Hazel's Birth Story Part 3

The Surgery

The (so you don’t see your organs on your lap and freak out) curtain went up. The doctor was asking for tools and suddenly I was in a Grays Anatomy episode. Orders were going back and forth and everyone was moving so quickly. It felt like a terrible out of body experience, feeling the tugging and pulling of my numb body as they worked. Then Karen the doctor asked for suction, only to find out that the suction machine didn’t work. She then started yelling for suction and you could feel a shift in the room. The machine was broken and it was a game changer. I’m guessing that they must have worked around not having suction because they stopped talking about it. That or maybe they felt they might have a law suit on their hands. Later after the surgery a nurse was messing with the suction machine and talking about why it might be broken. A few minutes passed and then we heard that the baby was out. I breathed a shallow breath of relief.

Is it really true?

I had to know for sure if it really was a girl. In my heart of hearts I didn’t let myself truly celebrate having a girl yet. I didn’t want to have the chance to be disappointed. Any child is such a blessing, and anyone who knows me knows how I have adored my all boy status. I couldn’t put all my expectation eggs in the girl basket until I knew for sure. So we asked the question and were reassured that yes it was a girl. That last bit of string gave way and my heart floated up like I balloon. I had a daughter, a mini me, a little Anne. Someone to pass all my oober woman characteristics onto. But then we didn’t hear it, the tale tell sign that the baby was ok; the cry. 

She’s out & She’s out

It took a full three minutes and we held our breath the whole time. There we were all three of us in this bright operating room holding our breath. I now wonder if it had something to do with the suction machine not working. Then finally we heard the sound we had spent 9 months waiting for, our sweet babies cry. A tiny kitten-like cry. We then learned why they weren’t able to move the cord and perhaps why she was so small. The cord was triple wrapped around her neck and wrapped like a headband in the middle. Her first APGAR score was a 3 and before she was whisked off, I had the gift of meeting her.