AmyGubser.com

I thought I had better look back right quick before I forgot a lot of stuff…

All the way up to Harry’s birthday, we had been always waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was born on Saturday, August 19th. The Saturday before, August 12th, marked the one-year anniversary of the D&C operation Amy had to remove the miscarriage we had. She so badly did not want Harrison to be born that day.

At any rate, coming out of the miscarriage, we dreaded bad news everytime we went to the doctor. Fortunately, each trip eased those worries as things looked really great each time.

As rough as things seemed to be for Amy during the pregnancy, we were actually relieved when we found out he was breech. We could schedule the C-Section and know when the pregnancy would be complete! However, as the day got closer, time moved slower. That last week took forever! I worried about complications, and I am sure Amy did, too.

Finally, the kidney stone struck again the day before. Sheesh. That was all we needed. We ended up going to the hospital a day early for “pain management” and hoped they might get the baby out early so we could get some x-rays or CT scans of Amy, but no deal there. Wait until morning.

Finally, the morning came. The stone pain was under control and the procedure was on. The procedure was scheduled for 7am and the doctor said the baby would be out in less than 20 minutes and another 20-30 minutes would be needed to close Amy back up. So, at 7am (or a bit after) the anesthesiologist took Amy to the operating room to get started on the spinal block. Meanwhile, the nurses helped get me gowned up to go in “when it was time.”

I really got nervous by 7:45 when they had not sent for me. There were complications associated with the spinal and I worried for Amy. Finally, they were ready and called me in. It just took a while longer for the insertion of the spinal.

When they called for me, they were just about to pull the baby out. I sit next to Amy’s head, shielded from seeing anything by a screen. However, they are moving her around pretty rough and I remember the doctor saying something like “where are you sweetheart?” Then a bit later, “I found a leg!” I only hoped it was actually attached to my baby!

A few moments later, “alright, here we come – it’s definitely a boy!” (takes after dad, I guess) and “oh my, he has the cord wrapped around his neck twice!” I kind of thought they might let me cut the cord, but before I know it I see a nurse carry off the body of my baby. Fortunately or unfortunately I get to see the pediatrician vigorously rubbing his chest and applying an oxygen mask.

Within moments, that seemed like forever, he began to cry. So did I.

I watched as they cleaned him off, take measurements, weigh him and finally bring him by Amy and I in a fly-by fashion. I caught some of this on video. They actually held him out to Amy and I like, “hey, here he is.” Then back off to more measurements and stuff.

Now my attention is completely divided. They are still working on Amy, who is having trouble breathing and elevated blood pressure. My new baby boy is just 8 feet away and I have been invited to go look.

I don’t remember much of the next few minutes. I know I did go look at him briefly and then returned to Amy. Things started stabilizing for her by the time I was invited to carry Harrison out to the nursery for further clean-up and measurements – but more importantly, a window for the grandparents! I did that and Harrison’s granparents were so glad to peek through the window at him and take pictures.

It was funny, the nurse would stop working when she sensed a flash go off and backed away from him. “They aren’t taking pictures of me are they?!” she said. Don’t know what her deal was, but she got interupted a lot.

From there I was doing a lot of back and forth from the nursery to the operating room to the recovery room. Amy’s blood pressure really sky-rocketed after the operation that they were afraid she would have a stroke or seizure. Fortunately, it normalized within an hour or so.

This is really long and scatter-brained, but it is more for me than anyone else. Of course, now, Harrison is about the healthiest baby we could ask for. Amy is recovering well and doing a lot on her own with Harrison now, too.

Filed under: Uncategorized on August 30th, 2006