The First 8 Days Part One
Posted on December 11, 2008 - Filed Under Guatemala, Kids, Personal | 3 Comments
I`m sure I won`t forget this, but I want to write it down anyway. Just in case. Because Dorian ought to know just what happened after he was born and there`s no reason everyone else can`t share it too. 
In Guatemalan public hospitals, no one can come in with you. So, I was sent to the hospital to be induced at 42 weeks because I had eclampsia and I had to go in alone. I was a bit nervous, but mostly just wanted to get the whole thing over with . . . I was SO done with pregnancy.
At nine pm, the induction kicked in and I went into hard labor immediately. My water broke a couple of hours later (sorry, no details on time, I was having contractions every 60 seconds and really didn`t notice) and finally they took me downstairs to the delivery area. Where about 10 other women were laboring.
I`ll spare you the gory details, but at 5:25, Dorian was born and rushed off. They brought him back for a few minutes later to be held and then he was taken away to get cleaned up and checked out. A nurse came back shortly and said, “Your baby has a problem. He has an imperforated anus.” I didn`t really grasp what she meant at that point, but they told me I wouldn`t be able to take him upstairs with me.
While I waited in the hall on a gurney, I asked again to see my baby. They brought him out for a few seconds, but I was hooked up to IVs and couldn`t really hold him. All I saw was that his eyes were a very weird grey color and then he was gone. I could hear him screaming (this kid was literally bawling as soon as he was halfway out of me) in the other room and finally a nurse came and asked me if I understood what was going on. I didn`t, so she explained that Dorian had no anus, it was just smooth, like regular skin. She told me that he would need a colostomy, but that this hospital couldn`t do it and she asked if my husband would be coming in because it was important that he make arrangements immediately for the baby.
My blood pressure was still through the roof, so I couldn`t go home that day, as is the norm here. Irving came in at the very tail end of visiting hours. He`d called the hospital to find out if I`d had the baby yet and they`d only told him. “Your wife is on the maternity floor.” When he asked “And the baby?” They said, “You`ll have to speak with the doctors when you get here.” Talk about scaring a guy! So when he came in, he went straight to the nursery where everything was explained to him. We only had a moment to say hi and he was off, trying desperately to find a hospital that could do the operation that Dorian needed to survive.
I was waiting for news, but there are only two times of day you can have visitors and no one came during the second one. I lay there, anxious and asking nurses what was happening to my baby. They only told me that Irving had taken the baby and left the hospital.
Oh, another thing . . . in public hospitals, you can bring nothing and they give you nothing. So your family members have to bring you water and stuff. They do bring you a tray of food with a small amount of food, but no water. Just atole, a thick visceral liquid that does NOTHING for you after a night of hard labor. And the water from the tap isn`t safe. I was SOOO thirsty by the time I realized that no one was going to show up for the second visiting hour and I was stressed and crying because I didn`t know if Dorian was ok or not and no one could tell me anything . . . and then a familiar face popped through the ward door. A woman I`d worked with in the school before had gone to my house to find out if I`d had the baby yet and they`d told her that I was in the hospital! So she went and bought me some bottled water and sat and reassured me that everything would be fine.
During the night, all the other women in the ward tended their babies who cried throughout the night and I had a sudden heartbreaking moment. I didn`t even know if I would recognize Dorian`s cry.
The next morning, at release time, I was allowed to go home. I was anxious and waiting for someone, anyone to bring me some clothes so I could get out of there and go see my baby. No one came. The other women trickled out of the ward with their babies. More women and babies took our beds and I sat in a chair, waiting. Then suddenly, I heard a whistle in the hallway, the whistle that Irving`s family uses to find each other in a crowd. I hurried to the door and there was Carlos, his dad, looking totally petrified. He handed me a bag of clothing and told me, “The baby is ok, he`s in the capital with Irving and Esperanza.” I got dressed and we hurried out of the hospital. Later, we found out that I was supposed to stop and get the baby`s paperwork, plus mine, etc. Oops.
In the pickup, Carlos handed me the cell phone and Esperanza (my mother-in-law) was on the other end to tell me that the baby was in surgery right now and that he was going to be fine, they`d gotten him into the IGSS (worker`s) hospital in the capital and the doctors were very optimistic.
to be cont . . .
Read Part 2, Part 2, and Part 4
Comments
3 Responses to “The First 8 Days Part One”
Talk to Me, People!
Oh what a scary time! I am so sorry to hear how alone you were! (((((hugs!!))))) (a tad late, but I don’t know how to back-date them!)
Wow, I couldn’t imagine being in your position. Glad everything worked out fine in the end, as we all know! But always like to know what happened in between.
You are a very strong woman!
Wow! I want to cry with you! I cannot imagine going through something like this.