Real Talk: The Birth…

This video captures a lot of what we’ll be facing with Evanna’s birth and the days following, and is well worth the time to watch:

There are differences, of course, between the baby in the video and Evanna, but the basics of the timeline are there.

For us, there’s a possibility of doing a vaginal birth (despite what the video says, conventional wisdom goes back and forth on the risks, which are lowered by location of Evanna’s legion, with JoAnn having having given birth four times already, and with the pushing stage historically being pretty fast. That answer we should have when we have the initial consult at UW Hospital on the 15th.

However, when Evanna is transported to Seattle Children’s, I’ll be going with and riding in the ambulance, and I’ll be with her in NICU until JoAnn is through recovery and makes her way over.

And now for the real talk: when I’m asked, as I often am (and it means a lot to be asked, even if sometimes uncomfortable) about how I’m doing, I’m being truthful when I say I’m doing ok. I am. Really.

But that ok is a range. I’m not a Vulcan, or some uncaring machine.

Raw proof…as I was watching the video above, at the point of his surgeries and after:

Yep, eyes leaking, realizing that my little girl is likely to have multiple surgeries within the first few days of life, that she’ll be hooked up to all those monitors like the little boy in the video was…as a dad, that was the hardest part to watch.

Yet she’ll be with us, and she’ll be incredibly loved…and she’ll stubbornly fight through all of that (it’s in her DNA after all).

I’ll be sharing the journey with all y’all–probably not with video like this one, but certainly with lots of pictures and words.

The fundraiser below…if you can help with any amount…here’s the biggest part how it will help: I’m self-employed, with a great majority of my work in the form of monthly maintenance contracts of servers or networks, with some general break-fix type work added in. During the first 3 days, for example, when JoAnn is in recovery and I’m at Seattle Children’s with Evanna (in NICU, and at least her first surgery), the fund helps cover the cost of another consultant to cover any work that needs to be done during that time, since I’ll have pay for that out of pocket. Amounts beyond will help allow me to stay longer, or be able to visit more often during the remainder of Evanna’s stay at Children’s. Ideally, what I’d like to do is be able to split my time, perhaps doing what remote work I can from up there, with occasional trips out as needed (or as a needed break).

This video captures a lot of what we’ll be facing with Evanna’s birth and the days following, and is well worth the time to watch: There are differences, of course, between the baby in the video and Evanna, but the basics of the timeline are there. For us, there’s a possibility of doing a vaginal…