It was quite an adventure yesterday and it all started with a text.
Around 2:45 Jess texted me saying that she was having contractions. This was nothing new since she had been having them off and on for the past week or so. This time however they didn’t go away. She had a bath and tried a few different techniques, but the contractions persisted and eventually got worse. We chatted back and forth and she kept me in the loop since I was roughly an hour away at work. When 4:00 rolled around and they were getting worse I knew it was time to leave, so I packed up and hit the road lickety-split.
By the time I had gotten in my car and on my way, she called and told me that she had begun bleeding. It wasn’t just a normal bleed, but something a bit more constant and indicative that the baby was on his way. She spoke with a doctor who told her that it would be best to not wait for me and that getting to the hospital was her priority. This, was not an option for me. So I made like Vin Diesel and got home Fast and Furious style. By the time I got home Chase had already gotten the car packed and ready to roll. It was now 5:00 and we were heading to the hospital…another 20 or so miles away.
Jess was in a lot of pain, Chase was kinda freakin’ out and my baby was on his way. So again I made like a bandit and high-tailed it to the hospital. Luckily we had been to the hospital before for a tour, but in our panic mode we didn’t exactly remember how to get to the maternity section. As soon as we got out of the car Jess’ water broke, however it wasn’t just water, it was blood and a lot of it. She went to the bathroom and I rushed to the front desk to find some help. The ladies, though they were nice were extremely unhelpful. Eventually we got someone to come and help out and get us to the maternity ward where we could find out why there was so much bleeding.
The doctors examined her and found that she was not dilated at all. So for her to be contracting, bleeding and not dilated it meant that something was wrong and she had to have a c-section, now. The room was a blur with people. From doctors asking family history questions, other’s getting papers signed and putting wrist bands on the both of us. Chase was hanging out in the bathroom to avoid all the blood, but he was a trooper! Due to the fact that she had lost all the blood and Lane needed to come out immediately, they were going to put Jess to sleep. Since she was going completely under, I couldn’t go back with her. When I found this out I was torn. I wanted what was best for Jess and the baby, but I wanted to be with her. Eventually they took her away and off Chase and I went to the waiting room. By now it was 6:15 and it would be just a matter of time before my baby boy would be born.
Heather, Jess’ mom and sister were in the waiting room and I updated them on all the deets. We had some food and all guessed the time, birth weight, and length. None of us were right. Benjamin Lane Turner was born at 6:30pm. In less than 15 mins they had taken Jess back to surgery, put her under and delivered our baby.
Around 7:15 I got to go back and see him. Words really can’t express my feelings when I saw him for the first time. He was so beautiful. Lane was smaller than either of us had thought he would be. In addition to that, he had a head full of black hair! Jess had been wanting a baby that looked like her, and she finally had one. He had her hair and lips, but he has my eyes and it looks like he’s got my stature. You can tell he’s our son and he’s wonderful.
Eventually they brought Jess around and man was she in pain. They had her pretty drugged up to deal with the pain, but she was coherent enough to see our son. Happiness was all over her face despite the pain she had from the surgery. It was still too early for her to hold him or for her to have visitors, but they got to be close to one another. Witnessing my wife and our baby laying there beside one another was a moment I’ll never forget. I wanted other’s to be able to see the baby so I went out the waiting room and got my mom. She went back and saw Jess and Lane.
Around 8:15 they moved Jess to a room where she could rest/recover and see more visitors. My mom, her mom, sister, best friend, and Chase were all waiting on us. I doubt Jess remembers all of being back there, she was pretty out of it. Unfortunately Lane was not going to be able to join us. Due to the nature of his delivery he had to go to the care unit/nursery to recover. We were all getting antsy to see Lane, but the doctors insisted on keeping him back there. By 10pm everyone was getting tired and we still didn’t know when Lane would be joining us.
The next several hours would be spent waiting for news. The doctors said that since he wasn’t delivered vaginally he didn’t have the opportunity to get a lot of the fluid out of his lungs. In addition to that he was having fluctuations in his breathing. They wanted him to be monitored until it was consistent. I got to go back and see him once, but for the most part it was just Jess and I waiting in the room. Jess was still in a lot of pain so she kept up with the morphine drip. The nurses kept coming in throughout the night so neither of us ever got any real sleep. They were going to bring Lane in around 1am, but he started his irregular breathing again. So back to the recoup room for him. We finally got him in our room around 5. Nearly 12 hours after he was born.
We had done it 2 hours after leaving work our beautiful baby was born. 24+ hours and about 45 mins of sleep. We were both exhausted, but had a long next day ahead of us. I love my son. He is everything I could possibly imagine, and much more.