Our Story, page 2

Before Harold and I knew what was happening, a nurse used a tool to break the bag of water, everyone rushed in, and then they tried to get the delivery table in the right position. However, since they hadn’t used it before, no one could get it right. So my head ended up lower down than my feet—I was going to deliver this dear little child uphill. The nurses were running around in confusion, trying to find all the necessary equipment in this unfamiliar delivery/operating room. They were looking for this, looking for that, shouting directions at each other. (Unbelievably, this craziness was happening at a major metropolitan hospital supposedly set up for preterm deliveries.)

There were six nurses stationed around the delivery table and Harold was positioned by my head on the left, holding my hand. The nurses started screaming at me to push, while one nurse planted her elbow on my belly and started shoving with all her might. No one thought to give me any kind of pain medication. Unbelievably, the doctor used two different vacuums (one they called the “Mighty Mac”) to literally pull our son from my body. When he emerged, so small and blue, he had a huge bruise covering his entire scalp.

Thankfully, the neonatal team was all set up in a quiet corner, ready to receive our little boy. The neonatal doctor and nurse resuscitated him. Harold and I heard two small baby cries before they put a breathing tube down his throat and attached him to a machine that would help him breathe.

So began our little 2 1/2 pound son’s life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It would be nearly 3 months, multiple transfusions, x-rays, blood tests, and procedures before our little guy was ready to come home. Julian's hospital bill came in at a whopping $890,000.00.

Our Julian a few hours after his birth at 28 weeks.
His little hand is gripping my finger.

After recovering from this emergency birth, Harold and I started asking “Would this happen again?” The obstetrician who delivered our preemie son, Julian, assured us that it probably would not happen again—that the stress of moving had brought on premature delivery. (Just how did she come up with this diagnosis?)

Continued