2004-03-17 - 1:37 p.m.

Story of my new nephew's birth, from an email transcript of a phone call I had w/Melanie at 11:00.

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More details in real time from phone conversation.

Melanie was out shopping yesterday, had a doctor's appt too. Nurse warned her not to walk around too much else she'll start labor, but Melanie poo-poo'd that. Got home, rested, made dinner (chicken parmesan from scratch). Finished dinner at 8, Melanie went to put Alexandra to bed. Got up from couch, felt something warm. Went to bathroom leaving a trail. Couldn't decide whom to call first, decided on doctor first, even though contractions hadn't started yet. Got through to midwife on duty, who told her not to rush, but that she needed to go to hospital. Got Mom to come over. Alexandra was a bit scared. Didn't have bag packed - that was task for today. Did have list of everything, so she followed list, got stuff together, Alexandra helped too. Mom got there. Melanie and Peter left on unplowed roads. Melanie was having an occasional contraction, but nothing painful or regular. Got to hospital, hooked up to monitor and everything. Mercy's facilities are much nicer than Baystate's according to Melanie. Doctor on call decided biggest factor was that Melanie hadn't finished dinner till 8 - full belly. Either pump stomach or wait. Decided to do C-section at 5 in the morning, prep starts at 3:30. What to do with Peter? Peter decided to stay, got about 2.5 or 3 hours of sleep. Melanie got about an hour of very uncomfortable sleep with more regular contractions (but unproductive ones - exactly what happened with Alexandra). Came and prepped Melanie at 3:30 a.m. at which point the real fun began with the epidural trying to curl up so back is bowed so anesthesiologist can find where to inject. Melanie started giving her directions, and it finally worked. For about a minute it was bliss, until she realized she got too much, and felt like she couldn't breathe. So that was unpleasant. Came with an oxygen mask to help her breathe...which was a bit scary. Realized there was nothing she could do, but closed her eyes and drifted away. Had no idea how long that lasted. Laid there and tried not to move, but focused on feeling the nurse squeezing the mask. Meanwhile, Peter was sitting out in the hall, hearing everything. This whole process between the epidural and the birth at 5:42 was about 2o minutes. Out comes the baby. Peter got to cut the cord. Everyone's crying with happiness, they're sewing Melanie up, who is more relaxed and in and out of consciousness. She went into recovery and is here to tell the tale. Jen: No Hep B vaccine. Peter went home to get some real sleep.

Birth time: 5:42 a.m. Weight: 7 pounds 11 ounces, 21.5 inches long. Melanie says he's perfect and beautiful. The nurses think he was breech for most of the pregnancy since his head is so perfectly shaped.

Room 112 at Mercy. Expects to be there till Friday. Baby doesn't look much like Alexandra and has a deep dimple in one cheek.

Yes, there is a Saint Zachary - the father of John the Baptist. Mel and Peter like the way Zachary sounds, and balances with Alexandra. Other choices were Michael and Jake.