Harris Shane Lowe

Approximately 57 hours after Patty was first induced, dozens of painful contractions, one anxious moment and a Caesarian Section later, at 4:37 pm, August 13, the eight and a half pound Harris Shane Lowe sprung into this world. I always promised myself that I wouldn't be one of those parents that would gush on and on about how adorable their baby is - I'd be the first to admit that newborns pretty much look large prunes with limbs - but I will say this: we were smitten at first sight and, he can stick his fist in his mouth.

Of course we think he's best-looking baby ever (and so begins the cycle of parent one-upmanship) but as I said earlier, we're smitten. This is hands down the coolest thing to that has ever happened to us. So the 'babymoon' is full on! I just change my first crappy diaper today and didn't even mind - ask me again in 150 diapers and I might tell a different story.

The doctors and nurses at St. Paul's hospital are great. We have a happy baby boy and owe a lot to the staff for making the experience a good one. Patty was amazing through the entire labour. She kept it together the whole time, made jokes between contractions and only swore a total of nine times, remarkable considering her nickname is Miss Potty-Mouth.

It wasn't an easy labour. At 10:00 pm on Friday night, we returned to the hospital. After several hours of painful labour at home they determine Patty's close enough to be allowed to stay and at Midnight we're admitted into the Maternity ward. We're assigned the "Princess Room", the largest room in the ward (all maternity rooms at St. Paul's are private) and manage to get a couple fitful hours sleep.

Even though Patty was in active labour, her contractions actually space further apart, so around 7:00 am they suggest using Oxytocin to move things along. They start off with a low dose and it appears to work. The contractions are more painful and they give her Nitrous Oxide, or laughing gas as it's more commonly known. It's like smoking a bong. Patty loves the gas.



So do I.



At 2:30 pm Patty has a painful four-minute long contraction that seems to affect the baby too. I was dozing on the couch and woke up to a nurse strapping an oxygen mask to Patty's face. Four nurses and a doctor are buzzing around. Patty is freaking out, my heart's racing but all I can do is watch. In the end it turns out that neither Patty or the baby reacts well to Oxytocin, and while there was never any danger they had to move fast in case there was. After that ordeal, and the fact Patty's labour wasn't really progressing we decide to have a C-section.

The rest of the story you know.