Our First Child
After many hours of labor, the decision was made to perform a cesarean procedure to finish the birthing process of our first child. They gave my wife an epidural so she would be alert in the operating room. The nurse handed me some scrubs, led me to the washroom and told me to be quick.
When I was clean and dressed, a different nurse brought me into the operating room and I was seated near my wife’s head, and a makeshift divider was set up to prevent us from seeing any of the procedure about to happen. Within a minute or two, one of the nurses exclaimed “there’s an ear!”
A few seconds later, the doctor raised a baby boy, covered in fluids, eyes closed, the umbilical cord still attached to him. Behind the divider again, lots of activity was happening with the doctor and two nurses moving quickly with instruments, wipes and whispers. Then we heard the first cries of a baby as one of the nurses brought him to the corner and wrapped him in blankets and put a blue watch cap on his head.
The nurse then brought him to my wife and put him in her arms. He was alert and quiet as he stared at her face. She said “hello James Elliot” and I started crying. James just looked at his mother with a furrowed brow and clear eyes.
As the medical crew scurried to finish their work, I sat with wonder watching my son and his mother bond with each other for the very first time.