Introducing our...

Son (it's a boy)!

Zenas Satoshi Burns
- Zenas (pronounced like Venus except with a Z) is a family name on Christian's paternal side: both his grandfather and great-grandfather were named Zenas. We also plan to call him Zeke.
- Satoshi (have a japanese person say this for you) is a name given by my father, in memory of his favorite brother who died young (before I got the chance to meet him) -- the kanji chosen means "to teach others gently"

Born
1 September 2010
9:09 am
8 lbs, 12 oz.
21 inches

The birth story: I started having contractions very early Monday morning... but only erratic, mild and spaced apart. They subsided in the afternoon but came back at night, which meant I was up every twenty minutes or so. On Tuesday I saw my doctor who called it "early labor" with no dilation and said it could be 1-4 days away. That afternoon my contractions were spaced closer together and pain severe enough that we went to the hospital. We were convinced it was the real deal, but at the examination, we were still only at 2cm; we were sent home with a morphine injection to help me sleep, but then my water broke and we went back to the hospital at midnight. Midway through the night we decided to get an epidural so that I could rest. My contractions were normal but I showed no progression, and the baby started to experience some drops in heart rate so that they could not proceed with augmented induction. We staved the surgery for a while, but by morning when I still had not progressed and the baby showed distress again, the doctors strongly advised a c-section. Exhausted after 48 hours of contractions and no sleep, we had to admit that at best, we'd still have to make it through another 10-12 hours of labor without guarantees--so we agreed to the c-section. We have no regrets: an hour later we met our son.

It's been a surreal first day of recovery and adjusting to our new identities as parents. We will be in the hospital until Sunday, taking advantage of the hotel-like services. Thank you all for your continued support and well wishes. We cannot wait for you (and our cats) to meet him.

Love,
Mari and Christian