It was January 5th when I got the phone call from Natalia. I was in the gym just having finished a basketball practice with my basketball team. Natalia's water had broken. I returned home immediately, expecting to find my wife in pain, or eager to head to the hospital. Instead, I found her and her mom (visiting for two months) putting the finishing touches on a flavorful quiche. We ate happily and readied the bag, and headed out finally to the hospital. The arrival was uneventful and the staff friendly as could be. Natalia would stay there the night and finally be put on a drip to induce labor as the contractions had not yet begun.
The next morning (Emilia and I were sent home) we found Natalia in noticably more pain as the drip took effect. What would ensue was a few hours of discomfort, a long process of getting an epidural, a one-hour pushing session with a number (I believe it was eight) of training nurses, only to be told by the doctor that the baby was not in the proper position. As the 24 hour window after broken water arrived we were asked to put the pushing on hold and keep the contractions at bay (something Natalia noted was particularly difficult). He would give Irini time to re-position herself naturally and see how it went. One hour later it seemed Irini was ready, in the appropriate position, with the appropriate dilation and headed outward. A good deal of pushing and support from a host of people there (Natalia was giving the only birth at the time, meaning a number of people were on hand to support, cheer, hold the knees this way and the feet that way). The final half hour was painful and I found myself just wanting to just get everyone to stop, to put things aside, to leave my wife alone. The final few pushes were powerful and painful and as I stood there, eyes filled with tears for my wife's pain, little Irini popped out into the world and was wisked away by the head nurse. I followed as she dried and cleaned little Irini up. She was wide eyed already, ready to take in all that the world had to offer. She was born on January 6th, 2008 at 2:06 pm. Her maternal grandfather was brought in directly from the airport to the delivery room to meet his newest granddaughter. Smiles and love filled the room from mother to grandparents to good old me, dad.
Since then we have spent many days and nights, she and I. I have talked to her about her family, and her parents, the countries she's somehow loosely related to. I told her of her paternal grandmother as we looked at the stars on her first night in my arms. Natalia slept and I walked around a small room in a hospital in Malaysia, thousands of miles away from where I took my first breaths and, literally, half way around the world from where Natalia took her first breaths. Our paths have led us here... and Irini has made our lives a little more purposeful now.
She is beautiful and usually quiet. Her eyes are a beautiful blue-grey at the moment. Her skin pale and her sleep sound.
Her journey began almost 10 montsh ago, but her arrival in our daily lives on the outside is a mere 15 days long. Her life is short and she has already brought so much light to our days that it is hard to explain to those without children.
We hope that we can provide her with those things that make a difference. We hope we give her the love she needs. We hope that what we do for her is enough to establish a life of fullness for herself. We hope and we love. Her journey has begun. Where might Irini's Ithaka be? Time will tell.
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