Beginnings of Life (First Draft)

Friday July 8th 2005 I was awoken by a phone call on my cell phone at 2a.m. It was my aunt she said she was having contractions. I was thirteen years old at the time and I had no idea what the process of a pregnancy was. I was a very innocent sixth grader and I didn’t know what the word pregnant meant! So you can see how innocent I was. I had been going to my aunt’s prenatal care appointments from the beginning of her pregnancy this was because she did not speak English and I would go with her to translate. For me this was a new experience all the new terms and tools they used. It was pretty exciting, but nerve-racking at the same time.
That night when she called me I asked her how apart the contractions were and if her water had broken or if she had seen any blood. I called Woodland Memorial Hospital and asked to be transferred to Labor and Delivery. I told them my aunt’s situation and told them it was her first baby. They told me to bring her in and they well check to see if she was dilated. I woke my mom up and we headed out to go pick my aunt up from her house. I went inside and got her she was moaning a lot I could tell she was in a lot of pain. We pulled up to the emergency room and they got my aunt a wheel chair and wheeled her up to the second floor. The nurses put a belt around her stomach and it was monitoring the baby’s heart rate, the contractions and how big the contractions were. The midwife checked to see if she was dilated, but she was not. My aunt had to be dialed 4 centimeters for them to admit her in the hospital. We stayed at the hospital till 5A.M and were sent home. We dropped my aunt off back home and my mom and I went to our house. I went back to bed and woke up again at 8am.
When my sister was younger we did this thing, where we would lay with our mom on her bed. After I woke up I went and lay down on my mom’s bed with my sister. The sun was shining in my mom’s room and I remember she had blue and white bed sheets on, around 10am the phone rang. My mom answered, it was her sister-in-law telling her that my dad’s brother (mom’s brother-in- law) who lived in Pakistan had thrown up blood and his family was going to take him to the hospital. She also said, “Everyone is worried and to keep him in our prayers.” After she hung up she told me what happen, and I could tell she was worried too. As the day went on there was no call from my aunt about her breaking her water, or going into labor. It was 6 P.M and my parents were not at home, my brother was at work and I was home with my sister. During those times at my house we had dial up internet, and we could not use the phone while being on the internet. I was trying to get online, but I was having a hard time, it kept logging me off. Then all the sudden the phone rang, it was my cousin he said my uncle passed away. I was in complete shock. I called my parents right away and told them what happen. They said they were coming home. I called my brother at work and told him that uncle passed away and we were going to pick him up and go to grandma’s house. When my parents got home we left to pick up my brother from his work. On the way there my dad told us to keep an eye on him because he was not feeling well. When he is under some sort of stress or tension he could have a seizure. We got to my grandma’s house and all the family was over. Everyone was crying a lot. My dad started to have seizures. When my dad had gone to Pakistan for vacation he and his brother got into an argument and before he came back to America they did not speak to each other. He regretted it.
About thirty minutes later my aunt called me and said her contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and when she went to the bathroom a gush of water came out. I told her that I well be there and take her in to the hospital. My cousin dropped my brother and me to my aunt’s house. We took her to the hospital. They admitted her because she was 6 centimeters. My mom showed up an hour later. They had my aunt hooked up to the machines and they were monitoring her and the baby. As time went by her pain got worse and she told me that she wanted some medicine that would reduce the pain. When it was time to give her the epidural I explained to my aunt what she had to do. I watched the anesthesiologist set up and clean her back with this red thing. Then he inserted the needle in her back. I was standing in front of my aunt and she had her head in my stomach. While we wait for the baby to come my aunt’s blood pressure was increasing and the baby’s heart rate was dropping. The nurse’s would put pillows under her that would help the baby’s heart rate. After a while with struggling to keep the baby’s heart rate up the midwife wanted my aunt to start pushing the baby. I held one of my aunt’s leg and a nurses held the other. I would count for my aunt and tell her to push. It was easier for her to understand when I told her, then for the midwife to say it in English. The baby would not come out so the midwife said that it was time for an emergency C-section. The midwife wanted to try one more time before they did it. My aunt pushed one more time when she felt a contraction coming. And then the top of the baby’s head started to show. I was amazed. The midwife asked me to touch it, but I did not want to.
All the sudden the heart rate started to drop again, the nurses put an oxygen mask on my aunt to she can breathe better and then she asked my aunt to push again. The baby did not want to come out. So the midwife got a vacuum extractor to pull the baby out with. As all this was going on I explained to my aunt everything. At this point she did not care how they got the baby out. She was falling asleep and I had to keep talking to her to keep her awake. My mom who was also in the room at the time was not watching any of this. I don’t know why, but I think it was because she was scared. She told me to look away too, but I insisted I would not. I was going to watch. So as the midwife pulled the baby out I held my aunts hand. I looked at the computer next to me and it said 4:59 am. It was a boy! The midwife placed the baby boy on my aunt’s stomach and asked me if I would like to cut the umbilical cord. My answer was absolutely yes. After watching the process of birth why not I thought, to end it with me cutting off the cord of this baby and doing the finishing touches. I was excited and scared at the same time what if I hurt him, but I knew I had to do this so, I cut his cord. At this moment there were a lot of emotions in the room. My mom and I cried, not just to see this baby come into the world but also cried because we were mourning the loss of my uncle.
It was then time to have the baby checked. The nurse took him to see if he reached all the points for the Apgar scale. I did not know what the Apgar scale was, but I learned when the nurse explained it to me. I watched her clean him and check his temperature. While she did everything she was explaining to me what she was doing. She then asked at loud to her coworkers, “What time was he born” I proudly said, “4:59.” I was the only one in that room who looked at the time when he came out. Everyone was concerned about the baby when he came out that no one checked to see what time it was. It was great feeling knowing that I was involved in this whole process and I felt so good. I followed the nurse to the nursery and watched her check his hearing. I was the first one to hold him. He was beautiful and his eyes wide open, his dark black hair and his prefect clean skin. I was amazed at how something to small can be so precious.
This is when it all hit me. When one life passed, another was born and the circle of life came into full circle for me. It was amazing, sad, and hard to grasp all at once. I had lost an uncle a few hours ago and a cousin was born a few hours later and coincidentally enough this all happened July 9 of 2005 and 5 years and 2 days.
After going through this whole process I am the one in my family who is there for anyone’s pregnancy. I have seen six births and been in the room for one C-section. You know what’s the odd thing in writing this paper? Another aunt of mine is pregnant and could go into labor at any moment during this paper. I am expecting a call and I well be there in a heartbeat to help with the process of birth all over again. This experience has taught me a lot and really shown me what I want to do in life. Not only from the birth experience, but having my dad being sick and taking care of him. I want to go into the medical field and do something in helping others. I’m not a 100% sure what kind of doctor I want to be, but I do know I’m going to be a doctor.