we had been waiting and waiting for iris to come. aina had come and gone, and no iris. now gus was here. i wasn't sure she would come while he was with us. i think i had it in my mind that she was never coming out, but she did. on september 15th at 3:35 am she entered our world. here is her story.
scott and i wanted to take gus to dinner at our favorite restaurant, the hippopotamus (don't ask why it is named that), for his birthday. it was a friday night so traffic was heavy. i started having contractions in the car on the way to the restaurant. i didn't really say anything to scott to avoid a freak out, and besides, i wanted to have a good meal. i could tell that these contractions were different and would eventually lead to labor, so i suggested we go eat somewhere closer. we headed to our second favorite restaurant, thai garden, and enjoyed a nice quiet meal. the contractions continued and by the end of the meal my lower back is aching. i suggested we hurry and get the check and go home because it hurts just to sit straight up. when we are headed home i tell scott that i am having regular, hard contractions and it might be time to call becca (she is a labor and delivery nurse who comes to my appointments and will be in on the delivery.) the funny thing is that when i tell scott this, he is at the beginning of a story. our conversation was like this:
scott: i have to tell you what i learned about the eggs here...
me: (groaning in pain) babe, these contractions are really hard. it might be time to call becca.
silence in the car because i am breathing through the contraction.
scott: well, while it is quiet, do you want to hear the story about the egg?
as most of you know, scott is good at providing comic relief. so we get home and the contractions are about 10 minutes apart so we call becca to come over. i labor at home until the contractions are 3 minutes apart, then we head to the clinic. by this time it is 1 am. after many speed bumps and potholes (not fun to drive through when you are in labor) we arrive at the clinic. the clinic was locked so we actually had to ring the bell for someone to let us in. the guy was sleeping on a hospital bed next to the door. i felt like i should be apologizing for waking him up to let us in. we head to the second floor where, once again, we are waking up the nurses who were sleeping. once they get up i get settled into the delivery room. plain room, tile floor, metal carts for medical supplies, no air conditioning, and no chairs for scott and becca. very, very different from the hardwood floor, flat screen on the wall, air condition room we were used to in the states. highlights from the labor include: my iv tube being dropped on the floor and then put in my hand, scott spotting dried blood on the floor (not mine), scott and becca opening a window and standing in front of it just to get some air, my epidural feeling like i just got a knife in the back, scott running up and down to the lobby to send messages to our family, meanwhile waking up the guy down there every time because the guy had to turn the light on. comedy.
my doctor was amazing. i will avoid specific details, but i will tell you that after only 2 pushes she pretty much pulled iris out. my quickest labor and delivery yet. exactly what we prayed for. iris went into the nursery while i was recovering, which was hard for me because ella and b were always right next to me. i told scott to go check on her and after several knocks on the nursery door (all the lights off...was the nurse sleeping?) scott was finally let in and saw about 20 babies all lined up. he said he had never seen so many babies in his life. after recovering for an hour we all head to our room. we paid extra to get the suite because it was bigger and had air conditioning. who know i had to have a baby to get 2 days in air conditioning? anyways, we get to our room and get settled in and then the nurse tries to get us to switch rooms. i don't know exactly what she is saying but i know it has to do with the ac. she tried telling us that it was broken, which it wasn't. they tried to get us to switch rooms but we didn't. they were afraid that me or the baby would get sick because we would be too cold. each nurse that would come into our room would make a comment about the ac. when the nurse brought iris to our room (after her bath), we noticed that the note card taped to her bassinet (the notecard had scott's name on it, not iris') said that she weighed 4 kilos, which is well over 8 pounds. impossible. she was my tiniest of the three. we had her weighed again before we left (najate went with her to be a witness) and that time she weighed 3 kilos. so, it is unknown how much she actually weighed at birth. that was our first night/early morning in the hospital. our second night in the hospital we had iris stay in the nursery for a couple of hours. scott and i had to get some sleep since we had been up all night the night before. iris was quickly introduced to tea, which i am guessing they gave her in a bottle. i could not communicate to the nurses to tell them to bring her to me when she needs to eat. all just a part of it, i guess. we left the hospital the following day. thank the Lord for najate who came up in the morning to help us fill out paper work and pay the bill! speaking of the bill, the hospital bill was about $1,000. can't beat it. when i see my doctor again and iris sees a pediatrician, we are ready to go home. so, we just head out. simple as that. no security tag taken off (because one wasn't put on), no being wheeled out in a wheel chair or having a nurse check the car seat. i think we are one of the few that actually have a car seat. you just have to love the moroccan way.
continuing with the story, i had to get iris' birth certificate in order to get her passport. najate and i head out with iris in tow. after going to the wrong government building and circling around trying to find where we are supposed to be, we finally get there. we go into the building and meet with a guy who proceeds to tell me i need my marriage certificate, passport, etc. the funny thing is that friends of ours who had just had a baby two months before us went to get the same certificate, but did not need all that. so, i had to go back home and then have najate go back with all my papers. now that we finally have the certificate we can get her passport. scott and i (and iris) arrive at the consulate office and scott realizes he forgot his wallet. so, we proceed with the paperwork and then i go back to the consulate to pay for her passport. i know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it really is when you take into consideration driving in traffic, having to find parking, and then having to find an atm that actually works. not as easy as you might think.
all this to say, it was an adventure from start to finish. we have many memories and iris has quite a story. although complicated and uncomfortable more often than not, we are thankful for the peace throughout this journey and for the Lord's faithfulness.
