Most photographed baby!

Benjamin had his American passport pictures taken when he was 8 days old. He had his Canadian passport pictures, Canadian citizenship pictures and Korean immigration registration pictures taken when he was 12 days old. All counted we needed 4 sets of pictures - all different sizes! He went to sleep both times just before we arrived at the store and we had to wake him up which he wasn't too pleased about. This resulted in a red-faced crying baby. Not quite the neutral expression, close-mouthed, open-eyed picture they were looking for. It took us a lot of tries, but we finally got the pictures taken. I think his face adequately expresses how he feels about the whole situation. (This is his American passport picture.)

Labour and Delivery (Devilry?)

Sorry it's taken so long to post the details of the birth. Those babies have a way of sucking up your time! The birth happened something like this...

Thursday, Sept. 15th 9:30 am: Karen and I arrive at the hospital and the doctor inserts Cervidil. After 12 hours there is no progress. He inserts a new Cervidil, and an IV (different locations!) because of dehydration. Next 12 hours - still no progress.

Friday, Sept. 16th: They start an Oxytocin drip on low dosage to see if the baby can handle the contractions. If not...C-section. Contractions start immediately and the baby's heart rate goes up as it is supposed to. Praise God!

At 1:00 I am 3-4cm dilated and the contractions were very manageable.

At 3:10 the doctor says he is going to break my water. If there is meconium in the water it means the baby is in distress and we have to do a C-section. (At this point we are all physically exhausted after getting very little sleep the night before, and mentally exhausted thinking about whether or not we were going to be able to avoid a C-section. The word has been mentioned several times, and it is the one thing I really want to avoid. I know Colin doesn't want to be in the room during an operation, and I don't want to be asleep when our baby is born. I could get a spinal block but it's hard to imagine being conscious of what is happening on the other side of the curtain - even if you can't feel it. My imagination is just too vivid!) Thankfully, there isn't any meconium.


The contractions immediately became more intense and within an hour they are about 2.5 minutes apart. At this point I start feeling like I might get sick. Colin helps by putting pressure on my lower back during each contraction.

Just before six the doctor tells us we won't be able to give birth in the water as we planned because the baby's condition is too unstable. That is disappointing, but I am still so relieved that there won't be a C-section that I don't think about it much. Also, I am too busy throwing up and running to the bathroom. (Those IVs really do hydrate well!)

At 6:40 the head nurse says I am 7-8cm dilated. The doctor tells me if I have the urge to push, to go ahead and push. I am supposed to be walking so I try, but it's a very small hospital and I'm really pacing not walking. I have only enough room to take about 10 steps before I have to turn around. Plus, I have to drag the blasted IV stand with me and it's not the easiest thing to steer. I start to feel cranky. The "peaceful meditation music" playing for the 400th time is anything but peaceful, and when Karen says something funny I feel annoyed that she and Colin are not in as much pain as I am in.


At 7:20 I get back in the bed and start to push. The doctor says to push three times during each contraction. At first I push and let out my breath at the same time, but then am told or figure out that I need to hold it during the pushes. They hook me up to some oxygen and the pushing continues. I use the "pantyhose rope" to pull while I am trying to push and it is quite helpful. The pantyhose rope is a rope of material (not really pantyhose) tied in knots and hanging from the ceiling. While they prepare the delivery room I am asked to go to the bathroom and push a few times while I'm there. (Pushing in a different position can help things progress.


