Aloha Om Maui O’hana! I hope this message reaches you in happiness and health! I just wanted to share some news with you about our newest edition to the Om Maui O’hana, Ka’io Lee Jakeway Menelau. Our son was born in the late afternoon of May 7th, 2013 and weighed 8lb. and 15.7oz. Yesterday he turned 1 week old and I have been loving every second of spending time with my precious son. I can’t wait for you all to meet him! Aloha!!!
**Read on if you would like more details about the birth and the past week:
Ka’io made his way into this world last week on May 7th. We had a very long labor which started on Monday evening, May 6th, around 8:30pm when my water had ruptured and immediately started contractions 2-4mins apart. We arrived at the hospital around 11pm and about 6 hours of labor later, 4-5cm dilated and my body shaking in convulsions, I enjoyed the modern world of medicine with a epidural cocktail. This allowed me to rest up for the long haul. At about 1pm, Tuesday, Doctor said it was time to push which brought a lot of energy and excitement! I pushed for 30 min and nothing. Dr. said that baby’s head was slightly off to the side and right above the canal so when I would push he would hit my pelvic bone and cause swelling. He said any other person who pushed as hard as I did would have had the baby out in less than 10 minutes. He then advised me to take a break, lie on my side and turn over every 15min or so, in hopes baby would turn. He also advised that it could be physically impossible and risky to have the baby because of his size (he expected at least 8lbs). Around 3pm, Dr. came back and noticed baby had dropped so he said that we’d try to push one more time but if we couldn’t get him to turn we’d have to go to c-section. At this point I told him that I would do whatever he said for me to do and pleaded that he didn’t give up on me having a normal delivery. We pushed for 5 min and nothing major happened except for a better realization that be was a big baby so he decided to try using a suction device to grab baby’s head and hopefully try to turn him as our last attempt for a normal delivery. At this point for me, I went into “it’s now or never” mode….when it came time to push I don’t know what kind of force came over me but I pushed with every muscle in my body. With the lively encouragement (by this I mean yelling “PUSH!!!” hehe) and help of the Dr, nurse, my partner Livio, my mom and a funny suction device Ka’io finally made his way into this world with a whopping 8lb and 15.7oz…pretty much 9lb!!! I was elated and exhausted! Everyone in the room was overwhelmed with joy! The doctor was amazed at his size and told me the next day that the birth broke him out in a sweat and that he felt like he got a “work out”. 🙂 The hospital staff was amazing, I stayed an extra night and enjoyed the assistance of the nursing crew.
We came home Thursday morning from the hospital and have been enjoying and adapting naturally to our sweet baby. Ka’io is very calm and likes music. He loves to eat, sleep and do other major bodily functions. Daddy is happier than ever to have a “mini-me” and loves to swaddle baby with blankets into what he calls “sushi rolls”. Our families are so happy and we are in heaven.
I never understood how joyful this special time and experience really is…I’m grateful that I have you folks to share it with! I can’t wait for you all to meet him!!!
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