|
(26 1/2 weeks)
Tuesday, 9-10-02
9-10-2002 JOSHUA &
BENJAMIN ARE TO BE BORN...
September
10th, 2002
:
My dad took me to UCONN for an
8:00am
appointment – the Maternal Fetal Medicine Doctors wanted to look at
Benjamin’s heart and see if he was in distress.
As we watched Ben and Joshy dance on the ultrasound screen, my sister
Michelle showed up (she was going to relieve my dad so he could go back to
work…). The doctor told us that
Ben was definitely showing
signs of possible heart failure and that he felt that
it would be best for both boys if they were delivered THAT DAY.
As we waited for a confirmation from the other specialists, my Mom
arrived. She had a “feeling”
that today would be the day and she did NOT want to miss it!
And her “feeling” was right. The
doctors all agreed that today would be the day and we began the process of
checking in. I called
Jeffrey
at work and he left immediately to meet us at the hospital.
In the maternity ward, I was
given an IV, put on fluids and the Caesarean was scheduled for between 1:00 and
1:30pm (I had eaten a small bowl of cereal and they wanted to wait until my
stomach was empty…) They tried (as
they had numerous times in past weeks), to get the babies heart’s on the
monitors but were not successful. (Not
because the boys hearts weren’t beating, but because they were too jumpy to
catch long enough to monitor!!). I
had begun having contractions and they were getting stronger and stronger.
I was glad to have my Mom and Dad and my sister there with me…
Jeffrey
arrived (much to my relief). And it
seemed as if it was only moments after I had called him!
As we waited, more people came to the hospital to
support us.
Jeffrey
’s
mom and dad, our Associate Pastor
Rick
Haverly
(who brought a “prayer shawl” that the women in
our church had made for us), and our
dear friend Shelley (who’s car broke down on her way to the hospital).
Jeffrey
,
my mom and my sister began calling folks to pray.
We all wondered what the outcome of this day would be.
I was hopeful.
It was time to have the “spinal” anesthesia.
I was terrified. Absolutely
terrified. The anesthesiologist was
so kind and patient as were the nurses assisting him.
I was terrified that once I was anesthetized that I would once again be
unable to breathe on the operating table. Thankfully,
this was not the case and I was prepped and
Jeffrey
came in to
the OR to join me. I was fully aware
of my surroundings and heard the doctor/surgeon say “Holy cow, look at the
amount of fluid in here!!”. Baby
“A” was born – Joshua – at
2:01pm
. The
doctor said “hello” to Josh and he was wisked away.
I asked if he was alive and she said “yes”.
But we heard no sound and we didn’t even get to peek at him.
Baby “B” was then delivered – Ben – at
2:04pm
.
The doctor said “Here he is” and I heard a small grunt or squeak from
him, and he too was wisked away without so much as a peek.
I remember being so grateful that they were born alive.
After the surgery was completed I was wheeled back into
my room. I was given a large dose of
pain medication once the anesthesia began wearing off.
The pain medication caused me to be extremely “out of it” and I
don’t remember much about visitors that afternoon and early evening.
The nurses wheeled my entire bed down to the NICU nursery to see my boys
for the first time. It was difficult
seeing them - as their incubators were on a higher level than my bed.
But my boys were alive…yes, they were hooked up to more machines than
I’ve ever seen..but they were alive. I
was dependant on the “wonders” of modern medicine at that moment and had
hope that somehow my babies would make it. I
mean after losing two children to miscarriage…he would surely let me keep
these babies, right?
At some point in the late afternoon, our friend Fr.
Terry Kristofek came to the hospital and baptized the boys.
The nurse had come in and asked if I had wanted the boys to be baptized
because there was a priest available to do it at that moment.
(I think she was worried that the boys would not survive)
Little did I know that it was one of our dear friends who had come to
baptize our boys!! We would be soon
eternally grateful for his “random act of kindness”.
Our visitors during the
hours after the boys’ birth was so foggy…I remember, Rich and Steve and my Adam and Tori came…
The NICU doctor (Dr. Hussein) came in a few times to give us updates on how the
boys were doing. Joshua didn’t
seem to be doing well, but it was still too early to tell.
Most of the visitors began leaving at around
8 pm
…it was
time to rest and recoup…
Return to "Our Story" page
|