8:25 We go into the delivery room. Colin is given a robe to put on and he stands behind my head wiping the sweat from my face. (It's like a furnace in there!) The baby's heart rate has dropped into the 70's (usually 120-160 in utero) and the doctors are shouting, "Push hard! Push hard!" Dr. Kim gets up on the steps next to the delivery table and during contractions pushes with all his weight on my belly to help move the baby down. He does this during each contraction. They up the oxygen and the baby's heart rate is in the 80's or 90's. I'm pushing as hard as I can but I really have no idea if I'm making any progress. Finally I hear the doctor say about 5cm of the baby's head is out. By this time I've given up labouring quietly. I have a full grown man pushing on my stomach with all his weight at the same time that I am pushing as hard as I can. During the contractions I grunt as I push and then end up gasping for air. I listen to Colin and Karen's voices encouraging me and try to concentrate on pushing and breathing. Those 11 minutes feel like an eternity, but at 8:36 Benjamin James Creech is born and they lay him on my stomach! He looks bluish-grey at first, but soon turns pink and starts to cry.

The doctor finishes up his business - removing blood clots and putting in stitches. The placenta is a piece of cake after the baby!

They take the Benjamin to the nursery to check various things and slowly let his body temperature adjust to the cooler temperature outside the womb.

We are stunned and amazed at our son.

"For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139: 13-16


We pray that God will guide us in our new job as parents, and that he will bless our son. We pray that our son will grow to be a man of integrity who loves the Lord with all his heart.

Happy Birthday!

September 16th, 2005
8:36pm
Benjamin James Creech
8 pounds, 4 ounces
22 inches

more details to come...

Tomorrow I go in first thing after breakfast to check how the baby is doing. My official due date is today but at last Saturday's appointment I was having regular contractions for a while and the amniotic fluid was a little low. The doctor said they might have to admit me so Colin made a trip home for the car seat and hospital bag. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the contractions had stopped by the time he returned so the trip was for naught. The doctor said that if I didn't go into labor on my own by my due date that I should come in after breakfast on Thursday and they would start things, the reason being that low amniotic fluid can be a sign that the baby is under stress.

This all sounded rational at the doctor's office on Saturday. Then suddenly this afternoon I started to panic and get nervous. What was I doing? What was really going to happen tomorrow? What drugs were they going to use? Was I going to be able to give birth in the water like I wanted to? Was the doctor just trying to get my delivery out of the way so he could enjoy his holiday this weekend? (This weekend is one of the 2 major Korean holidays - similar to Thanksgiving.) What about all the negative things I had read on the internet about people being induced and having terrible experiences: extremely painful contractions, long labours that stalled leading to C-sections... I know, the people on these bulletin boards are hardly authorities. One movie we saw recently described the Internet as the "sacred sanctuary of nutters and psychos" - probably a fairly accurate description, but still, some of those stories were probably true!

My sister (who arrived very early last Saturday) calmed me down some and we tried to call the hospital. Unfortunately all I got was detailed menu of options to choose from and I didn't know what any of them were. Then I tried the doctor's cell phone but didn't get an answer. That was to be expected, but I thought I would try anyway. My third option was to call Grace, have her talk to the nurses at the hospital and ask them to get the doctor to call me. She gracefully helped me out as she has done so many times before. The doctor called back and after talking to him I felt much better. He answered all my questions and reassured me that we don't have to do anything I am not comfortable with.

So, tomorrow is going to involve a check of the baby, then probably a hormone inserted to get things underway. I'll have to stay at the hospital for 12 hours during which time they will monitor contractions. If regular labour is established they'll remove the hormone and let things progress on their own. I'll still be able to labour in the water. If nothing happens I have the option of trying once more or being discharged to see if nature runs its course in the next few days.

Work's finished... bring on the labour!

Well, it's now September and time seems to be flying by. Colin is back to work and I am finally finished! My sister arrives this Friday and the baby arrives...? At our appointment on Saturday the doctor said any time now. That's exciting! The baby now weighs about 3.5kg. We had to laugh when the doctor told us his head and abdominal circumference were the same - we're having an alien baby! I don't feel nervous about the delivery yet, I'm much too excited about meeting this little guy. I can't wait to kiss his little baby toes instead of feeling his feet jammed under my rib cage. (Although the rib prodding is not much to put up with in return for getting a baby.) We're still undecided on a name, although we have a couple of favourites we keep throwing around.