A Beginning and an End (517 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 1.75 on 9 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Remy L (View user info) at 2006-02-08 22:25:35 EST
The funny thing about this German hospital was that all the room doors are open. The idea is that what is going on in the room is none of your business, so Germans in this part of Germany don't look. Americans have this nasty habit of turning their head to look as they walk past... rubber-necking at its finest. For a second I forget I'm in Germany and I'm glad they put is in the last room in the ward, near the nurses' station. I didn't want anyone to see what was happening.
Mar has been in labor for about an hour. Legitimate, water-broken labor, not that pre-labor stuff that people talk about.
Already the doctor, in careful and deliberate English explains that she has something called H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome. I don't know what it is, but the next thing I know, he's handing me forms (in English, thank God) for a C-section. I know C-section, so I'm immediately worried. They sedate my wife and tell me I should go home and get some of her things, because she's going to be there for a week or two.
I diligently drive home and grab a few extra things for Mar, and check up on H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome as cyclone around the apartment. Scary shit. I suggeset you look it up yourself, because the details are complicated. The gist of what I got was that Mar's blood wasn't carrying oxygen, her liver was consuming itself due to lack of oxygen, and there weren't enough platelets to stop the liver ruptures. A C-section would save her life.
I'm back at the hospital and they are telling me that because of my health insurance and my preferences for treatment I filled out when we registered, they are calling in all the specialists for the C-section. The good news is that, well, that's really good. Specialists are good, right? The bad news is that we have to wait a bit.
What follows is two hours of the worst pain she has probably ever felt. This wasn't labor pain, it was the pain of feeling your liver starve for oxygen and start to consume itself. Yeah, nasty shit.
Finally they take her to get her prepped for surgery. One of the things I have always tried to maintain, and Mar knows this, is that I am aware of what is going on and I accept what is happening. She is looking at me, through the pain, for signs of fear and I dutifully show her that I'm not scared. As they leave, the nice German hemotologist is telling me that most people have a platelet count of 300,000, whatever that means. Mar is down to 15,000. Because of this, they have to knock her out for the surgery and I have to wait outside the surgery ward. They wheel her away, I gather up our things, and I'm scared to death.
The "waiting area" is a dark hallway with no lights, opaque-frosted windows to let in sunlight (at 6:30am, there wasn't enough light yet anyway) and a couple of shaky metal chairs. Not the best place to wait.
The hemotologist comes back out and says they are going to give her an epidural instead, so that I can be with her during the C-section. I ask if that's okay, and she tells me that it's risky, but it might be the last chance I have to see my wife. This immediately sets off some warning bells in my head, and I quickly put on the operating room scrubs they give me and go sit with Mar.
I'm told there are three types of C-section. The nice planned ones, the ones that need to be done quickly, and the "gut you like a fish right now or you're going to die." This was the second kind. They did it fast fast fast. I was sitting next to Mar's head but I peeked around the curtain they set up just below her chin. Ever see Aliens, when the eggs are about to hatch? You see that gross membrane with signs of face-hugger movement underneath? Picture that, in a stomach, with lots of blood. Lots and lots of blood. And intestines removed. One of the surgeons elbows my head to move me back behind the curtain. I realize how many people are in my room. Later I found out there were about a dozen different specialists there for everything that could go wrong.
Mar started surgery with double the normal blood volume and by the time they took Caitlyn out she had half the normal volume. We both laughed and cried when we saw Caitie for the first time. I heard her crying while they cleaned her up. The nurse brought her out to us and asked if I wanted to go with the baby or stay with Mar. I was encouraged to go with the baby.
Ten minutes later I'm up in Mar's room holding my new baby daughter. Her eyes are wide open and she's looking at me (C-sections, while hell for the mother, are very good for the baby) and I'm looking at her. I smile and kiss her on the forehead. We sat there, 6:45 in the morning, and we both fell asleep while I waited for them to tell me if Mar survived.
User Reviews
Submitted by Hilarity_Ensues (user info) at 2006-02-10 07:24:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I know that it's supposed to be -2 for 1st timers, but I'm sorry... this was good.
-2 for 1st post syndrome
+2 for having a baby (stressfull enough) and keeping your cool for her sake while shit was hitting the fan with your wife.
+1 for a good start outta the gate.
Welcome to Uber :)
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2006-02-09 14:21:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Welcome to Uber.
Submitted by Aztune (user info) at 2006-02-09 08:46:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Short for Marilyn.
Submitted by Nellypaal (user info) at 2006-02-09 08:38:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
First post, huh? Well done.
Mar, huh? Weird name.
Submitted by Mr_T (user info) at 2006-02-09 08:24:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"gut you like a fish right now or you're going to die."
That's what Mr T did to his dear old ma. I promptly escaped from that prison - my old man was on the jizz.
Submitted by maxmouse (user info) at 2006-02-09 01:20:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hate to think of the title as the answer to "what happened"...
+2 for a good (but sad) read
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2006-02-09 00:48:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
good for you and your ability to watch...since most people can't or won't
and +2 for you, in more ways than 1
Submitted by GuinnessSince1759 (user info) at 2006-02-08 23:47:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Noooo...what happened. Welcome to uber. No -2 for you because this was well written and quite enjoyable to read.
Submitted by SiddleyHawker (user info) at 2006-02-08 22:35:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I know I'm supposed to -2 you for your first post, but I don't think that it is appropriate for this post. I hope your daughter and wife (I think) are doing well.