My mom arrived in Taiwan on July 8th to make sure she would be here in plenty of time for the birth of her sixth grandchild. Well, she could have saved herself the trouble and come about three weeks later, but I was glad to have her company anyways. My due date of July 20th had come and gone by the time I went in on July 27th for yet another doctor's appointment and ultrasound. Our baby always hid during the ultrasounds, with his hands over his face, so there wasn't much to see either. My mom and I had been walking all around town, trying to make the baby come out. Josh was at the ready and always told me to call him if I had any "construction" (contractions). My doctor said that we would need to induce labor sometime in the next few days and told me to just come check myself in whenever I was ready. I wanted to let Kai-Jia come on his own, but I also wanted to get the show on the road and let grandma meet him while she was here! It seemed like a daunting responsibility to decide what day to have my baby. The next day (Wednesday the 28th) I was somewhat depressed. Still no baby. I decided to check myself in on the 29th to be induced, but I had hoped and prayed that the baby would come naturally. We tried watching Youtube videos about which pressure points to massage in order to get something started, but nothing was happening, and Caleb hadn't even 'dropped' yet.
My mom and I had nothing left on our to-do list except to ride the "duck bus," an amphibious bus that rides into Lotus Lake. My dad had suggested eating cheeseburgers to make the baby come and I was ready to try anything, so I had a cheeseburger for lunch. About that time I started feeling some cramping in my stomach, but I didn't want to get my hopes up that it could be labor, so I didn't say anything. My mom and I proceeded with our plans to ride the duck bus, but the pains were becoming more noticeable, so I asked her if it could be labor. She started timing them and we waited around for our turn on the duck bus. By the time we got on the bus, around 5pm, they were coming almost 5 minutes apart, but they still weren't that painful. We thought maybe I could give birth on the bus! But no action yet. I was partially worried that my water would break, but little did I know that wouldn't happen until much later. I got home and told Josh that the time had come--he was a little surprised! I took a shower, but the contractions were coming 2-3 minutes apart by then, so we decided I didn't have time to wash my hair. Still, it wasn't too painful yet. By the time we got in the car I couldn't talk during contractions, but I still felt okay. I was excited! We got to the hospital and I went to the labor room around 7pm, feeling pretty confident that the baby was coming fairly quickly, after all, my mom's first baby came after just 6 hours of labor. The nurses wanted to measure my contractions, but to do so I had to lay on a bed and let them monitor for 20 minutes. Well, laying on my back made the contractions WAY worse, so I turned onto my side. After 20 minutes the nurses came back and said that I would have to lay flat on my back and that they were starting over for another 20 minutes--NOT what I wanted to hear. I was already in a lot of pain and dreading each contraction. They started monitoring again, and by the time they were done I was in SERIOUS pain, so when they measured me and said that I was only one centimeter dilated, it was a HUGE disappointment. At that rate, I thought I'd never make it. They suggested that I go home--I couldn't believe it! They asked if I wanted to see the doctor and I said okay. My doctor said I should wait until midnight to check in. At the time I didn't understand that that was because of the way they charge for a whole 24 hours if you check in in the evening, but oh well. We sat in the waiting room trying to decide what to do and I was in so much pain with each contraction. The other pregnant ladies waiting for their appointments must have been watching me in horror as my mom and Josh tried to coach me to breathe. It was embarrassing, but I didn't know what else to do. Finally, I though let's just go to the 2nd floor (labor area) waiting area. Much better--many less people, but I was still dying. Finally, around 9pm I said I just wanted to check myself in, so I did.
The nurses prepped me for labor, but each time a contraction came, I could barely function. They hooked me up to a heart monitoring device to check on the baby. Since the cord was wrapped around his neck, it was hard for him to get enough oxygen when I was having a contraction. The nurses said I would have to breathe more deeply, and put me on oxygen, but I just wasn't able to breathe enough for both of us with how painful the contractions were, so around 10pm I asked for an epidural. No need to be a hero, I thought. The difference after getting the epidural was night and day. I could actually relax and breathe enough for Caleb to get air during contractions. In fact, I only knew when I was having a contraction by watching Caleb's heart monitor. From then on, it was mostly a waiting game. The nurses would check on my progress every once in a while, but Caleb still hadn't "dropped," which seemed to be slowing everything down. 
Around 2am I was about 8cm dilated but he still hadn't dropped. I asked if I could stand up to try to help and they said that I could if I thought I could feel my legs. I said I could so I stood up with Josh's help and whoosh--my water suddenly broke. The nurses said that was great! They had me lay back down and checked out the situation and said it would be soon now--we were going to have a baby soon! Josh predicted around four, but I predicted around 6am. (I was right haha). Anyways, I was about 9 1/2 cm dilated, almost baby time, around 4am I think, when they discovered that Caleb had pooped! Guess being nine days late he couldn't hold it anymore. Baby's first poop is called meconium and it can be very dangerous if it comes out in the womb because they can swallow it, etc. So they decided they needed to get the baby out as soon as possible! They had me start trying to push and said I was doing a good job but his head wasn't in the right position yet, which was making progress slow. My epidural wore off and I was starting to feel a lot of pain, but thought the end must be near. Then all of the sudden everyone disappeared. My mom told me that another woman and her mom had come running into the hospital and they rushed her right into the delivery room. She gave birth in thirty minutes! Then it was my turn. They wheeled me into the delivery room around 4:45am I guess. My groggy doctor came in a little while later. By then I was in serious pain, but there was nothing to be done. They kept saying he was almost coming but I didn't let myself believe anybody. Like in a race when everyone says "You're almost there," even when you've just begun. However, the doctor decided an episiotomy was necessary to speed things along. If you don't know what that is, you don't want to know! Anyways, Caleb's head came out and the doctor cut the cord, but I had no idea what was going on. Then he pulled out the rest of the baby and held him up and said "Here's your baby." The lifeless, slimy, alien-like being that he held up was purple and brown and looking awful. "He's not breathing!" I cried out, wishing the doctor wouldn't waste precious seconds showing him to us when he should be saving his life instead. The doctor was very casual and said they would take care of it. It seemed like FOREVER that the doctor and about four nurses were working on Kai-Jia, and we kept listening for a cry but never heard one. Josh and I were praying and I just imagined his little life passing out of this world and going home empty-handed. But we gave him the name Caleb Joshua to represent Bible characters that had big faith, so I knew God was calling on me to have faith as well. It was just not the kind of test I was looking for. Anyways, FINALLY they brought him to me and he was all bundled up but they laid him on me for a minute and we snapped a picture. My heart was so relieved and overjoyed. This precious gift was ours and was ALIVE! Praise God! They explained that he was unstable and they had to take him away and I understood, though I didn't know how long it would be before they let me see him again. That was a long first day and I missed him like crazy, but the very next day they handed him over to us--our baby! Our lives will never be the same. Caleb Joshua Hong was born at 5:38 am on July 29th, 2010. He weighed 2.9 kgs (about 6 pounds, 6 ounces) and was 50cm long (about 19 inches). I LOVE being Caleb's mom! (Not the end, just the beginning...)
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