On the fourth day we did more laundry than we had in a month. Sullivan ate, slept, pooped, and smiled back at his proud parents. By now we were getting faster at changing diapers, though he discovered a knack for peeing on his mother or father whenever the diaper came off. We all mostly concentrated on our first full day as a family at home. Visitors and phone calls kept us busy.
After one last educational session with a Mercy nurse, the three of us packed up our things to come home. I had been able to stay the night on a cot in Teressa and Sullivan’s room, which was perfect because I didn’t want to leave.
Walking through the hallway carrying a new car seat, I was sure that everyone knew I was a new dad. On the drive home we were hypersensitive to the dangers of cars on the road. When the three of us got home to Cape Elizabeth, we found a blue balloon on the front door and groceries in the kitchen. Anne, the new grandmother, had been busy. We were welcome.
We spent the rest of the day staring at our beautiful son, unable to believe our eyes. The gravity in our solar system had shifted with the arrival of a new planet.
Teressa and I had spent hours reading through name books, writing down the names we liked, and vetoing the ones we didn’t. This task was at least twice as hard because we didn’t know the baby’s gender. Finally we had a short list of names that we could pair with family names in some way.
Sullivan Marsh Gardiner had been our favourite boy’s name, but we wanted to sleep on it to make sure it fit. How do you name a person–it seemed so arbitrary but at the same time such a huge responsibility. What made him a Sullivan? His black eyes?
Even though we had decided, it wasn’t his name until we told it to everyone else. On Sunday morning the phone began to ring, and his name became official. Sheri and Keith brought 7 month old Noah to visit, and Shane and Meg (who is 8 months pregnant) came in to see us. Rob and Anne came by for another glimpse and more photos.
Sullivan also had his first bath that evening. His new mom and dad tried to learn as much as they could from the amazing nurses at Mercy Hospital. With help at the call of a button (please teach me how to better change his diaper, etc) it felt a bit like practicing a trapeze act knowing that there would be no net in another day.
At 1:52 a.m. on May 21, 2005 Teressa and I began to wonder if her water had broken and then decided that it was time to call Dr. Ward’s answering service. The midwife who answered advised us to go to the hospital. Over the next hour we finished packing (!) our hospital bag–to that point we’d gathered only the cribbage board, boggle, and about half of our things (later, Marsh had to jog to a nearby store for phone cards). By 3 a.m the two of us were on our way out the door.
Once we were checked in to the hospital, t began to notice some regularity to her contractions she hadn’t realized she was having. After an exam, the nurse announced that we were in labor! 12 hours and a jacuzzi later our son was born. Newly minted grandparents Rob and Anne met him at 15 minutes old. The phone began to ring and ring.
Born May 21, 2005 at 2:13 pm after 12 hours of labor.
7 lbs 1 ounce
20 inches long
12 3/4″ head circumference
See the first photos in his week one album by clicking the thumbnail on the left.
What were you doing on May 21, 2005? Add a comment to tell us.
