Introducing Zakir "Zaki" Owen Baxamusa



Well it has been 5 days since the baby was born and I thought the blog needed an update.

Let's start with the labor and birth... My older sister Erica flew in from Seattle two days before my due date so everyone was hoping the baby would come on time. My due date passed with some painful contractions in the evening, but not spaced close enough together to head to the hospital. We decided to turn in for the night and see if we couldn't get things going again in the morning. The next morning, Erica and I took a long walk to get the contractions going again, and then came home to relax. Around noon, we were just about to watch another episode of Arrested Development when I decided that my contractions, though not very regular and still spaced a bit apart, were getting to painful to ignore. We headed into the hospital, wondering if they were going to tell me to go back home. I ate half a sandwich before heading up to the birthing area because I know they don't like you to eat once you're there. They examined me and surprise surprise, I was already 6 cm dilated.

By the time I got to the LDR room, I was ready to get an epidural - or at least get the process started. Since needles and catheters make me completely squeamish, the process of getting the epidural in place was pretty scary for me. The nurse who put my IV in place had to pick a new site and start over - yuck. And I'm not exactly what happened when the epidural was going in, but I was freaking out a little because it turns out that a student doctor was putting it in place and for some reason they didn't ask me if that was okay in advance. I tried my best not to listen to what they were saying as they put it in, but it seems like something went wrong and they had to start over.

Once the epidural kicked in, things seemed great until they examined me and found that I was still at 6 centimeters. I was given the choice between pitosin and an amniotomy, and I decided to go with the amniotomy (popping the bag of fluids). After this, things sped up considerably and all of sudden, the contractions went from completely painless to as painful as they had been prior to the epidural. I managed to get a small boost of medicine and by the time it kicked in, it was already time to push. Things went fast. After twenty minutes of pushing, we had a baby at 5:52 pm. Unlike last time, we were able to get the baby right up to my belly immediately and he even nursed a little right away, which was a wonderful experience.

Erica had left the hospital around 4:30 to go pick Nuri up from day care. They ate dinner together and came back to the hospital. When they arrived, I was alone in the postpartum room while Sal was with the new baby to check vitals in the nursery. We were happily reunited without the pressure of the new arrival around. After a few minutes, Sal came in with the baby and eventually we introduced him to Nuri.

We all spent the evening together and Sal took Nuri home for the night while Erica stayed to help me in the hospital. Nuri had never spent a night away from me before and he typically seeks comfort from me at night, so we weren't sure how it was going to go. Thankfully, he was rather accepting when we told him that I had to stay at the doctor's for the night and that he was going to go home and sleep with Daddy. The night went well for them too.

Meanwhile at the hospital, things went well at night for us too. I slept most of the night, waking every couple of hours to change positions or to try nursing again. This time I kept the baby with me in bed, which allowed me to get much more sleep. By the next morning, I needed a nap but was overall fairly well-rested. I managed to brush my teeth twice and shower the day after the birth, a feat I never could have accomplished with Nuri's birth. There is definitely a learning curve with the first child that doesn't need to be repeated. Not pulling an all-nighter during labor and delivery helps too.

The next evening Nuri again came to the hospital to hang out with us, along with some visitors. The second night went similarly to the first, both at home and in the hospital. The baby actually slept a 5 hour stretch (not to be repeated as of yet). We all came home from the hospital Friday afternoon and picked Nuri up from day care. The weekend was the most challenging part because our napping times were mostly limited to Nuri's nap time (at least I can't sleep when he's awake) and because we threw Nuri's schedule off unintentionally, resulting in a couple of difficult nights. However, we did manage to get out to Harvard Square for some hot cocoa (Nuri got to ride the "red choo-choo," which is far more important than the cocoa in his mind). And on Sunday, after Erica left for the airport, we went to dinner at a friend's house.

Nursing was quite the challenge with Nuri, but armed with new knowledge and abilities, I was able to get the baby to latch almost immediately and feeding is going really well. He seems much less anxious than Nuri was as an infant, which might have something to do with the fact that he's not so hungry all the time. This morning he slept in his rocking chair for an hour while we got Nuri ready for school, something that Nuri basically never did.

So overall, life is pretty manageable, much more so than when Nuri was an infant. Partially because we are not first-time parents, and partially because we have help, it has been much easier this time around. We are super grateful to have had Erica come help us and equally grateful to have a line-up of helpers for the next month (my younger sister Ava arrives tonight).

And now for the name: His first name Zakir (think rhymes with "soccer") is an alternate form of Zachary, meaning "one who remembers." His knick-name Zaki (rhymes with "wacky") means bright or pure, complementing "Nuri" (light). He shares his middle name, Owen, with Owen Chaimberlain, the late Nobel laureate and Berkeley physics professor who I spent much time with in Berkeley. His widow Senta has always welcomed us into her home as if we were her own children.