Dash is more than a week old now and am happy to report that Mom and Dad survived the maddening 1st week! To say that parenting is a serious job is a gross understatement… let’s start with my delivery, which I believe should be a separate blog entry in itself –but then a new mom only has so much time in her hands!
I had an epidural-free water birth at home, an option I felt most comfortable with. It was a decision that I had to stick with, even in my last hour of labour, which took a total of 25hours. Yes, that long, partly because Dash came out a whopping 9lbs!!! It was pain beyond my imagination, but believe me when I say I did not even entertain getting anesthesia, as I wanted to be really involved in the process, no matter how excruciatingly hard it turned out to be…no race on earth could ever compare to that. TRUST ME. If you don’t, ask my husband, who has done the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii, which consists of a 10k swim, 421k bike, and 84k run (he placed 8th). To this day he is still in shock about the whole birthing ordeal, haha. He was my rock till the very end though, even when he almost passed out after he saw Dash’s big head come out from underwater. When Deborah, our American midwife, asked if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord, he could not even move his mouth to form any words!
After that it is a big blur of waking up in the middle of the night a couple of times, breastfeeding (ouch. OUCH!!!), changing diapers, bathing, morning strolls, burping, rocking, singing, lots of crying and lots of smiles and laughter. And here we are.
I write this blog in a hurry while Dash is having his afternoon nap, and it took me umm, 3 hours to make him fall asleep. Obviously we are still trying to get the hang of parenting, but we are fully committed. How can we not be? We are totally smitten with our boy, and am praying that we will be able to raise him well.
Here are pictures of Dash’s first week, and some of our visitors…. thank you for your love always!
Filipina Ironwoman 
I imagine all your prior training for triathlons must have prepared your body for this amazing experience but more than that, I’m amazed at how committed and strong-minded you are for doing everything without anesthesia.
Thank you for sharing pictures of Dash! It’s not hard to get smitten with your bundle of cuteness. Those cheeks are adorable. 🙂
Yes it took a lot of core strength! I was pushing for more than 3hours… it was pretty intense. Thanks for your message, yes we are in love with him!!!
It’s very interesting to discover all of these capabilities of the human body, especially when these days, a lot of people are quick to fall into a habit of easily giving up or easily feeling overwhelmed.
yes i agree! we have to learn that we can take control of our body 🙂
Congratulations, Ani and Dan!
Dash is dashing! : ) [Okay, corny, couldn’t help it.]
And you are so brave to go with the water birth at home. I totally imagined the scene in “The Back Up Plan”, the JLo movie.
My love you and the family,
ANA
oh my, it was similar to that haha.. won’t get into gory details 🙂 thanks ana and all the best to your book!!!
Awesome, awesome, awesome! So proud of you Ani and Dan for bringing Dash into the world in such a loving and powerful way – you just can’t beat it!!! Both my girls were born in the water at home and I’ll forever be blessed and grateful that I have those experiences to remember.
And … congrats on surviving the first week. It gets easier, promise!
Love Em xx
thank you emma! yes dan and i are really happy about our decision, my recovery has been excellent because of this 🙂 we are looking forward to more wonderful parenting moments!
Heartist Congratulation to mum and dad for the wonderful news. now you both nare parents. Congratulation once more and God will bless you for bringing a new future (hero) triathlete
in the world. I am really happy for both of you parents. God bless you
thank you so much!!! God Bless you too!
HI ani and dan! I am so happy for you both and cannot wait to meet your little bundle. He is sooooooooooooooo cute!
oh thanks so much honey!!! can’t wait to show him to you guys 🙂
I’m so happy for you! I’ve always wanted a water birth, but hospitals here don’t really support it. Also wanted to do a homebirth but was too chicken to do it. I hope you’re using cloth diapers!
yes i am glad i pushed through with it even though i encountered a some opposition from certain doctors… thanks marga!!!
Congrats (Ate) Ani and Dan!
I can totally commiserate with the long sleepless hours.. but it gets better, (or maybe you just get better at it ;>) and it’s well worth it. :>
Can’t wait to see Dash in his Incredible(s) role :>
Best regards,
Cybele
thanks cybele! yes it feels like things are getting better everyday 🙂 we are getting the hang of it slowly. see you!!!