Tessa Dianne was born on November 11, 2000 at 10:48 am, delivered by Cesarean Section. She weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. Head circumference was 13.75 inches. Pretty exciting, eh?
Labor started shortly before 10:00 pm on Thursday, November 9th. Labor progessed to a point, but by 5:00 am Saturday (31 hours later!) it became intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer that we had reached something of a plateau. Actually, the vigilant midwives noticed Tessa’s heart rate dropping during most of the contractions. Since we seemed to be stalled at 6 cm (or so, it really depended on who was checking) and her water had broken, there were just too many “variables” to continue as planned. After a brief discussion, we elected to alter our home birth plans and traveled the few hundred yards to the hospital.
Once at the hospital, the staff at Saint Peter’s acted swiftly and connected Valerie to every conceivable piece of equipment in the ward (just kidding). If we look tired, well ... we are. At this point, Valerie has her epidural, an IV (as in “eye-vee,” not the Roman Numeral for 4) and oxygen ... not to mention other pieces of monitoring equipment, tubes and such in places they don’t even mention on A Baby Story. Believe me, that’s saying something.
Even with the miracles of modern medicine, the labor was still stalled. Time to take more drastic measures. I think they thought Tessa might be offended by my lack of fashion sense, so they made me dress like this. Once in the Operating Room, it became clear the entire hospital was concerned, because everyone in the room had on the same outfit. A bowl of Jell-O and a whip, and I think I have next year’s Halloween costume!
Here she is! Her head, anyway. The rest of her followed shortly thereafter, but the pictures are a little too intense for young viewers. Lots of blood and such. All part of the process, but not really something that needs to be seen. Then again, I could put them up and require an AdultCheck ID and make some money. Nah, probably not.
Mother and Daughter finally meet, face to face! I thought it was really cool that they didn’t just cart her off into parts unknown without Valerie being able to see her. After this picture was taken, I carried Tessa to the nursery and Valerie was closed up and whisked off to recovery.
The proud father carrying her over to the nurses so they could do their thing. Tessa wasn’t really very keen on all the poking and proding, but she handled it with minimal resistance. She made it clear that she wasn’t interested in the tests, but since the nurses were persistent and looked like it was going to happen anyway, she relaxed.
Adorned with her ID tag, she’s taking in the change of surroundings. She was alert right away, and her grip strength on my finger was remarkable. Note the leg position ... modesty from Day One. A good thing for a father to see.
Still gripping my finger, I think her other hand is signalling her Grandmother that she’s had quite enough of the camera flash! Probably just coincidence ... nah.
All wrapped up and styling! This is one of the best pictures. I tried to get the hospital to give me something with the hospital stamp on it, like the shirt she’s wearing. Since it says "unauthorized possession consititutes theft," I figured that if they GAVE it to me, I'd be authorized and escape prosecution. They remained steadfast and my request was denied. On the other hand, it put me on a quest to find things without the stamp ... obviously if it wasn’t stamped, then unauthorized possession WASN’T theft, so it must be free! (Just kidding, St. Peter’s ... but I really did want something with the theft stamp on it).
Tessa getting to know her Grandmother. A kind, loving child ... full of forgiveness for things like flash photography.
Dad, Tessa and The Doctor. A remarkable individual by all accounts ... he went the extra mile to keep us informed and explain our options at every turn. Actually, the entire hospital staff was helpful and caring beyond our wildest dreams. Thank you Saint Pete’s!
