What's in a name...

We did not know what sex the baby was going to be so we had thought up a few names for both sexes. I was playing around with changing the spelling of our parent’s names similar to what my mom did to get my middle name Bernae (her mom’s name was Bernice). I liked the idea of this because it seemed like a nice way to honor our parents so Dorian came from combining Dora and Dian. Glenn liked the name because he said it was a nice musical mode.

For a middle name we thought it would be nice to find a Maori word that would fit. We found the word Tihore in a book of Maori songs. At first we thought it was the word for Kingfisher, Glenn’s favorite bird, but learned later that the word for Kingfisher was Kotare. We prefered Tihore and liked the meaning, clearing skies. Here is the song that we found the word:

Tihore
Tihore mai te rangi Clear the sky
Tihore mai clear away
Mao mao mao te ua let the rain stop
Whitt mai te ra and the sun shine.

E rere kotare ki runga puwharawhara Fly kingfisher on to a bush
Rur parihau hai mate I te ua ruffle the rain drops from your
Ruru parihau kat mate I te ua wings lest you catch a chill.

Tihore mai te rangi Clear the sky
Tihore mai clear away
Mao mao mao te ua let the rain stop
Whiti mai te ra and the sun shine.
Mao mao mao te ua
Whiti mai te ra

E rere e noke mai I to pokurua Flee worm from your borrow
Kai ki I te wai kai mate I te ua it might fill with water and
Kai ki I te wai kai mate I te ua. you will drown.

Tihore mai te rangi tihore mai Clear the sky
Mao mao mao te ua clear away
Whiti mai te ra let the rain stop
Mao mao mao te ua and the sun shine.
Whiti mai te ra
e….i…e
whit mai te ra
e…i….e
whiti mai te ra

Baby Dorian

Here I am a week before Dorian was born. Glenn, mom and I busied ourselves getting the house prepared. Mom did most the work, painting the room and rearranging everything so the our place was baby ready. We also went swimming at the Ocean Spa. I swam quite a bit in the last months because I had some hip pain that made it uncomfortable to walk. It was so nice to swim because the water supported you. I spent at least an hour paddling back and forth. It was a nice meditative activity as well. There were some days that the hip pain was not bad so I did walk when I was feeling up to it.
When Dorian's due date was past my midwife began to talk to me about inducing the labor. This did not sound too fun and I felt fine and did not feel a need to hurry things along. One girl from my antenatal class recommended I try acupuncture as an alternative option. I figured it was worth a try so I did go to an acupuncturist and had two treatments. The first session was to open the cervix and the second was to "move the baby down further into the pelvis". On Tuesday I had the second acupuncture treatment in the morning. That afternoon I went and had a facial--this was a nice treat. We played a few hands of cards that night and went to bed. On wednesday morning I woke around 7:30 am and we started talking about what we would do that day. I checked my e-mails and had a good laugh at the funny e-mails some friends sent, while mom started making breakfast—fresh fruit and cereal (I never got to eat my bowl).

Then I went to the toilet and saw some blood. I asked my mom if she thought I should call the midwife. Before calling the midwife I decided to try and take a quick shower. After showering I braided my hair and Glenn called the midwife. The midwife reassured me that the blood was fine but by this time I was getting contractions quite regularly and I was not in any mood to chat with my midwife. She told me to time the contractions and call her back in an hour or so. At this point my mom was jumping out of her skin because she thought the contractions were quite close and we should be getting to the hospital. Well she was right my next trip to the toilet I felt something like a balloon pop in my pelvic area. Glenn called the midwife again and told her we were on our way to the hospital. I got in the car and felt my water break (we had put a towel on the seat).

It is a fifteen-minute drive to the hospital from our house and these fifteen minutes lasted almost too long. My contractions were now one minute apart and sitting in the car seat was not that comfortable. I was worried I might hit the gearshift with my leg and put the car in neutral. Glenn was afraid I was going to grab the steering wheel so he was ready to fight me off. Neither happened and we made it to the hospital just in time it was 9:15 am. Glenn and I got out of the car and mom parked. The walk to the delivery room was a bit of a mission but I did not want to sit in a wheelchair. When we got to the room I immediately felt like I needed to go to the toilet again only this time it felt like I needed to poo. Glenn was keeping his cool and was telling me to breathe and not push yet. I told him to take my shoes and wet pants off! The hospital midwife came to the room and told me to come out to the bed. In the room I stood at the side of the bed, the midwife asked if I wanted to change positions but I was comfortable standing and Dorian was on his way. She said, “…this might be a bit tricky for me, we do not want a bungee jumper...”

After a few pushes it felt like the midwife was cutting me so I told her to stop but she, Glenn and my mom told me it was the babies head coming out. A few pushes more and there was Dorian looking a bit violet. The clock read 9:45 am. Glenn held him while the midwife cleaned up around my feet and I was able steady myself an get into bed. The midwife then help deliver the placenta and Glenn gave me Dorian to hold.


My midwife then came in the door and was a bit shocked that the baby was delivered and in my arms. She told me she was unable to find a park. Oh well the hospital midwife was great and I was actually glad she was the one that delivered Dorian because she was calm and reassuring. Since we had booked a room with the bathtub my midwife ran a bath for me which felt great. We were in the Hastings hospital for about three hours then we were transferred to Napier Maternity Ward where we stayed for three days. We probably could have gone home earlier but it was nice to rest, not have to clean sheets, and spend time with Dorian. There was a midwife there to help me with whatever I needed and since there is only three rooms at this maternity ward you were given lots of one on one attention.

We are home now and settling quite well. Dorian keeps us busy and entertained with his funny noises and faces. We are still in awe.


If you would like to see more of Dorian visit the following web album.

Baby Dorian