to "Push!" and "You're almost there!" (which Matt told me later was a big lie and just something they said to torture me). So more time goes by and more very painful pushes and baby's heart rate is dropping and (according to Matt) the doctor is starting to look a little panicked. I was totally not with it so I have to take Matt's word for it but I guess just as the doctor was reaching for the forceps I finally finally managed to get him out.

They whisked him away to work on him (he needed air) and they did the whole after birth thing with me. But when that was all over I got to meet him at last in what was one of the most significant of the moments in my life so far. He cried his head off and so did I. I was so overwhelmed and relieved and just so grateful.

End of Birth Story

It's been about a week and getting to know Milo is the best pass time ever. He's such a little miracle. It's freaky and cool to be connected to someone this way. It's nothing I've ever felt before and I love it.

Matt is the best husband ever. He was so awesome with me in the hospital. He didn't faint or throw up or have to leave the room at any time (which was a genuine concern of mine). He's off to a great start as a dad and of course there's no one I'd rather share this experience with. Matt especially loves to watch Milo be burped - I hold up his chin with one hand and smack him on the back with the other and Milo makes such cute funny faces while I do it and then lets out a most unbaby-like belch. We call it "the burp show."

So all in all, everything's good and it was all worth it. I'm so grateful for family and for this amazing gift. Life has changed again. I'm so excited for this next big adventure. Thanks for all your support everybody. We love you and can't wait to introduce you to the sweetest and best new member of THE ORANGES.

P.S. More and better pictures are on the way - for reasons out of my control the cutest ones are hard copies and need to be converted to digital. I promise you'll get them soon! ~em