Aaron´s Arrival Story
So, 6 weeks after my last entry.....I´m trying to get this one written. I actually started it 3 weeks ago but I got waylayed by a little one who woke up before the expected hour.
On Tuesday, Sept 22, I was 8 days past my due date. I was growing weary from the waiting. I was almost convinced that he would never come. That day my mom and Ruben and I went out to Manresa to pass the time. We bought a puzzle--something I like to do during Christmas vacation when there is nothing to do. It was an Anne Geddes puzzle....to at least help me stay focused on the baby theme.
We came home and had lunch. Mom went back to painting the mural. Ruben was in his garden. "A visit to the bathroom," I thought, "and then maybe I can sit down at the computer and check my email." Before finishing up in the baño (as they call it here) I noticed some dampness and thought that maybe my water had broken. Mom suggested that we head to the hospital.
So, at 4:30pm Ruben and I went at a leisurely pace back to Manresa where the hospital is. I was surprised and a bit disappointed when the doctor on call told me that my water had not broken. However, they decided to keep me in observation for a little while. They put these monitors on my belly to watch my heart rate and that of the baby. They said that they didn´t like the pace of his heart rate. It looked like he was really tired.
After an hour´s rest in one of the observation beds and of drink of juice to try to stimulate the baby, the doctor decided that it might be best to induce, especially since I was already past my due date. So, around 7pm they took me to a delivery room and hooked me up to an IV by which the oxytocin would enter my system. They dressed Ruben in sterile clothing (He looks good in blue, doesn´t he?) and he came in with me to keep me company.
They continued to monitor my heart rate and that of the baby. Contractions had barely started and they said that the baby´s heart rate continued to drop. "He´s really tired and real labor hasn´t even started yet. We´re concerned that he´s suffering. We´ll have to take him out by C-section."
"Oh my," I thought. I had been reading about labor and delivery for months. I could tell you everything you needed to know about epidurals, the different kinds of breathing, the AGBAR test....but I didn´t really learn much about Cesareans because I honestly didn´t think that I would have one. So, it´s when you least expect it....
The doctors moved into action. At 7:30pm they started prepping me for surgery. As is procedure, they started taking off the nail polish from my toe nails. Apparently there was a big hurry because they only took the nail polish off the toes on my left foot. Then, in a flash I was wheeled into the operating room which brought back memories of my post-accident peritonitis operation. Click here to read about the car accident.
One interesting point is that throughout the pregnancy I had prayed for a good doctor to deliver Aaron. The system here is set up so that you don´t have one doctor who follows you through the whole process. Different people take care of different phases and responsibilities during the 9 months of the pregnancy. When they announced that the were going to operate, I happened to recognize one of the doctors who would perform the C-section. He had taken the 2nd trimester sonogram. He was very quiet and serious. During the 2nd trimester, when my midwife saw his signature on the sonogram report she said, "Oh, he´s really good. He may seem impersonal but he is an excellent doctor." Those words came to me when I saw his face in the operating room and I remembered the prayer I had prayed back in January...
...Which is a good thing because I´m not sure if it was fear from the car accident operation revisted or new fear of the unknown....but I started to tremble and just couldn´t stop. I knew that I needed to be still for the anestesia that they were giving me. It wasn´t an epidural but something like it. Here in Spain they call it a raki. Anyway, whatever they gave me, it didn´t work fast enough because I could feel something going on at my belly (Not sure if they were actually cutting or still prepping) and shouted, "Hey--I can feel everything you´re doing."
So, they decided to give me general anestesia. The thing is that noone told me how it would affect my body immediately and how it would affect me afterward. I started having breathing problems and then began gasping for air...."I can´t breathe! I can´t breathe!" I shouted as I grabbed at the mask. One of the doctors kept telling me, "tranquila, tranquila," which means "calm down." Of course, that helped not at all. Later I learned that general anestesia causes everything to become paralyzed, including your lungs. (It would have helped to know that!)
