Happy Birthday
Posted on Tuesday July 25, 2006 at 8:48am.
We're all more fortunate than we often acknowledge.
Four years ago today my son was born. My wife started having contractions the morning before, July 24, and at 8:00 p.m. we went to the hospital. She wasn't "in enough pain," so they sent us home. By around 10:00 p.m. she was in lots more pain, so back we went. We walked the maternity wing hallways for a good part of the night, hoping gravity would convince this kid to come out. No luck. Hours and hours passed. Finally at 6:00 a.m. they gave my wife an epidural. Then we waited, had some meds to encourage dilation, waited some more. At around 3:00 p.m., the doctors finally concluded that my wife was not going to dilate, so they rushed her into the O.R. and performed a C-section. I had time to get into scrubs and play doctor. All went well, and at 3:44 we had a healthy baby boy.
Two days later, a cousin visiting us in the hospital, after hearing that my wife hadn't dilated and the baby had to be removed via surgery, innocently wondered aloud, "What did they do back in the old days, before modern medicine and technology?"
The answer was simple, if cold. One need only look at infant and mother mortality rates back in the good old days.
"They died," I said. "That's what they did."
Four years ago today my son was born. My wife started having contractions the morning before, July 24, and at 8:00 p.m. we went to the hospital. She wasn't "in enough pain," so they sent us home. By around 10:00 p.m. she was in lots more pain, so back we went. We walked the maternity wing hallways for a good part of the night, hoping gravity would convince this kid to come out. No luck. Hours and hours passed. Finally at 6:00 a.m. they gave my wife an epidural. Then we waited, had some meds to encourage dilation, waited some more. At around 3:00 p.m., the doctors finally concluded that my wife was not going to dilate, so they rushed her into the O.R. and performed a C-section. I had time to get into scrubs and play doctor. All went well, and at 3:44 we had a healthy baby boy.
Two days later, a cousin visiting us in the hospital, after hearing that my wife hadn't dilated and the baby had to be removed via surgery, innocently wondered aloud, "What did they do back in the old days, before modern medicine and technology?"
The answer was simple, if cold. One need only look at infant and mother mortality rates back in the good old days.
"They died," I said. "That's what they did."