Owen James Crombe
Born: April 19, 2012, The Farah Hospital, Amman, Jordan
3.910kg (8lbs 10 oz), 56 cm (21.3 in)
On Wednesday evening, April 18th, I began having contractions at work. I figured they were the normal "fake" ones that would pass. After dinner at home Ben started timing them and once they were 3 minutes apart we figured that this baby was coming and these contractions weren't fake. We packed up Dylan around 11pm, dropped her at a friends, and got to the hospital around midnight. They admitted us and Owen was born almost eleven hours later. Ben was a champ as I yelled at him and the doctors about the pain- I am hoping the docs and nurses, although familiar with English, didn't understand all of my colorful phrases. Ben was happy not to translate this time...
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| Holding him right after delivery, best moment ever :)...besides when I held Dylan for the first time of course, we don't want to give the kids a complex this young, ha. |
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| Getting cleaned off and checked out |
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| Our new addition- those 2 minute post delivery pictures are always so beautiful of the parents...not. |
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Our nurse handing him to me after getting cleaned up and dressed.
Farah Hospital: The story, the doctor and the "rooms"
Although we had already decided to deliver the baby in Jordan, we were still a little hesitant about the whole process until we met the doctors and discovered this jewel of a hospital in Jordan. Tri-care (military healthcare) makes you sign waivers to deliver locally- they "want" you to deliver in the states. To do that, however, you have to fly back when you are 34 weeks pregnant so that wasn't really a great option for us as we settled into brand new jobs. After hearing about the care here, we decided to sign the waiver. We can honestly not say enough good things about the experience. It was truly amazing and we will forever be grateful to the staff and especially Drs. Kilani and Lamia who delivered our little angel.
The hospital has a great story behind it too. After fleeing Palestine with his parents after the war, our doctor settled in Jordan and eventually studied medicine in Germany and the UK. Dr. Kilani (our doc) opened an OB clinic in Amman in 1978. He was the first doctor to bring fertility treatments to this part of the world and was deemed a "mad man" by many naysayers. His first clinic was burnt down as a response. He persevered through the challenges and continued to treat women in Amman, finally opening an entire OB hospital in 1994. The hospital was inaugurated by King Hussein and Dr. Kilani served as the doctor for the royal births. Because the hospital (now a 12 floor building) serves the royal family, the facilities are pretty awesome. By virtue of there being no real middle class in Jordan, Americans get the royal treatment at the hospital and we were able to stay in a "royal" suite following delivery. It was equipped with an entryway, a room for the husband, a living room, kitchen, three bathrooms, and a room for me. We even got three room service meals a day. It was awesome that Ben and Dylan could stay with me so we could all be together for the three days in the hospital. We were definitely missing our families :( Can't wait to see them all soon. |
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| Living room in our hospital suite |
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| Dinner |
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| FIrst time holding baby brother. Couldn't be happier. |
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| How cute are they? |
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| Entry-way. They are big into balloons here for celebrations. Ben got the awesome display on the left and my work friends got the other one. It is tradition to invite people to celebrate the birth and have sweets (cookies/donuts) and coffee/tea (or scotch in Ben's case). We had a lot of visitors which was pretty neat. |
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| Doesn't she look like a little mommy? |
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| Looking at daddy. |
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| First night home. |
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| Our house. |
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| Hanging out before "bed." Owen doesn't really support a bed time per say- he is more into being awake all night and sleeping all day. |
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| Always kissing him. |
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| Getting ready for a little walk in the park. Dylan donated her baby doll to him. He seems pretty excited about it. |
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| Talking to my sister. |
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| Same pose. |
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| OK, I am done with this photo shoot. I don't care that we have on matching pajamas. |