Anyway, I woke up about 3 hours later. I was alone and every now and then a nurse or two would enter. Once I realized where I was and had no sign of the baby, I began to cry. I could hear another patient on the other side of the curtain ask the nurse, "What´s wrong with her?" I couldn´t feel my legs. I just felt miserable. I´m sure someone explained it to me...but I don´t remember the answer. I only remember asking, "Where is my baby? Where is my baby?" This was one of the very low points of the day.
I learned later that Aaron had been born at 8:15pm. He weighed 2kg 650g (5lbs. 8oz.) and was 47 cm long. He had dark blue eyes and a head full of dark brown hair and seemed to have olive-colored skin, like Ruben, (We figured out, during our first visit to the pediatrician, that he wasn´t tan but jaundiced.)
Around 11pm, they decided that I could be taken to my room and the wheeled me out. After arriving in my room and still no sign of the baby, I begged and pleaded until they brought him to me, wrapped in lots of blankets. He was in a sterile environment in the neo-natal unit. They explained to me that he was rather small, underweight due to a small placenta. At that point, he wasn´t able to regulate his blood sugar and they had him under observation in an incubator.
I was so happy to see him and somewhat relieved. It finally brought some closure to the pregnancy phase. He could only stay for a couple of minutes, the nurse told me, because of his fragile state. That was okay because I was in no shape to be caring for a newborn yet. I was exhausted. Ruben was allowed to go in every 3 hours that night to feed Aaron from a bottle.
The next day I was able to join Ruben in the neo-natal unit. They brought a wheelchair to my room and wheeled me down. I had to sterilize like all the other parents who entered in there: serious handwashing, then hand sanitizer, then green hospital garb. I was so excited and yet worried as I peered into the incubator. "He´s so tiny," I thought.
Although those 3 extra days in the hospital seemed a little long, in reality I think they were God´s blessing to us. The nurses cared for Aaron around the clock. They showed us how to hold him. They taught us to change his diapers. They helped us to interpret his cries. We also got to meet several other couples whose children were in the neo-natal unit. (An interesting fact: 3 of the 6 families in our wing were Moroccan.) We looked forward with great anticipation to the feeding visits we were allowed to make every 3 hours. Here I´ve included a video from our last day at the hospital:
The same day this video was recorded we were released to go home. As we were leaving, Aaron spit up while waiting for the elevator and we had to change clothes before even leaving the hospital.....just the beginning of many spontaneous events in our new life as parents.
On Tuesday, Sept 22, I was 8 days past my due date. I was growing weary from the waiting. I was almost convinced that he would never come. That day my mom and Ruben and I went out to Manresa to pass the time. We bought a puzzle--something I like to do during Christmas vacation when there is nothing to do. It was an Anne Geddes puzzle....to at least help me stay focused on the baby theme.
We came home and had lunch. Mom went back to painting the mural. Ruben was in his garden. "A visit to the bathroom," I thought, "and then maybe I can sit down at the computer and check my email." Before finishing up in the baño (as they call it here) I noticed some dampness and thought that maybe my water had broken. Mom suggested that we head to the hospital.
So, at 4:30pm Ruben and I went at a leisurely pace back to Manresa where the hospital is. I was surprised and a bit disappointed when the doctor on call told me that my water had not broken. However, they decided to keep me in observation for a little while. They put these monitors on my belly to watch my heart rate and that of the baby. They said that they didn´t like the pace of his heart rate. It looked like he was really tired.
They continued to monitor my heart rate and that of the baby. Contractions had barely started and they said that the baby´s heart rate continued to drop. "He´s really tired and real labor hasn´t even started yet. We´re concerned that he´s suffering. We´ll have to take him out by C-section."
The doctors moved into action. At 7:30pm they started prepping me for surgery. As is procedure, they started taking off the nail polish from my toe nails. Apparently there was a big hurry because they only took the nail polish off the toes on my left foot. Then, in a flash I was wheeled into the operating room which brought back memories of my post-accident peritonitis operation. Click here to read about the car accident.
