Tomorrow is Declan’s 2nd birthday...it doesn’t seem possible that two years have already passed since our smiley, easy going, determined warrior baby came into this world. The day he was born was a flood of emotions; of course lots of excitement and anticipation but there were feelings of worry and stress too leading up to his delivery. For high risk pregnancies, the delivery experience tends to be very different than a healthy pregnancy. There are two things I remember most from that day that would be very different from when his brother Connor would be born almost two years later. First, When Declan was born there were a lot more bodies in the OR room. In addition to the usual nurse, anesthesiologist, OB doctor, and resident student there were at least four additional people. I remember Jacqui the most. She was a PA who worked in the Danbury NICU; she took the time to come see us right before I was wheeled into the OR and she checked in with us asking how we were feeling and to let us know the plan for Declan. She mentioned that most likely he would go directly to the NICU with her and two other nurses to be further evaluated and monitored. Sure enough when Declan was born, she did a quick assessment there in the room (his number on the Apgar scale was only a 2!!! Which is not a number you want to hear when it’s out of 10!!!). Which leads to the second factor that was so different with our first birth; it was absolutely silent during the delivery. You seriously could hear a pin drop; whereas with Connor and most other typical pregnancies there was chatter among the doctors and they were chatting with us the entire time. I swear when Declan was delivered however, there were people in that room probably holding their breath; I sure know that I was. And It was a very unnerving feeling knowing the doctors were just as concerned as us. Once Declan was out into the world, everyone got to caring for Declan immediately. Jacqui let me know she was indeed taking him to the NICU, but snapped this family photo of us first. I was so out of it at the time but now looking back it’s one of my absolute favorite moments with him. They brought Declan right to my face and I gave him a kiss on the cheek. His eyes fluttered open for a moment and he looked right at me as if to assure us that he was a fighter and he was going to be okay.
No comments:
Post a Comment