My Vietnam

I have become a father for the second time, and it was just as great as the first time when we had Mary. Thanks for frequent diaper changes and infrequent sleep, boy did I miss that! No just kidding it is just as exciting as the first time, and I did cry because it is such a great gift to get a child!

Oliver arrived on Thursday the 9th of October, 11:18 AM, one day earlier than expected which I will try to explain below why that came as such a surprise to us.

The gynecologist had already shown us on the ultra sound scan that Oliver had a rather big head (98 mm long and around 350mm in circumference), and his calculated weight was around 4,000 gram plus minus 300 gram, upper leg size around 75mm.

Wednesday the 8th of October 2008 Thu went to get one final ultra sound scan before the gynecologist could decide whether Oliver was to be born normally or by c-section. Everything seemed to confirm that Thu had to give birth to Oliver by c-section, but on the following Friday the gynecologist would have a last look to decide.

When people in Vietnam go through operation it’s very common that there are very strict rules for what they are allowed to eat afterwards, like seafood for example, they say it affects the wound and cause “hotness” which leads to uglier scars. I don’t know if this is standard procedure after operation in other countries.

In the evening I joked with Thu that we might as well prepare to eat vegetarian food for the months to come, but I think Oliver got a little bit scared when hearing this because around 2 AM in the morning on Thursday the 9th of October 2008 Thu began to bleed a little bit, and since we live rather far from the hospital in district 7 (FV Hospital) we decided to call a taxi and go there.

Now that seemed to be a wise decision because Thu went into labor right after we arrived and with more and more frequent stomach pain. The next morning we were called down to the maternity room and Thu was put on the table, we were both a bit worried that they suddenly would decide to perform the c-section, but everything went in the exact same way as when Mary was delivered.

Thu got the epidural and that took most of the pain, and the contractions became more frequent until I could see a little bit of the head and the hair. Then the gynecologist was called in and I felt so sorry for Thu who really had to push, and then was told to wait because the gynecologist was not ready yet, he had to change his clothes.

Thu told me afterwards that if she had known French she would have cursed at him, guess that was mostly because Oliver was ready to take the final push, the gynecologist was not. Anyway as the gynecologist arrived he had to creep into the gloves fairly fast because it only took one more push and there was Oliver, 4,080 gram and 55 cm purple and screaming everything totally normal.

Afterwards Oliver was placed under a warmer and they checked his blood-sugar which the pediatrician told me was standard procedure for babies 4,000 gram and upwards. In the beginning his blood-sugar was rather low, so I was told to get some milk for him from the maternity ward on 5th floor.

Everything from there on has just been a pleasure perhaps except for the lack of sleep, but it is still great. Oliver’s blood sugar was above the mark and Thu had breast milk yesterday evening so we have kept Oliver on breast milk since then, which is cool, but a bit painful for Thu though.

We are going home tomorrow on the 13th of October and I am really looking forward to getting both Thu and Oliver home, so we can spend time together with Nhi and Mary as well. Both of them have been here to visit us at the hospital, and Mary did not really want to go home again, it was tough saying goodbye to her even though I know I will see her again tomorrow.

Don’t tell anyone, but I know how to change a diaper…

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