The First Week

The First Week: October 6th (post from my journal)
Newborns are hypnotic. We looked at our perfect, fragile and resilient son and thought "we made you.. who are you" and smiled.
Living in the moment is one way I'd describe the first week Dante was born. An overwhelming sense and respect for life and another humans worth is another. And last, an unimaginable and uniquely individual experience. Every minute we learned something new; how to hold, burp, cradle, rock, bath, change and calm him. . My mother was the expert and Rahav and I followed her lead like ducklings.

The Birth: October 6th 2006

The Birth: (October 6th - from my journal)
By 2:00am I was hooked up to every IV and monitor under the sun - standard when you get an epidural. The waiting game was on. My friends had gone home and Rahav and his mom relaxed in chairs. I tried to stay calm amid the beeping monitors keeping track of the baby's heart rate and contractions wondering when the baby and I would be on "the other side".

The quiet was surreal. There had been so much buzz and activity for the last few hours, it was hard to grasp this "calm before the storm" as time ticked on in this waiting zone. Tick.. Tock.. new faces came into my room as the sun lit up a new day. The hospital staff on the night shift had gone home.

Around 6:00am a nurse said "you'll be ready to have this baby in forty-five minutes". We had about ten minutes to digest that sentence before the buzz kicked in and a plethora of suited up nurses and doctors swarmed into the room like hungry bees. I blocked out the intense pain and let my mind clear to focus on breathing and pushing. Soon after voices gasped. I knew Dante had been born when the shutter clicked. He was pinkish and beautiful. It was 7:15am. He came three days early. That night would be a full moon.

The Story: October 5th 2006

The Story: (October 6th - from my journal)
At 6:15pm on October 5th I started having contractions that were ten minutes apart. That wasn't enough to keep me from attending the Massive Attack concert, especially since Liz Fraser from the Cocteau Twins (my favorite group of all times) was on tour with them. I said a silent prayer that my water would not break during the show. Midway through the concert I was in active labor or my own personal massive attacks, timing my contractions from seven, to six to five mintues apart and frequently texting Rahav, who was shooting at the Mercury Lounge.

Massive Attack was an amazing show! My large belly scored us all a seat in the V-Vip section where I leaned up on the rail, took slow and frequent deep breaths and let the rhythm of the music absorb the pain of the contractions. Kudos to the staff who kept an eye on me and even offered to take me to the hospital in an ambulance. I declined. After the show ended, my friends Allegra and Naomi (an ER Dr. nonetheless) accompanied me from Roseland Ballroom to Beth Israel Hospital where Rahav met up with me shortly after midnight. I kept my venue wrist band on for a week.

The Name: October 1st 2006

The Name: five days before he entered this world our son was still nameless. Nine months of agonizing searching dragged on like the sands of time, while two stubborn Taureans head butted on names. One late night on Ocean Beach in Fire Island we had an epiphany. The Gods had blessed us that night and amongst a circle of friends, it was universally agreed upon that our son would be named Dante.