Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Here's how it happened
On Saturday evening, Morley and I took my sister's advice to see the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" (which we enjoyed). We caught an early screening and then went to a really mediocre chain restaurant on the outskirts of the local mall. For Beavercreek, Ohio, it was a "big night out." As we were driving home from the restaurant I said to Morley, "With luck, this will probably be our last night out for a long time." We both hoped my prediction wasn't true, and that Becki would stay pregnant at least one more week -- maybe two. That's when we saw the moon. It was the most enormous harvest moon I had ever seen in my life: a freakishly gargantuan, tide-pulling, cartoon of a moon, and I said "I sure hope Becki doesn't see that!"
Five minutes later, at 10:30 pm, we were walking in the door of the condo we're staying at and my cell phone rang. It was Scott. "Becki's water just broke," he said. "We're on our way to the hospital. We'll call you and let you know what the doctors say and let you know if you need to start heading on down." Morley and I just stared at one another. Then we rushed to our computers and Googled "water breaks labor birth" and found out that generally it was the rule that once a woman's water breaks, the baby will be born within 24 hours. "Let's pack a suitcase," I said. "That's just what I was going to propose," said Morley. We threw some things in an overnight bag and just as we were zipping it shut, Brody called from the car and said "You guys better meet us at the hospital."
We arrived at the hospital before 11 pm and Becki was in triage with Brody, who was going to be acting as his mother's birthing coach. We sat out in the waiting room with Scott for about 15 minutes then were ushered into Becki's private room where she was all hooked up to monitors. By this time her contractions were coming every three minutes. She was in a great deal of discomfort but kept insisting that she didn't want to have an epidural. An hour went by (really quickly for us, really slowy for Becki), and poor thing was just in agony. Finally, she turned to Morley and me and asked us if it was okay to have an epidural! We were gobsmacked. Even in such a circumstance, Becki was considering our feelings about our children's birth experience before her own. (Of course we gave our consent -- we had told her earlier, several times, that having a spinal was completely up to her. We wanted her to whatever she was comfortable with.) Unfortunately, by the time the pain got too much for her and she asked for an epidural, it was too late. "We've got elip!" the nurse said to someone over the telephone. "We're on our way to the O.R."
They wheeled Becki's bed out of the room and the staff directed Brody, Scott, Morley and me to a room down the hall where we were instructed to remove our clothes and put on surgical scrubs. Once we were dressed and looking thoroughly silly in our paper bonnets, we were lead to the operating room where Becki had her legs in the stirrups and was being coached to push. A few minutes later -- at 1 a.m. precisely -- Daniel James came shooting out, blue one second, then screaming and pink the next. A nurse whisked him out of the room to an ajoining area where a team was ready to clean him up and assess him. (Apgar score: 9 out of 10.) Doctor Watson next took out this long stick-like thing and punctured the second placenta. A gush of water, and then another little head appeared. Rowan Matthew entered the world at 1:05. Like his brother before him, his cries started immediately and he turned rather red rather quickly. (Apgar score: also 9 out of 10.) The boys were doing great.
(A lot more happened, but we've got to get back to the hospital now. Check back a little later for the continuation!)
Five minutes later, at 10:30 pm, we were walking in the door of the condo we're staying at and my cell phone rang. It was Scott. "Becki's water just broke," he said. "We're on our way to the hospital. We'll call you and let you know what the doctors say and let you know if you need to start heading on down." Morley and I just stared at one another. Then we rushed to our computers and Googled "water breaks labor birth" and found out that generally it was the rule that once a woman's water breaks, the baby will be born within 24 hours. "Let's pack a suitcase," I said. "That's just what I was going to propose," said Morley. We threw some things in an overnight bag and just as we were zipping it shut, Brody called from the car and said "You guys better meet us at the hospital."
We arrived at the hospital before 11 pm and Becki was in triage with Brody, who was going to be acting as his mother's birthing coach. We sat out in the waiting room with Scott for about 15 minutes then were ushered into Becki's private room where she was all hooked up to monitors. By this time her contractions were coming every three minutes. She was in a great deal of discomfort but kept insisting that she didn't want to have an epidural. An hour went by (really quickly for us, really slowy for Becki), and poor thing was just in agony. Finally, she turned to Morley and me and asked us if it was okay to have an epidural! We were gobsmacked. Even in such a circumstance, Becki was considering our feelings about our children's birth experience before her own. (Of course we gave our consent -- we had told her earlier, several times, that having a spinal was completely up to her. We wanted her to whatever she was comfortable with.) Unfortunately, by the time the pain got too much for her and she asked for an epidural, it was too late. "We've got elip!" the nurse said to someone over the telephone. "We're on our way to the O.R."
They wheeled Becki's bed out of the room and the staff directed Brody, Scott, Morley and me to a room down the hall where we were instructed to remove our clothes and put on surgical scrubs. Once we were dressed and looking thoroughly silly in our paper bonnets, we were lead to the operating room where Becki had her legs in the stirrups and was being coached to push. A few minutes later -- at 1 a.m. precisely -- Daniel James came shooting out, blue one second, then screaming and pink the next. A nurse whisked him out of the room to an ajoining area where a team was ready to clean him up and assess him. (Apgar score: 9 out of 10.) Doctor Watson next took out this long stick-like thing and punctured the second placenta. A gush of water, and then another little head appeared. Rowan Matthew entered the world at 1:05. Like his brother before him, his cries started immediately and he turned rather red rather quickly. (Apgar score: also 9 out of 10.) The boys were doing great.
(A lot more happened, but we've got to get back to the hospital now. Check back a little later for the continuation!)
# posted by J. Timothy Hunt @ 8:24 a.m. 
