OK, the blog is the last place to be updated and most everyone knows of Milo’s existence at this point but hey, being a new parent is really busy so we are just getting to this.

OK Lets start off with the stats!

• Name – Milo Christopher Shoob
• Weight – 8.5 lbs
• Height – 21 inches
• Born 5-30-18 at 1:30pm
• Total labor time 18.5 hours
• Born at Kaiser Permanente on Sunset Blvd

Now the quick(ish) story of how he came into the world. We will be doing a longer form post about our crazy labor experience and hospital time later.

Leading up to the birth we were thinking that Milo would be coming early because Nicole was getting so big, but none the less his expected birth date came and went and we started just waiting and waiting and waiting. After the expected birth date I took off work so I could be closer for when it was go time. This was super helpful as it let me get a lot of little things done around the house before Milo showed up. Finally when Milo was 5 days late I convinced Nicole to come down the hill to run errands with me just in case she went into labor. We ran a bunch of errands and got Impossible Burgers at Golden Road. No signs of labor and we went back up the hill.

About 6:30 Nicole mentioned that she wasn’t feeling so good and we thought it was perhaps too much junk food at the bar. But no, it was the start of labor and by 8pm we  counting contractions. We were really nervous about the timing of everything because we are so far from the hospital. So when contractions were 5 minutes apart we headed down the hill. It was midnight at this point. We got to the hospital a little after 1am and they said congratulations, you are in labor! Now, even if you are in labor that doesn’t mean they will admit you. You have to be dilated to 6cm normally (10cm is big enough to get a baby out) before you are admitted. Despite contractions being constant at this point Nicole was only dilated to 1cm so they almost sent us home. Luckily (?) her blood pressure was a little high so they had us just hangout in the triage room till around 3am and then they were able to get us admitted.

The next few hours all blended together and it was a lot of pain and a lot of ice in tied up in medical gloves. I have no idea why they couldn’t give us a bag of some sort. Nicole was amazing and she pushed through the pain all morning. Milo was being monitored throughout the morning and occasionally his heart rate would drop and Nicole had to change positions, but at 10:30am all hell broke loose.

Our doctor ended her shift and a new OB came in an no sooner than she walk in the room than Milo’s heart rate take a dive. The doc starts freaking out and soon we are surrounded by nurses. Everyone is shouting and Nicole is given a shot to ease the contractions. This is supposed to allow Milo a little recovery time between contractions so it doesn’t stress his heart as much. In all the commotion, Nicole’s mom Patty arrived at the hospital. We were very happy to see her and it was great to have a second person in the room. With the new meds and Patty there we thought we would get to relax a little.

Labor continued for the next few hours and it was more of the same. Nicole was in a lot of pain. She is an amazing and super strong woman. Just watching what she was going through made me want an epidural. The shit hit the fan again a little after 1pm. Milo’s heart rate dipped again and the nurses and doctor again rushed the room. This time they were more worried as it had been more time that the heart rate had dipped. They again called for a shot to slow the contractions but this time it didn’t work right away. We were given a hard choice. Emergency C-Section or keep going knowing it was a risk to Milo. This was not what we wanted and was one of the saddest decisions we had to make (also the fastest). We went with the C-Section.

Things went really crazy from there. A Benny Hill esc. group of nurses whisked her bed down the hall to the operating room only crashing into one wall along the way. I was given a set of scrubs to wear, though they were totally unnecessary it turns out. And Patty was left to move all our stuff from the labor room to the post opp room. As soon as I got the scrubs on I was blocked from the operating room. Because of the emergency nature of this and the fact they had to totally knock Nicole out, I was not allowed in the operating room. I was told to wait in a chair in the hall outside the room. Sitting patently in a chair while someone cuts Nicole in half to scoop out our baby is not a real option. So I stood in the hall and watched as much as I could through the little port hole window in the operating room door.

After what seems like an eternity I hear a baby cry, then a thumbs up from the doctor, then eventually a nurse steps out and lets me know Milo is ok and they are going to start putting Nicole back together. It turns out that Milo had the cord wrapped around his legs and that was causing his heart rate to fluctuate. The nurse that had been with us in the morning came into the hall then to check on things. She had been at lunch when we got rushed to the operating room. She was mad for us and knew that this was not the birth we wanted. She asked if there was anything she could do, and I asked her to go in the operating room to be with Milo. Once he was out and checked that he was ok, he was kinda ignored while Nicole got stitched up. She went in and was with him for a while, but then came out and said they were finishing up in the operating room and directed me to the recovery room.

Milo came to the recovery room first. He was so cute and so sleepy. I got to watch as they put him though all his newborn test and took his measurements. Once the test were over I held him and watched as Nicole was wheeled into the room. She was knocked out. The nurses were trying to take her temperature and she kept rolling away from them. Eventually we were left alone and I held Milo for a few hours till Nicole woke up.

The Anesthesiologist, came in to check on Nicole and told me that the surgery went well. He was really nice and told me what went on in the operating room. He stayed and chatted for a bit and then said he would be back when Nicole starts to wake up. Eventually the OB came in and told me the same thing that everyone else had said. I was so mad at her and still am. But Milo is out and Nicole is recovering well so I suppose I shouldn’t be too pissed.

Finally Nicole woke up and got to hold Milo. We were all so happy. Nicole’s Mom Patty, and her husband Keith even got to come in at that point and see Milo and Nicole. Once Nicole was awake for a bit, the Anesthesiologist came back and gave her the OK to be moved into the post-delivery rooms. Patty and Keith had taken off to go get some rest and we had all of our bags from the delivery room (plus a cooler with a Placenta) so we we’re sure how we were going to move everything to the room. But one helpful nurse to the rescue; we piled the bags on the Nicole’s hospital bed, Nicole held Milo, and I grabbed the cooler and backpack. With all our stuff, we were off. And even with just one nurse pushing a huge bed, we were able to avoid crashing into a wall.

The next two days were all a bit of a blur. Nurses, family, and friends were in and out of our room. My parents came down to visit, Nicole’s mom came back, and we had a bunch of friends stop by. It was really wonderful to be around everyone. Not so wonderful was sleeping in a chair, but hey, at least I didn’t get cut in half. After a day Nicole was cleared to eat solid foods again and we immediately used Postmates to order Doomies. Vegan Fired Chicken delivered straight to the room! During this time Milo just slept, he would wake up to nurse but then go right back to sleep. Every so often a doctor or nurse would come in to check something on him and they would have to wake him up. But luckily, he always went right back to bed. In all the inspections, Milo was looking good. The only thing that may have or may not have been an issue was a very minor tongue tie. The pediatrician and Lactation consultant were at odds on whether it needed to be snipped at all. Eventually we sided with the lactation consultant, mostly because she was a sassy British lady who was concerned of future ice cream cone eating.

Finally, 48 hours after delivery we were released from the hospital. I put the car in the loading zone. Nicole and Milo got wheeled downstairs. A wonderful nurse, strapped Milo into the car seat and we were off. A little family headed home for the first time ever.