How it all started

Liam Michael wasn't supposed to arrive until about May 1, 2009. In fact, Liam Michael wasn't Liam Michael until April 7th or so; up until then he was known as baby to us and Buck to some of our siblings.

We knew from the ultrasounds that he was breach whenever we got a peek at him after 20 weeks. When 36 weeks came along and he was still breach we were given the choice of scheduling a cesarean section after 39 weeks or try to turn him around via external cephalic version at 37 weeks. We opted to try to turn the baby on April 9 during an appointment at 11am. After 2 unsuccessful tries we scheduled a c-section for April 28th (by the way, I never want to have to watch any abdomen be manipulated like that again, not to mention have to wait for my baby boy's heart rate to return to normal afterward...).

Meagan felt well enough to go to work that afternoon, albeit a little sore in the belly. I opted to work from home after the appt as we had a crew of sider's wrapping new aluminum on our windows and they needed to tap power off of the garage (I don't like leaving the house or garage open without us present). Since I was home I figured I'd have time to get some dinner prepared for the two of us - Irish pork steak stew was on the menu and all I needed to pick up was parsley and a good Irish Stout. As I was dusting the pork chunks with a floury mix the phone rang. Seeing Meagan's office on the caller ID, I suspected she had gotten off early and was calling to see if we needed anything for dinner, to which I'd cheerfully respond, "No honey, I have every we need and am in the middle of preparing it". My answer was met with a slightly frantic, "I think my water broke, what should I do?". I recalled from the morning discharge papers, as I scurried to find them, that she was to get to the hospital without delay. Her boss was to take her there and I would meet her as that was the fasted method. I went into autopilot for a bit, grabbing the cameras, laptop, phone, putting the raw meat in the fridge, pouring out cat food and water, etc. When I walked out the door I called Meagan back and asked where they were at. She said that the boss was just finishing up an x-ray and then they'd hit the road. Apparently he didn't get the message that he was supposed to be her ride... It was still faster for her to get a ride from her office than for me to pick her up so I just reminded her to grab the hospital bag out of her car.

See, there was a reason that we had the bag packed and in the car, we just didn't know that reason would come this early but we both had a feeling. The clothing I put on in the morning was chosen with post c-section bare skin-to-skin contact in mind should Meagan not be able to do so. Also, that morning, we had a 8am appt at the cop shop to get the car seat installation checked; another thing checked off the list. As we left for the car seat check Meagan reminded me that it was a full moon that night too.

I rushed to the hospital and on the way took advantage of anticipating the arrival of our boy without a laboring wife screaming next to me. I called the local Flemings to arrange a pickup for Meagan's car and called my parents to give them the status update.

At about 8:00pm Meagan met me at the emergency entrance after a drawn out trip sitting on a floor mat and garbage bag - the boss's new Explorer has suede seats. He said that he would have driven faster if she was having stronger contractions. Since her contractions were only minor he opted to avoid a speeding ticket. We hurried up to the maternity ward, floor 2 or the one with the dragonfly, whichever is easier to remember. They were expecting us and had a room all ready.

Couldn't Be Prepared

The nurses hooked Meagan up to the baby heart rate and contraction detection machine (that's my own technical term for it) after she visited the bathroom and gowned up. I'll write this only because it was comforting to find a little humor during all of the commotion - as Meagan was laying on the bed she told me that she thought that she might have to go #2 and that the water that broke was, ummm, well leaking again. I looked at the contraction reading and, though it doesn't measure strength, it was showing that she was going through a contraction. Once that passed she felt better, as in no #2. Then another one came and went, and another, and another. It seems that Liam and her body were ready to go with this labor and delivery regardless of his position in the womb. Blood tests had to be conducted because Meagan had just taken her heparin shot about 5 minutes prior to her water breaking. She had switched to heparin due to it's shorter residence time in the body in case something like this happened, but 5 minutes beforehand? Come-on, as if we needed another thing to worry about...

Good news came that the doctor we'd been seeing would arrive in 15 minutes and Meagan would be prepped for an emergency c-section. They gave me a bunny suit, mask and hair net so that I could be present in the OR during the procedure but we were still waiting on the labs to find out if she could be conscious for it all. If she were to need general anesthetic I would have to wait outside.

Meagan got wheeled off to the OR and the nurse said that they'd come and get me in a little bit. Now, the only reason that I knew we'd arrived at the hospital at about 8pm is that I looked at my phone call log afterward. All of this seemed to happen in either 5 minutes or 5 hours and sitting there waiting for them to escort me to the OR seemed to freeze time entirely. I sat in the over sized bunny suit and hair net with mask around my neck. After making sure to have our little digital camera in my pants pocket my mind was swimming, remaining calm but really not sure what to do or think except that it's all happening now and that we're only partially ready for him at the house, and not entirely ready for him mentally and that I'm going to meet my son this evening - calm. The nurse stopped in and gave me a briefing on what they sometimes have to do with premature babies - take them away for special care. I understood and was hoping that Meagan did too; we're just happy that they'd do all they need to for his health. She also asked me if I'd eaten anything that night and if I'd get all nauseous on them. My response was a short, "I hope not".

The OR was too close to our room. They led me out and down the hall and I was expecting a number of paces to try to prepare myself. I got about 2 and she said, "Just to your right here, oh, and don't touch anything blue". Everything was blue except for the chair I could sit in, the floor (I'm guessing some new father's have kissed that one), and Meagan. A note on the chair - it was a black high back office swivel chair that seemed quite awkward in an OR. As if I was being sat down for an interview or something. They had a sheet up at her abdomen so we could look at each other and not be distracted by her open cavity. Two anesthesia docs, 3+ nurses, her OB doc, and a few assistants surrounded Meagan. I wonder what the bill by the minute was in that room and do not look forward to getting the invoice.

We heard the doc say that he was sure it's a boy but hadn't seen what his face looks like as they wiggled Meagan to get him out. One of the nurses, it felt, was just there to tell dumb dad what to do. She asked if I had my camera and told me to step on the other side of the curtain to see him when he came out. We heard him screaming before that and I was overcome with satisfaction (they're supposed to cry when they come out right?).

The nurses moved him over to the little cart with warming lights and they went at whatever checks they do with premature newborns. I was hesitant to go over by the cart as I didn't want to get in the way if he needed any special care. They told me to get some pictures and that he registered an 8 and 9 on the Apgar score which sounded pretty good to me! I was a little alarmed at the position of his legs due to being breach in the womb but they assured me they would straighten out. He had one hip that was a little loose and some bruising on his bottom as that was the first thing to enter the birth canal when Mom was contracting. He was screaming all the while, with the tubes being pushed down his throat to suck out goo, rubbing off the gooey coating on his body and slapping a diaper on for the first time. All the while, my boy was peeking at me with one squinted eye. They wrapped him up in a blanket and handed him over to be carried by his father for the first time. His crying stopped immediately; I was in a blissful state of awe as he continued to ogle my face with his one un-gooed eye.

Meanwhile, I saw the bucket with the placenta go by me and caught a glance at Meagan's open belly, neither of which I will go into detail about. I'll just say that one needs a different stomach and set of knees than I have to work with such things.

I took our boy over to Meagan and set him on the bed next to her head. She cocked her neck, with oxygen mask on to look at him while he was now inspecting her face through his one eye, up and down, up and down. I asked her if he looks like a Liam Michael, as we had recently decided on. She may have given me a response but I think she was also too awestruck for words (and the docs were counting gauze pads to make sure they didn't leave any inside here). Shortly there after the nurse asked his name to put on the record with the birth time of 9:23pm and Meagan responded Liam Michael Fleming. So there he was named and we think it fits well.