I knew my time was going to squeezed a little tight once the baby arrived. I didn't know it would cease to exists. Let's see . . .
Darcey and I waited patiently for the two weeks following our December 1st due date. Our doctor gave us as long as he could before coming in to the hospital to be induced for labor. By Sunday the 13th, Darcey and I were packed up and heading down to Ventura with no sign of our daughter planning on making an appearance. We checked in for our 8 PM appointment, got comfortable in our room and tried to get some sleep after the nurse gave my wife the medicine to induce her. I slept on a chair that smelled like it had been outside for a good part of its existence. The next morning, Darcey hadn't moved forward too much. By noon Dr. Cole decided to break her water. The next seven and a half hours went both very quickly and very slowly. It was a feeling of helplessness and excitement, fear and pride. I have a hard time remembering a lot of what happened. It makes me sad to know that one of the greatest moments in my life is mostly a blurry image. I do remember the important things though. I remember Darcey's strength. I remember the nurses giving us more than what is in their job description. I remember seeing a face that looked just like my wife take it's first breath. I remember cutting the cord. The first thing Darcey could say was, "she's so cute" before starting to cry.
Her name is Zao Adora Bechtel. She was 8 pounds, 11 ounces. Zao was born at 7:30 PM on December 14th, 2009.
An important part of welcoming Zao into the world was spending the first hour and a half alone with her. Just Darcey, myself, and Zao. She latched on to feed immediately. Most of our friends who came to the hospital to see her at that point were being kicked out but my dad and his wife, Sandy, Cory and my mom were able to stay long enough to see and hold her.
The next four days were the hardest I've ever had. They were even worse for Darcey. Although Zao was a very healthy baby, she had a reflux that would cause her to throw up or choke very easily. Darcey was awake for the entire four day stretch. The staff was great and we were constantly being visited from our friends and family. However, the hospital heating and cooling system was broken. It would be freezing one minute and an inferno another. Plus, there was something wrong with the air. By the final day it hurt to take deep breaths and we both felt ill with head aches and nausea. Once we left the hospital we immediately started to feel better. The sleeping situation didn't improve much at home for the first 2-3 weeks. It wasn't until our good friend Amy and Todd (who had their first baby only 11 months earlier) came over for diner and gave us some amazing support. All the little things that kept Darcey and me worried and unsure of, they could relate to and had been through it. We were able to get advice that wasn't coming out of a text book. They had just been through all the things we were going through. That night was the first good sleep Darcey or I got since Zao was born.
We only lived in our trailer another 2 weeks. In an amazing answer to our prayers, a rental opened up. Behind our friends home in Ojai is a small cottage they built with everything we need. They offered to rent it to us for way below what they could be getting for it. $800 a month covers everything, power, trash, water, internet, and satellite TV.. Darcey and I were finally able to get the two things we said we would buy for ourselves once we moved out of the trailer, a king size bed and a king size TV. We moved in our changing table and as of right now, we have painted the bathroom and hallway. I've started to mask off the living room to paint before our custom rocking chair arrives and then we can move the crib from Darcey's parent's house. I don't have to drive as far to get to work and we're still close to everyone in Ojai. I can't believe how things fall into place for us. We are blessed beyond my understanding.
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