Sara had decided to keep the baby, abortion was not an issue. Although it had been suggested to put the baby up for adoption she did not waiver on her decision. She had also decided to finish school. She contacted the father and he completely and absolutly denied any responsibility for his actions. So here I am with a pregnant daughter who is scared of the future and what it might hold, and me not really knowing how to proceed. So the journey begins.
I became Sara's surragate husband if you will. Sara attended the same ob clinic and had the same doctor that had brought her into the world some 16 years earlier. Over the next few months I was with Sara every step of the way, this is not to say she didn't have any outside support, as she did, but putting it in a nut shell it was her and I. I attended all doctor visits, Lamaze classes all the waythrough delivery. We had some stressful moments as well as many special and funny times that neither one of us will forget. The first time we saw my granddaughter was during an ultrasound at the ER. Sara had gotten deathly ill, (remember I spoke of the morning sickness?) I had become concerned for the baby's welfare due to the extreme vomtting Sara was going through and took her in. It just happenned that a friend of mine was on duty in radiology and we got a great show. Everything was perfect with the ultrasound and we even recieved some extra pictures. The baby however kept her legs crossed and would not allow us a peak. This was also the case with all the subsequent ultrasounds too. Sara wanted a girl, to me it didn't matter, as long as it was healthy. Besides the continual morning sickness, Sara's pregnancy went totally as expected, except for passing her due date.
On new years eve 1997, I came home from work and asked the same old question, any lobor pains today? Sara told me she thought she was having some. We began timing her contractions and they were somewhat mild and about 10 minutes or so apart. I called my girlfriend, Patty, as I was extremely excited. We already had everything ready for the hospital so we waited for the baby's time to come. Around eight in the evening Sara's contractions were about three minutes apart and had increased in intensity. As the contractions got stronger, we found that Sara is not tolerable of pain in any way shape or form. I do not wish to make light of the fact that labor doesn't hurt, but Sara did not do well at all. Sara became a screamer before it was all over. We left for the hospital.
After arriving we went through all the normal check ins, etc. Patty and her son Andy followed us. Shortly Sara's mom, Marcia arrived, as well as Sara's best friend Jerrimy. With Sara settled into her room we began our wait that continued into the wee hours of the morning. As I had stated earlier Sara has no tolerence for pain. That was putting it mildly. Sara got to the point of yelling at everyone. She would get mad at the nurse and tell her to leave. The minute the nurse would leave Sara would yell for her to come back to help her. Everyone with her did our best to help her. When I tried to step her through her breathing she told me to shut up. At one point she cussed at me. That was a first, she had never swore in front of me before,much less at me. Finally, they came in and gave her a spinal. What a relief that was. We all had some time to gather ourselves from the onslaught we had endoured. Unfortunately, the spinal proved to be a problem. The spinal did not wear off as expected and it was time for the baby to arrive. The doctor and nurses worked with Sara during contractions to get her to push. Even though she could not feeel her pains, she gave it her best. After some time, (not sure how long), the baby was beginning to become stressed. The doctor felt that the baby was face down in the womb, instead of face up and a c-section was in order. The doctor stated that one of us could go with her and Sara asked me! I was elated. I was also concerned, mainly because of the word "surgery". After the sugical team arrived we headed for the operating room.
I was placed at the head of Sara's gurney. I spoke to her all the while even after she was put under anesthetic. I watched as the highly skilled team did their work. When they started to put Sara under she told us she could not breath. The anesthisiologist told us she was fine. I assured Sara she was fine and it was just the anesthetic working. Soon she was asleep. Then, the anesthisiologist said she wasn't breathing. My heart stopped. As fast as Sara stopped breathing she began again (big sigh). The rest of the operation went like clock work. When Lexi was delivered however, I did not have the best vantage point.
continued........
