Expectant dad Dr. Ishaq Afolayan-Oloye had to wait nearly six hours after his wife gave birth to meet his new daughter, who was delivered at Schneider Regional Medical Center at 3:32 a.m. Saturday to become the territory’s first baby of 2011.
Afolayan-Oloye and his wife, Raquel English, usually spend the year commuting between St. Thomas and Virgin Gorda, where he works at the small local health center.
"So I wasn’t here when she went into labor," he explained later, as he stood next to his wife, cradling new baby Maryam Bisola Afolayan-Oloye in his arms. "The other doctor in Virgin Gorda was on leave, so I didn’t get to take the boat over until this morning."
Putting his hand on English’s shoulder, Afolayan-Oloye said even though the couple was apart, he wasn’t scared, and had no doubt that his wife — who he described as "full of strength" — would make it through.
English smiled as her husband talked, relaxing after her six hours in labor. By the bedside, the couple’s two-year-old son, Jubril, held his mother’s hand, gazing at the baby as his dad rocked her.
"My baby," Jubril said, as Afolayan-Oloye bent down so the two new siblings could become better acquainted.
In the meantime, English sat quietly, recovering from a morning full of pushing without any pain medication.
"It was okay at first, but then at about 2:30 a.m., everything just came on," she laughed. "I can’t even explain it — it was really powerful, but I took a lot of deep breaths and tried to relax."
English said she took medication when laboring 22 hours with her first child, but opted to go natural this time around. As a nurse, she said she had a good idea of what to expect, and had a lot of support from her friends and family — particularly her son Jubril, who supplied the baby with lots of hugs and kisses while in the womb.
"He would always come and kiss my tummy," English said. "He knew the whole time that the baby was there."
Asked how it felt to have a boy and girl, Afolayan-Oloye started beaming.
"I feel like a man now," he said. "Complete."
While English said she plans to spend the next couple days resting, she did take some time out Saturday to welcome the ladies of the Business and Professional Women’s Organization, who filed into the room laden with bags full of gifts for baby Maryam — a tradition on St. Thomas for more than the past 30 years.
The organization assembles a variety of baby products for the island’s first families, putting together everything from toiletries and baby tubs to blankets and diapers.
"We give these to you with hopes of good health, good wishes and lots of good feelings," BPW’s Marilyn Richardson said as the group set the gifts next to English’s bed. "Congratulations to the first baby — welcome to St. Thomas."
Accompanying Richardson Saturday were BPW members Fern LaBorde, Julia Jn-Baptiste and Diana Peters-Matthew. The organization’s current president Tina Callwood joined the group downstairs a little later, as they presented the hospital with a new and fully decorated Christmas tree for the emergency room. Both the tree and the decorations were donated by Kmart.
