Your mom asked me to write about the day you were born, and this is what I remember about your birthday. We had an appointment with the doctor on Monday to get you induced, so it was going to be a busy weekend, getting things ready for you. On Friday, January 28th, your mom had gotten up before me, which was pretty typical of most days. When I got up, she told me she was having contractions. I tried not to panic and we just stuck to the plans we had made if she went into labor at home, and cleaned the house and continued preparing for your arrival. By noon, or so, we decided to pack things up and get to the hospital.
We went up to the second floor and rang the little bell like the tour guide had showed us during one of the classes your mom signed us up for. The nurse hooked your mom up to the monitors and asked a bunch of questions. She acted a little concerned looking at the monitor, but never said if anything was wrong. After a little while, the doctor came in to check on her and bluntly stated that he needed to do an emergency C-section! Your heart rate was dropping with every contraction.
One of the nurses brought in the surgery suit and told me to put it on. I went into the bathroom and started to take off my clothes, but the nurse quickly instructed me to put the suit on over my clothes! Glad she got to me before I was down to my boxers :) We were impatiently waiting, then more bad news came: Your mom was going to have to be put to sleep for the c-section because her blood platelets were low. On top of that, I was told that I couldn't go back to the operating room with her. I went out to the car to grab the camera among other things and to make a few quick phone calls. Your Poppa Joe assured me it was standard procedure that I wouldn't be allowed back there with her, and the same thing had happened when your Uncle Matt was born. I felt a little comfort in that, but was still very worried.
As soon as I got back up to your mom's room, they were ready to take her to surgery. The doctor asked me if I was going to go back to the operating room, so I quickly grabbed the rest of my surgical attire and started to frantically put it on. I thought they were going to make an exception for me! But the nurse stepped in pretty quick and told me no, I couldn't go in there. So I stopped at the operating room door and waited with your Granny Dowwoe, Uncle Matt, and Sarah.
Twenty minutes later the doors opened, and the nurse brought me a beautiful baby boy! I got to hold you and show you off!
The first time I held you! I was so happy to finally meet my baby boy!
They then took you into the nursery to check you over and get your weight and height. In the mean time, I ran to check on your mom. The nurses said she was fine, but I was worried because I wasn't able to see her. I then rushed back to the nursery, because we had decided to participate in "skin to skin." Ideally, your mother would have done it, but I had agreed to since she was still in recovery. So I took off my shirt and held you next to my chest with a blanket wrapped around us for over an hour. It was so sad, because I knew you wanted your mom. You were rooting around trying to find something to eat! I told the nurse you were trying to eat and she said, "Well honey, don't let him!" She then assured me that you were not starving. You never did cry. You just curled up and fell asleep. We just sat there together in the nursery, and made fun of all the other babies who were crying!
Skin-to-skin with my precious baby boy
The nurse took you then and gave you your first bath. I took that opportunity to go check on your mom. The doctor had come in while we were doing skin to skin to give me an update. He didn't want to upset me while I waited, but there were some complications during the surgery. Due to the low platelet levels, your mom bled more that usual and the surgery took longer.
It was nearly 3 hours before they brought your mom out of recovery. Once they got us into a room, they brought you to us. Your mom was still in a bit of a daze from the anesthesia, but she said you were beautiful. It was great to have our little family together. Madeline came to the hospital and our little family was complete! We had a lot of visitors come see you, and we were happy to show you off. We ended up staying two nights in the hospital and we were able to keep you in the room most of the time. On Sunday we were discharged from the hospital and we were so excited to be bringing you home. It was hard to believe they were letting us leave with our baby boy.
Me and my babies!
I love you so much Gage,
Daddy
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