They had just started the incision as I was escorted into the operating room. It was a strange scene. There were at least 8 people in the room, not including me and Sam.
I had a stool to sit on next to Sam's head. I held her hand in one of mine, and in my other had my phone. "Make sure you keep your phone out after you get dressed, you won't be able to unzip the gown once you're in there" they'd told me. I wasn't sure I want to take pictures of anything in there.
The scene was lively, the doctors and nurses were all talking and joking around as they worked. Sam had her eyes closed with a faint smile on her lips. Like she had no cares in the world. The anesthesiologist was the only one of the staff not on the business side of the curtain, and he was awesome. We joked while he did his work and it definitely helped my nerves.
The only signs of change were the bits of jargon being thrown that out that I understood. From my side of the curtain, the only thing that let me know anything was happening was Sam being moved around as she was being pushed and tugged on.
"Good news! The baby has a head!", someone exclaimed from the other side of the curtain. "Let's hope there's only one" the anesthesiologist quickly whispered to me. It's kind of corny, but that joke, and the others we shared definitely made me feel comfortable in the room.
Not much time passed and they asked if I was going to stand up and peek over the curtain so I could reveal the gender to Sam. My banter with the anesthesiologist had cleared most of my nerves, so I emphatically said "Yes!". "Good!" the said, and then instructed me to stand up right then. A nurse had snuck into my corner of the room without me noticing and asked for my phone so she could take pictures of the moment for us. I quickly gave it to her and stood up.
I'm not sure what I expected to see. The room was laid out before me, and I could see the veritable crowd of nurses. When I looked down on the other side of the curtain.... all I could see was someone's back. "Here you go, Dad", one of them said. I tried to look around the person between me and my baby and couldn't get a view. "Are you standing?", someone asked. I let them know I couldn't see anything and just like that, the three people directly working on Sam spread apart and all I could see was my beautiful baby.
"It's a girl!", I yelled. Well, I think I did. Sam smiles, a round of congratulations are said, and next thing I know I'm being whisked away from Sam to go meet my daughter... on the business side of the curtain.
As I follow the nurse past the curtain, I keep telling myself "don't look" as I walk by where they are working on Sam to the other end of the room.
The baby is in the warmer and getting cleaned by the nurses. They insist I take more pictures than I already am and the next thing I know they're handing me the scissors to cut the cord! After a few more things are checked, she's declared healthy and we go back over to Sam.
I sit back down on my stool and they hand me the baby. We snuggle together with Sam while they finish putting her back together.
Nothing about the last nine months went as planned. But now that she's here, it was perfect.
Madeleine Stevie Houts
March 30, 2021 5:22pm
6lbs 13.0oz
19in