A Babe is Born

 I scooted out of triage with my IV drip and my butt firmly planted in a wheelchair at 4am. My contractions were making me double over and I was dilated three centimeters. The birthing room where I would deliver my baby was a place of serenity with its flat screen and wood floors. The husband was digging the comfy couch by the window. I was happily anticipating that nectar of the gods, King Epidural.

I met Dr. Price who ordered the anesthesiologist and a dose of Pitocin. "Are you ready to have a baby today?" Yes, sir, I was ready to have a baby.

At 10am Dr. Price returned to examine me. He took one look and said we would have a baby by the afternoon. Shawn's face beamed. His boy is coming! The the shizz got real. Dr. Price felt my gigantic belly. "Hmmm..." he hummed. Then he did an internal exam. "This baby has a soft head," he said... out loud.. to a panicking me. What?! WHAT?!?! "How long has he been breech?" What?! I had an appointment on Monday...this was Wednesday. I think I would feel if this giant baby flipped upside down. To be sure he pulled a portable ultrasound machine into the room. Four minutes later I was looking at my baby's head by my tailbone.

Emergency c-section. I have never had surgery before aside from getting my wisdom teeth pulled. I have never had my organs removed from my body and placed back all willy-nilly. I was terrified of the dreaded episiotomy. Dr. Price called Dr Chasedunn-Roarke who saw me on Monday and she was shocked, but told him that at least I wouldn't have the episiotomy like I was worried about. No, now I was going to be opened up on a table in a cold and sterile operating room rather than this hotel suite I was crying in. I was seven centimeters dilated and progressing fast. 14 minutes later I was being prepped for surgery, getting dosed with even more epidural and Shawn was putting on his scrubs.

At 10:33am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, our baby boy came into the world with the loudest cry I have ever heard. Shawn looked into my eyes and we both teared up. The nurse showed Henry to us and asked Shawn if he would like to hold him. I wanted to jump up too and hug that screaming and wriggling body. Obviously, I couldn't feel anything below my shoulders, so Shawn held our sweet baby and brought him over to me to kiss and snuggle. By this time, Henry's baby blue were wide open as he took in the scene. By 10:50am I was sewn back together, intestines in their rightful place, and was being wheeled into the closet sized recovery room where we would spend the first three hours of our lives as a family of three.