Heather was scheduled to be induced at 7 p.m. Thursday night but instead Heather had a rude awakening in the wee hours of Thursday morning. The flu had invaded and Heather was horribly sick. I had just had a long phone conversation with Heather only a few hours earlier, speculating on the baby’s sex, mentally preparing her for the induction ahead and assuring her of my plans to arrive and offer support during labor. Unfortunately, Heather made her way in to the hospital early Thursday unsure of anything… Why was she so sick? Was the baby in danger? Would they still induce? Would I make it there in time? I boarded my flight unsure of what was to come. But Baby Sophie waited patiently for my arrival.
When I arrived at the hospital I was overjoyed to find that I hadn’t missed a thing… well, except for a lot of vomiting and diarrhea. They had just started the induction and Heather’s contraction shortly kicked in. With her nausea and diarrhea none of us were sure what to expect but once the epidural took hold she was able to rest comfortably for a few hours while we reminisced and again, speculated on the baby’s sex. We overwhelmingly defaulted to a girl. The heart rate was high. Heather had been miserable throughout this pregnancy with only those nuisances a girl could deliver.
We were expecting several hours before the baby would make its arrival so I stepped out to call Roger and Riley to discuss his electives for high school. Riley’s high school forecast sheet was due and we simply had to decide between Spanish and German and sequential math vs. interactive math. My phone kept beeping but I ignored the rings – I was just in the hall and Doug would come get me if anything happened, right? Wrong! I finally checked my texts and Doug was telling me to come now. I abruptly ended the phone call leaving Riley’s high school future in Roger’s hands and ran back to the room to find the NICU team monitoring the baby. Heather had started bleeding. The NICU team slowly left, ultimately deciding that the baby was not in distress. She would be able to continue laboring on her own. The nurse quickly checked Heather and announced she could begin pushing very soon. The doctor was called, the room was put in order and the next thing we knew we were cheering Heather on as she pushed. Doug and I held her legs. He looked sincerely into her eyes encouraging her to breathe and push. I rubbed her legs and provided the humor, making fun of her splotchy shaven legs. Heather worried about having diarrhea and we all laughed. I cheered each time I spotted the baby’s head. And before we knew it Baby Sophie had arrived. I screamed “It’s a GIRL!!!” when she finally made her entrance. I think I screamed it about 5 times.
The NICU team whisked Baby Sophie away to the baby station to suction out the blood that had so suddenly appeared earlier. We all (except for the doctor) immediately abandoned Heather to go watch the baby be suctioned and cleaned up and snap her first few photos. I made my way back to Heather in time to help deliver the placenta. The doctor even let me touch it and play with it. He showed me the clot that had separated causing the bleeding. I told him how amazing I thought the placenta was. He responded by saying he didn’t really like placentas. They were hot and smelly… I guess when you see that many placentas they must lose their appeal and the amazement at the role they play in the miracle of birth.
And Heather was on cloud 9! She finally felt good. She was elated to have both a boy and a girl. She got used to the idea of saying “her” and we teased her about having a “daughter”. We speculated on what Mason would think of having a sister. We fantasized about the day Heather could go get a pedicure with her daughter. I promised to make a trip to Target as soon as they opened to go by her something pink. And we were all mesmerized by how beautiful she was.
I too was captivated by the birth I had just witnessed and the beautiful baby in my arms - I had a few lapses in judgment that were unfortunately captured on film. I vaguely recall waving in the camera announcing that I wanted to have another baby! Later, after coming back down to reality I begged Doug to capture my recantation on film – to no avail! So hear me now – I am very, very happy and blessed to have three of the most wonderful and beautiful children in the world. I do NOT want to be pregnant EVER again… I was just missing my babies but a day in my life quickly reminds me that I am fulfilled. I spent a great deal of time this weekend reminiscing about how special and unique each of my baby's birthdays were - I am content and complete with those magnificent memories.
Hours later when we all settled in the room to get some sleep Heather and I cuddled up on the double bed, occasionally with the baby joining us. Doug so sweetly offered to sleep on the sofa. And we all quickly drifted off to dreamland filled with babies and pink bows and fancy dresses. But dreamland was rudely interrupted with a “Code Red” that was repeatedly announced over the intercom and awakened us all with a jolt. Sheer exhaustion prevented any of us from actually getting up to check on the fuss but we all knew that when Code Red is repeatedly announced over the loud speaker at 4 and 5 am it cannot be a good sign. In the morning after a mere 3 hours of sleep we heard that Code Red means Fire… really, could there have been about 8 fires last night? No, just a drill. Of course they have the fire drills on the one night we stay in the hospital!
The rest of the weekend flew by. We spent a good portion of the time debating on Sophie’s name. We introduced Sophie to her new home and then, before I knew it, I was heading back to the airport to rejoin my own family. I missed them all tremendously and wished they could have all experienced the miracle of Sophie’s birth with me (although I know none of them had any desire to experience it – they’re just fine with the stories). But something as amazing as childbirth always makes me want to share the sheer elation of it all. Again, I am thankful for such great friends and family who have opted to share their experiences with me and for those who have so willingly participated in my own children’s births.
Heather was there for the birth of my first baby and I was there for perhaps her last baby – what marvelous memories!
That is so awesome you were there for your bestest friend ever!
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