One interesting point is that throughout the pregnancy I had prayed for a good doctor to deliver Aaron. The system here is set up so that you don´t have one doctor who follows you through the whole process. Different people take care of different phases and responsibilities during the 9 months of the pregnancy. When they announced that the were going to operate, I happened to recognize one of the doctors who would perform the C-section. He had taken the 2nd trimester sonogram. He was very quiet and serious. During the 2nd trimester, when my midwife saw his signature on the sonogram report she said, "Oh, he´s really good. He may seem impersonal but he is an excellent doctor." Those words came to me when I saw his face in the operating room and I remembered the prayer I had prayed back in January...
...Which is a good thing because I´m not sure if it was fear from the car accident operation revisted or new fear of the unknown....but I started to tremble and just couldn´t stop. I knew that I needed to be still for the anestesia that they were giving me. It wasn´t an epidural but something like it. Here in Spain they call it a raki. Anyway, whatever they gave me, it didn´t work fast enough because I could feel something going on at my belly (Not sure if they were actually cutting or still prepping) and shouted, "Hey--I can feel everything you´re doing."
So, they decided to give me general anestesia. The thing is that noone told me how it would affect my body immediately and how it would affect me afterward. I started having breathing problems and then began gasping for air...."I can´t breathe! I can´t breathe!" I shouted as I grabbed at the mask. One of the doctors kept telling me, "tranquila, tranquila," which means "calm down." Of course, that helped not at all. Later I learned that general anestesia causes everything to become paralyzed, including your lungs. (It would have helped to know that!)
Anyway, I woke up about 3 hours later. I was alone and every now and then a nurse or two would enter. Once I realized where I was and had no sign of the baby, I began to cry. I could hear another patient on the other side of the curtain ask the nurse, "What´s wrong with her?" I couldn´t feel my legs. I just felt miserable. I´m sure someone explained it to me...but I don´t remember the answer. I only remember asking, "Where is my baby? Where is my baby?" This was one of the very low points of the day.
I learned later that Aaron had been born at 8:15pm. He weighed 2kg 650g (5lbs. 8oz.) and was 47 cm long. He had dark blue eyes and a head full of dark brown hair and seemed to have olive-colored skin, like Ruben, (We figured out, during our first visit to the pediatrician, that he wasn´t tan but jaundiced.)
I was so happy to see him and somewhat relieved. It finally brought some closure to the pregnancy phase. He could only stay for a couple of minutes, the nurse told me, because of his fragile state. That was okay because I was in no shape to be caring for a newborn yet. I was exhausted. Ruben was allowed to go in every 3 hours that night to feed Aaron from a bottle.
Although those 3 extra days in the hospital seemed a little long, in reality I think they were God´s blessing to us. The nurses cared for Aaron around the clock. They showed us how to hold him. They taught us to change his diapers. They helped us to interpret his cries. We also got to meet several other couples whose children were in the neo-natal unit. (An interesting fact: 3 of the 6 families in our wing were Moroccan.) We looked forward with great anticipation to the feeding visits we were allowed to make every 3 hours. Here I´ve included a video from our last day at the hospital:
The same day this video was recorded we were released to go home. As we were leaving, Aaron spit up while waiting for the elevator and we had to change clothes before even leaving the hospital.....just the beginning of many spontaneous events in our new life as parents. We thank God for Aaron and his speedy arrival.
Was it coincidence that I thought my water had broken and happened to go to the hospital? Was it a coincidence that I happened to go in when one of the best doctors in town was on call at that time? Was it coincidence that the doctors were able to recognize the baby´s distress signals in time? I don´t think so. I am sure that God´s hand was in the midst of this delivery and am convinced that He has a very special purpose for Aaron´s life. I don´t know what that is....but we´ll be watching and waiting to discover it as the months and years unfold.
In the meantime, we plan to just enjoy each day as it comes. Hopefully during one of those days that come in the future I´ll be able to introduce you personally to Aaron. Until then, enjoy the photos. There will be lots of them!
Jill y Rubén, estamos super felices por vosotros! Que preciosidad de bebé! Me ha encantado leer tu historia. Tenemos ganas de veros en Diciembre y conocer a Aaron. Besos y abrazos
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!! So glad to finally hear the story and see that you are doing well. Aaron is just precious!
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