Wednesday November 21st was the day Vanessa and I
will never forget.
Vanessa woke up very uncomfortable, and at a little over 35
weeks, what woman wouldn’t be? As I left
for work, she made the decision to stay home and get some rest hoping that was
the remedy for her discomfort. While on
my way to work, I had a strong premonition that something BIG was going to
happen today; I checked in with her every 30 minutes via text or phone
call. After Vanessa being alone and in agony for
2 and a half hours, I left work.
Arriving at home, I crammed our pre-packed luggage in one car and headed
off to the hospital. On the way, Vanessa’s discomfort was snowballing and the
number of contractions began to increase.
We arrived to triage, was transported to room 7, and were quickly
evaluated by amazingly friendly and knowledgeable staff. A simple evaluation of the baby was ordered,
the same non-stress tests (NST) as prior pre scheduled appointments, and the
evaluation of Vanessa’s condition. A
hopeful cure-all of what Vanessa was experiencing was attempted. Rapid infusion of fluids supplemented with
Morphine was tried and after 3 hours she was getting worse-- increased
contractions and severe pain. Witnessing this amazingly strong woman experience
this horrible pain, I will be the first to admit Vanessa is stronger than I am.
With the increased contractions and the pain that continued to climb up the
pain chart- the care team started to discuss delivery. WHAT!!?
We both looked at each other in disbelief, however we accepted the
reality of this current circumstance. After
hours of laboring in triage, Vanessa was wheeled back to PACU where they prep
her for delivery. We were told it may
happen tonight (Wednesday) or tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day—our little Turkey was
done! Though Vanessa’s contractions were getting closer together and pain
reaching a 10; hearing rumors that we were 5th in line for
deliveries was a little reassuring.
Feeling like days, an hour passed and a shockingly decision to deliver
next in line was determined. Assuming
this was an expedited decision by OR staff, we were elated and we (Vanessa) was
more than ready. OR staff wheeled her
back and 20 minutes later I was chaperoned back soon to be entering a new world
of becoming a parent for the first time. Sitting behind a blue drape next to
the anesthesia personnel I grabbed Vanessa’s hand to comfort her as we slowly
entered a new world together. A slew of emotions
came over me, tears started to run down my face and my cue was called to announce
the gender. The spot light turned from
Vanessa to me as I became the star of the show for a quick second as I announce,
IT’S A BOY! Baby Rhoads, now he, was
quickly carted into the NEST where an evaluation was performed, after 5 minutes
a nurse escorted me to meet him. As
other further assessments continued a breathing tube was placed to help him
breathe. He was stable soon after and
after Vanessa’s recovery in PACU we were able to be carted to the NEST for a
drive-by photo shoot.
 |
| First Family Picture |
Our boy was transported to the NICU for further
assessment. After Vanessa was able to
see him the following day a name was decided, it was a name that has stuck with
her for many years that we often talked about together- Channing. We graciously decided to give him my middle
name that my parents gave me, Michael.
Of course Rhoads is the last as he will “Pave his own RHOADS to success” This quote is from my amazing dad that
taught me to pave my own RHOADS to success.
Such a GREAT story!!!
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