Alec's birthday

Today is Alec's second birthday. So, before I continue, let's all sing "Happy Birthday" together. "Happy Birth....." Hey, you at the back!! I don't hear you sing!!
Anyway, I can't believe it, it's that long ago. The nights that shook the world. Well.....MY world at least. And yes,...I did say nights, plural. I remember it, as if it was 2 years ago. I went to bed quite late, as always on Saturday evening...actually it was Sunday morning at 3 a.m. Got caught up in a game, as usual and had a few drinks. I went to bed, and as usual, when I went to bed, YuMei woke up and went to the toilet. I fell asleep while she was in the toilet, but I heard her coming in again. And I still remember, the moment she climbed up the bed, I heard her say:"shit!". Since this has become an international word, you can guess what happened. But, it was late, and the true meaning of the word, didn't enter my brain yet, when I asked "what?". "I think my water broke". And that sentence always make me think of that movie with Hugh Grant, Nine Months, "My water broke!!", "Don't worry, we'll get you some new!"

Anyway, I was awake and all sobered up immediately, and somehow managed to not get into a panic, which isn't really like me. I don't know how things are done in other countries, but here we have a midwife, who checks the whole pregnancy and helps the delivery, unless there are reasons to go to the hospital. So I called the midwife, and explained the situation. but since there were no real contractions yet, we just had to ride it out, till she would come in the morning.
Meanwhile we still hadn't prepared the "emergency-bag", the bag you have to have ready in case the delivery starts and which should contain clothes for the lady, toothbrush, soap, clothes for the baby, well, everything necessary for a short stay in the hospital. So I was preparing this, while YuMei was trying to get some sleep as the midwife suggested. And now I was happy to be one of those people that "steals" the free shampoo, the free toothbrush etc. from every hotel we stayed in. This kind of stuff, really comes in handy in a situation like this.

When the midwife arrived on Sunday morning, still nothing had happened. The midwife made an appointment at the hospital for that evening for a check-up, so we went to the hospital. YuMei was hooked up to all sorts of machines, and we had to wait. After about 1 hour, the doctors came, and we had a choice to wait in the hospital or come back the next morning, since there was no direct emergency. We decided to come back the next day, and had one more sleepless night at home.

The next morning we were at the hospital at 9 am, all packed and surprisingly awake and sharp, or at least that's what I thought, since I left everything in the car. YuMei was hooked up to the machinery again, and we had to wait. When the gynecologist arrived she wanted to do some checks. With the first check, things were already started to work out a bit strange. The lady discovered that the baby was lying in breech presentation. So, we were immediately asked the question if we would still have a natural birth (which apparently is still possible in that situation to my surprise) or a caesarean.
Meanwhile the gynecologists were getting even more equipment, while we were discussing what the next step would be. They came and wanted to have one more check, while we were still deciding. Well, once the gynecologist was ready with her check, the decision was made for us. It turned out that junior was not only the wrong way up, the umbilical cord was also around his neck, and something needed to be done immediately.
The speed with which everything happened from that moment on still leaves me speechless. From the moment the decision was made to get the baby themselves till the moment YuMei was in the operation room took less than 15 minutes! And I haven't even got all the stuff needed from the car. Once I got back, I immediately was rushed to the operation room where YuMei was already prepared, and the show started.
At 11:31 am we could welcome our little devil into this world.
It was so unreal to have Alec in my arms. "So, you are the little devil that's gonna mess up my life?" JUST KIDDING!!! I can't even remember what I thought at that moment. I think I was just enjoying the moment. I do remember that I was happy to have a healthy kid with all bits and pieces attached.