It’s September 25th, 2017 Monday 9 a.m. Jill and I are in the car on the 95 south in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jill isn’t having contractions but they’re starting to slowly come in. My phone is paired with the Bluetooth speaker in our car and I call my mom. I’m about to tell my mother that the baby will be here today. If you ask her, she will tell you she was super excited about that call. I was slightly dreading that call. Not because I was afraid of my mom. It was because I had to admit it’s time to grow up and be a father.
We got to the hospital and we knew exactly where to go. We had already taken a tour of the hospital about a week and a half before. We picked up the phone, we told the nurse receptionist we were here to get checked in. Opening the giant double doors, we stepped inside. They took us into a room and they did an ultrasound on Jill. She was not dilated but they wanted to keep her for an hour or so just to check to see if she started to become dilated.
My parents arrived at the hospital and met us in the waiting room. My mom had a smile from ear-to-ear. My dad had worked all night the night before and I only had a couple hours of sleep. He for sure was not going to miss this, but he needed some sleep. I sat in the waiting room talking to my dad about normal stuff while my mom went in to comfort Jill. My mom comes back into the waiting room and notifies us that they are going to admit Jill and our baby is coming today. Our doctor was close by, showed up and determined that today was baby day. We looked at each other. Kind of in disbelief.
Our amazing nurse
When they admit you into a delivery room you are assigned a nurse. It is their job to keep track of your vitals and make sure pregnant mommy is doing well. We met our nurse and her name is Katie. She was training a woman named Nikki. I had a good feeling about Katie. Whenever you are assigned the person who is training a newbie. you know they are good at their job. Katie is the best at Summerlin Hospital.
Katie introduces herself to Jill and very calmly explains to us what was about to happen. Katie spoke with such a calm voice. She was letting us know how the epidural works, while another doctor and Jill get prepped. Honestly, I think the epidural was the worst part of the entire childbirth process. It was not fun to watch and probably was the most painful thing Jill had been through during this pregnancy.
With the epidural in place, the nurse and her team needed to get some vital signs of the baby. They had to reach in and put a tiny little sensor into the tip of the baby’s head in order to monitor the vitals. They tried three times with no luck. Katie went and got another doctor who was really good at putting the censor into a baby’s head.
A few minutes go by. The doctor thought she had it. Then it failed twice. At that time the baby and Jill started to drop their vital signs. Nothing major but a little faster than normal.
This is where having Katie came in handy.
She calmly explained to us what was about to happen because we were having a c-section instead of natural childbirth.
Two things happen when you have a C-section. You shit your pants and you listen the fuck up. Katie informed us that multiple people were about to come into our room. She told us just to sit back and let them do their job and everything will be fine. Our doctor comes racing into the room and says the magic words “let’s go get us a baby”. Jill is being rolled on the table into an operating room and I am following behind putting on my scrubs. Side note: The doctor looked at my parents, assured them everything was going to be ok. He shook their hand and moved on. It was pretty cool to see our doctor acknowledge everyone in the room.
They raced Jill immediately into the operating room. They held me outside for a few minutes. They had to verify the room was clean before bringing anyone else in. I was brought into the room just as the doctor was making his incision. I sat on a stool next to Jill’s head as she laid down on the table. I held her hand while it shook.
She was scared and cold. And scared and cold some more. She was shaking, almost hyperventilating. I blinked three times and the doctor pulled the baby out. Our little baby boy had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice. They think trying to put in the sensor caused the baby to spin and wrap the cord around his neck for the second time. So I assumed the cord was already wrapped around his neck once. Never a fun thought, but it’s the truth.
He’s here
The baby is out. He’s crying already. He’s just so tiny and blue. It didn’t matter. we were already in love with him.
I was called over to a table where two nurses were measuring and weighing the baby. Jill was in my peripheral vision getting stitches and making her recovery. The nurse asked me if I wanted to hold the baby first. I said no. I think the mother should hold the baby first. So the nurse carried the baby over to Jill and rested him on her chest.
I had to hold the baby up because Jill was still shaking but mama and baby made eye contact. They just stared at each other for a few minutes and Mommy started to cry. The baby started to cry but that’s because he was in a brand new foreign world. So he gets a pass.
The nurses took the baby into a room where they started administrating shots and blood work type stuff. I stayed behind with Jill. I held her hand while her last stitches went in. I rolled Jill back into the delivery room with the doctors and Katie. Katie checked Jill out and then walked us over to the room where the baby was being further examined. My parents got to see the baby for the first time. He’s in this plastic bassinet. He’s not happy. Regardless, my parents are happy.
The baby was laying underneath a warm fan, kind of like an Egg McMuffin. That’s when I finally looked into his eyes and we met for the first time. I can’t describe to you what that feeling is like. Maybe you’ll just have to do it on your own one day.
Good luck if you do.
That room is soooo cold. And I concur the epidural is awful, every doctor who says “it’s jusr a Little bee sting,” needs to be throat punched, and then given an epidural in the eye.
There is nothing like the experience of becoming a parent. It changed me forever. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Justine