Welcome, Lochlan Justin Kominar!
June 01, 2007 @ 10:49 PM
I’m very proud to announce the arrival of Lochlan Justin Kominar, our first son.
Lochlan was born at 1:09 a.m. on June 1, 2007 in room 11 of the delivery wing of Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario. He weighed 7lbs. 15oz., and measured 21 1/4 inches in length. He was officially 5 days overdue.
The entire birth story goes as follows:
I was just getting out of our weekly development team meeting at work when I got a phone call from Miriam telling me “I think this may be it”. She had been having contractions all day, even when I was home earlier at lunchtime to see her, but the high quantity of false labour sessions she had in the previous weeks made her start doubt whether anything she was feeling was ever really truly “it” since they always seemed to be false positives. Regardless, something about this one told her it was different and so she called and requested I come home right away. When I got home, she was nearly finished taking her second dosage of the cohosh tincture meant to help strengthen contractions. We sat around for a few minutes while she finished the dose, and then decided to take a short walk around the block to try and get a better feeling for how things were really looking down there. One VERY slow walk around the block later, we were back home and she was definately feeling more pressure than usual, but still wasn’t convinced this was really it (even with 2 contractions that came 3-4 mins apart during the walk). After getting back from the walk, she figured she should have a snack and get a bit of rest, so I made her some peanut butter toast and we sat down on the couch in the living room to relax a bit.
At precisely 5:00pm, after only one of two slices of toast were eaten, Miriam’s water broke, and we called Nasrin, our midwife to let her know.
Miriam felt like she wanted to lay down, so we managed to get her upstairs and onto the bed to wait for Nasrin to show. Before she got to the house, however, Miriam decided she wanted to get in the shower and use a bit of the water heat to relieve the pains she was feeling, so I helped her into the shower, and continuously ran up and down the stairs keeping an eye out for Nasrin, and keeping the other eye on her in the shower. Miriam was really starting to feel painful contractions and we were getting a little concerned that Nasrin may not show up in time.
A few minutes later, my friend Ben showed up at the door. Not having the sufficient midwifery credientals, he was quickly dismissed and we went back to waiting for Nasrin.
Once Nasrin and her student midwife cohort showed up, they quickly assessed Miriam, and decided it was time to head to the hospital, as this was clearly not a false positive situation like so many others before it had been. I made a couple quick calls to the various people that had expressed interest in being at the hospital with us, threw a quick post on the blog to let people know what was happening, and off we headed to Grand River to check in (mental note: must write letter to City of Kitchener regarding pot holes on Park St. :)
Apparently 9 months prior to May 31 was a hot time in the KW area, as there were very few rooms left available in the birthing wing at the time we got there, but fortunately they were able to clean out one that had just previously been vacated in time for us to get in there and get Miriam setup.
At this point, exact times may get a little sketchy because I was focusing much more on Miriam than the clock. Her contractions carried on for a few more hours, and I believe she was fully 10cm dilated and ready to start pushing sometime around 11:00pm. A little before that time, her family had arrived from London and her mom was now in the delivery room with us as the second support person. Soon-to-be uncles John and Nick were waiting with Grandpa David in the waiting room. Soon-to-be uncle Jere and Emily were also there, and finally my parents rounded out the all-star support cast present to witness the first moments of the baby.
I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty details of childbirth here, but there is something I must say: Miriam was inspirational in her handling of everything. I truly, deep down, with as little husbandy bias as I can possibly render, believe that she handled the labour like a star. For starters, never once did even a discussion about pain relief drugs come up – she did the entire labour naturally, exactly as she had wanted to. Amazing. There was lots of grunting and fire-engine red faces as she pushed for all she had, but in the end, never really complained, or talked about giving up, or that she “couldn’t do it”. She was a true star, and I’m unbelievably proud of her for what she did – EVEN in the face of some pretty horrid sounding screams coming from other rooms down the hall :)
At 1:09 a.m., the last round of pushing necessary to get the new baby’s head out finished and the midwives managed to finish extracting the baby. Immediately, he came out, eyes open and deepy inquisitive (not to mention a little cross-eyed :). It was fantastic to see him so alert and healthy and interested in what was going on around him, rather than drugged up and screaming like so many tv birthing stories would have you believe is the “usual” situation. It didn’t take long for us to decide that the baby, being a boy for all the obvious reasons, was going to be Lochlan.
