read more vinny birth

Lucky Little

Sir, you're going to need to continued...

“Sir, you’re going to need to step back please”, the nurse snapped at me as a young male nurse pushed in the giant glass shell, the glass box. This baby was not going to be going into the arms of the new mother. He would be immediately placed in the battle box. Time to battle! “Bobby! Bobby!!” Sonya cried out. “Ok, sir, I’ll need you to stand over her please” the nurse scoots me out of her way. “Ok Sonya you need to keep pushing”, the doctor says as she walks in the room. “Breathe now, baby” I try to get in from behind the team that’s about to deliver my son. My first born. 3 months earlier than expected. Her blood platelet count was up but not near as far as the medical team hoped for. There was still a strong possibility that they would not be able to stop her bleeding. The liver was still actively expanding which was critical. On the other hand they had to allow the steroids to continue to build up the baby’s lungs. They were working. His oxygen count was rising better than anticipated. “That’s it, that’s it push” the doctor urges. “Push. You’re doing great. That’s it, breathe.” Sonya shouts out, “I can feel him. Is he okay? Is he okay, tell me?!” “Your baby is doing fine sweetheart”, the nurse’s tone temporarily calms Sonya. “Ohhh!” Sonya shrieks. “That’s it Sonya! Keep pushing! Push. Push. “Oh my God! Oh God!” “Push honey, one more time” the nurse insists. Sonya cringes her face and grips my hand like a vice crushing small sticks and gives one last push. “Aaaahhhhh!!” Before Sonya could say another word, her son Vincent had entered the world. There was relief for as long as the snap of a flash. I watched as the doctor quickly cut the umbilical cord and turned to place him in the incubator. At that point everything seemed to go into slow motion. Allowing me to capture and file a most important snapshot moment of my life. I happened to catch the perfect glimpse of him for just a fraction of a second. He was long and lean. Just under two and a half pounds. 13 inches long. His skin was pretty much see through. The best thing to see was he had one eye wide open. The best thing to hear was him crying. Boom, he was in the incubator and being wheeled off, to be saved. He was on the outside now. Thrown into the battle. I turned around to see what I could only describe at the time as a battlefield. Blood everywhere, shiny yet blood covered doctor utensils. Blood covered rags and sheets and blood all over Sonya’s gown. Puddled in the bed. “She’s having a reaction to the mag!” the doctor yells. Bells started to ring on one of the machines at the top of the bed. The nurse opens up a line from the hanging bag and the liquid rushes into Sonya’s veins. “Sir you need to step out of the room please” I’m told by the nurse. Yes, having the baby was the first step in halting the liver from swelling, but Sonya was far from being safe. The next 8 hours would be critical. There was not a given set of expectations in either of their cases. There was no history for these doctors to look back on for insight. This case was different. It was life and death for my most precious gifts. I knew with every ounce of faith I could gather that everything was going to work out. Even though all the worst case scenarios went through my mind they were bullied out by thoughts of victory. Leaning on the wall trying to peek through the closed blinds of the room where my wife writhed in pain for so many hours, I forced into my mind thoughts of life and thoughts of beating the odds. I was forming my declaration statement in my mind. This wasn’t crumble time it was it was go time. The doctor quickly bolted out of the room. I grabbed her by the shoulder as I would freely do to a good female friend or a sister. Probably a little aggressively for our rapport but not for the urgency of the situation. “Doctor” I said, “what’s going on? How is she? Is the liver going down?” After looking past the shoulder grab, though she did make notice of the firm touch, the doctor responded, “It is not looking good.” She looked to the ground then up and right into my eyes. “ I’m calling in someone with more experience in this arena”. I removed my hand from her shoulder. I said “Doctor, I just want you to know one thing. No matter what has happened to others in the past, or what it looks like right now, but me, my wife, and our son. We’ll all be going home.” The next three days would require everything we were made up of. Father, Mother and Son…