After waiting for almost an hour while they gave my wife and epidural they finally came and got me. I went through an area that looked like a janitor's closet and into the operating room. Dr. Harris was cracking jokes while I marveled at the technology. The room was full of computerized gadgets. When I made mention of them the doctor laughed and said they just keep them here to impress customers.
I sat down by my wife and stroked her dark brown hair. She looked very scared and her arms were stretched out both ways. Marie said she felt no pain, which was good. There was a large blue drape that separated us from the actual surgery. It happened very quickly.
Once they removed the baby they held it up over the drape for Marie to see. The new child burst into a scream when she laid eyes on mommy which caused the whole room to break out into laughter. This time I didn't get to cut the cord or hold the baby. Little Katie was whisked off to the side of the room where the baby station was located.
Two young female nurses went to work on the baby right away. They cleaned her, weighed her and asked for the time of birth which was 1:45 am. I got up from my seat after kissing my wife and went to count fingers and toes. She was beautiful!
Katie was smaller than Taylor, coming in at 6 lbs 9 oz as compared to Taylor at 6 lbs 14 oz. But Katie was different. She was very quiet. Her cries were so dainty and soft! Not like Taylor who even woke up people in the waiting room. She was very pretty with little of the mess that is normally associated with birth. Her head was perfectly shaped.
The nurses took the baby and told me that I needed to go with them. I again went and touched Marie (there was no way to hug or hold her) and left with the two ladies. In the baby area they told me that I could remove the hot and sweaty scrubs. This room was very warm (for the new baby) and had three nurses.
The nurses set about cataloging my daughter like a science experiment. Really, they treated her like a lab specimen. The cold and uncaring way that they handled her kind of worried me, but they made it seem so normal that I didn't crack any of their heads open. They pricked her foot and made her bleed. This doesn't seem like much, but they poke her with the same size pin that they would poke me with, so if I scaled it down it would be like a 10 penny nail going into my foot.
Then they gave her an injection. Well, not right away because the nurse dropped the first B-12 shot and broke the needle so we had to go get another one. Then we measured her at 19 inches long. After that they started running a countdown of dimensions and checks, all of which showed that Katie was a good fish that could be mounted on the wall instead of being thrown back. One check didn't fair so well and that was blood sugar. It seemed to be a little low so the nurse gave Katie a small meal of Infamil baby food.
The tiniest nurse and I went into another room and gave Katie her first bath. She protested much. Now she is all clean and ready for her mommy. Where is mommy?
It took another 45 minutes for mommy to come out of the operating room. I'm glad it did because Dr. Harris did a great job with the stitches. She was woozy but ready to see her pretty little child. We rolled her into the recovery room and I waited until they had her hooked up and under a heat lamp. She looked like french fries at Mcdonald's.
We reunited the baby with her mother. Mommy was tired and drugged but wanted to feed her baby as soon as possible. I was tired but happy and did what I could to make Marie comfortable. She was so tired she could barely hold the baby. We put her in a small rolling crib.
About 3:00 am a nurse brought me a Coca Cola which was the best beverage I've ever had. It perked me back up and gave me the energy to help Marie to her room. Another nurse pushed the baby and I carried the bags. How Marie was still awake was beyond understanding.
...continued.
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