Tomoko and I (but mostly Tomoko) chose to have a home birth to deliver Hiroto. The main reason for this decision was because Taka was born so quickly – once we reached Grand River Hospital in kitchener, the midwife barely had the time to get her gloves on before he was born. Now that we live in Burlington, the hospital is about twice as far so after educating ourselves about home birth, we decided it was our best option. The best way to sum it up was a great point made by Tracy our midwife – “It’s safe to deliver at home and it’s safe to deliver at the hospital. It’s not safe to deliver in the car.”

Having experienced both hospital and home birth, as the labour assistant, I much preferred the home birth. The midwives bring a tonne of equipment with them (they can perform all the procedures of a level-one hospital) and as soon as Tracy set up I almost felt like we were in a hospital room. When Tomoko needed anything, from an extra blanked to a snack (ok, the snack was for me), it was all at hand. Also, since Tomoko was labouring at night, we didn’t have to worry about the boys; they were sleeping soundly and slept right through the whole thing.

Tomoko was awesome again, and delivered the baby after only about three hours of labour. In case you didn’t catch it above I’ll say it again – the boys, who were sleeping in bedrooms two doors down, did not wake up! I didn’t have much to do other than runing up and down the stairs getting ice packs and Tylenol, and providing support and encouragement at the bedside. After Hiro was born I performed my traditional duties of calling the sex, marking the time of birth, and cutting the umbilical cord.

Mike Cuts Hiroto's Umbilical Cord

After the Weigh-In, Holding Hands

One of the best things about home birth is there is no “coming home”… In the morning, Kaito and Taka got to meet their new brother right away, and even got to visit with him a little.

Kaito and Taka Chillin' with Hiro

Tomoko is recovering really well, and was up and about right away the next day. She even came downstairs to play with her “big boys” on Friday afternoon. Here she is with Hiroto on the couch.

Tomoko and Hiroto

Finally, a last bit of coolness: Hiro didn’t open his eyes right away like Kaito and Taka did. He opened his eyes for the first time last night while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies with Tomoko and I. I guess with the lights low and the interesting colours coming from the TV he decided the time was right. So here you go, (finally) a picture of Hiro-kun with his eyes open.

Well, one eye open at least!

Don’t worry about the scratches (for those of you who have never had kids) – it’s totally normal for newborns to scratch themselves and they heal *really* fast.