The waiting room family members slowly got to file in to the delivery room after Miriam got all cleaned up and the baby was checked out for all the necessary vitals. There were many photos taken, a lot of which I hope to have up on the online gallery within a few days when I’ve recovered from the immediate shock of a full 24 hours with hardly any sleep and the excitement of meeting our son.
Honestly, I’m exhausted so I want to wrap this up for now. I will certainly write more later, and get those photos up so you can see more of the event, however before I close, I have to say, one last time, thank you to our midwives from the KW Midwifery Association who were outstanding, and continue to be outstanding throughout the post-partum care, and finally of course, my wife Miriam.
Love to you all.
-justin
We are so happy for you both. Lochlan is one lucky boy to have such wonderful parents. Congratulations.
— Bill & Lynne Sat Jun 2, 12:14 AM #What a beautiful boy! Congratulations.
— Mel Sat Jun 2, 02:13 AM #ill have you know that ive now enrolled in midwifery school. i will not be dismissed so easily again!
— ben Sat Jun 2, 07:08 AM #Hooray! Congratulations again, he is beautiful, and so wonderful that everything went as Miriam had hoped. I second the Park Street pothole complaint… I have distinct memories of those myself. Meh. Hugs to all three of you!
— Erica Sat Jun 2, 11:31 AM #Even all the way down here in Dallas s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g told me that I should check the ‘Kominar Baby Status’ website today :-D. Congratulations to you both, and a big WELCOME to Little Lochlan!
— Texas Theresa Sat Jun 2, 04:19 PM #Congratulations, what a treasure. We can’t wait to meet Lochlan in person.
— Rik and Val Sat Jun 2, 09:20 PM #Congrats again (I think this is the third time!). Justin, Loch looks just like you! He just needs a little baby soul patch!!
— Hilary Sat Jun 2, 09:31 PM #Way to go Miriam! Congratulations to you and Justin. Both Wendy and myself were in Toronto on Sat and thought about you all day. From Justinès description, I could just picture you saying, no- this is how it is going to be and it just was- your determination is outstanding. Let me know when you are up for a visit, would love to see Lochlan, what a beautiful name!
Lots of love – Rita
— Rita Sun Jun 3, 09:27 PM #P.S. Did predict a boy!!!
CONGRATULATIONS, CONGRULATIONS, CONGRATULATIONS! So happy for both of you, and so excited … you will be wonderful parents!
— Mo & Kyle Sun Jun 3, 09:31 PM #Welcome to the world of little boys! You will enjoy every moment! I’m so very proud of you, Miriam and Justin! Miriam, for your determination and Justin for letting Miriam go with the flow! Lochlan is a lucky little soul. Can hardly wait to welcome him in person!
— Wendy Mon Jun 4, 08:18 AM #Love, Wendy
P.S. Yes, Rita and I predicted a boy but I had a very vivid dream last night that you had a girl. Must’ve been that horseradish mayonnaise I had on my hamburger!
Welcome Lochlan,
— Tanya Yoworski Mon Jun 4, 09:28 AM #You are sooo beautiful.
I can not wait to meet you!
oh my goodness!
— sarah smith Mon Jun 4, 07:46 PM #lochlan is so adorable!
i cant wait to get to see him!! congratulations!!!
Congratulations to the both of you!! What a wonderful birthing story. And what a cutie pie! Lochlan- fantastic name.
— Cousin Monika Tue Jun 5, 07:52 AM #What a gorgeous brilliant baby you made!!! Well done Miriam (and Justin too…) You will be wonderful parents. All the best to the brand new Kominar family. Silvia & Rob
— Silvia Tue Jun 5, 08:58 AM #