Cheri Rodriguez

Second labor began similarly to my first - my water broke. Same time of day - same uncertainty. Is this my water breaking or did something else just happen. It shouldn't have been a surprise. This would be the 4th time I was in labor with this baby. The first was at 26 weeks, the second a month later and the the third two weeks after that, which prompted an order to stay in bed or be admitted to the hospital. I had a feeling something was wrong. After having the son I longed for, I now desperately wanted this baby to be a girl, but after the early labors I just wanted him/her to be healthy. I managed to keep the baby in until the 9th month using lots of mental visualization, meditation and belief in mind over matter. Now I was in labor, admitted to the hospital and amazingly given pitocin (again) to induce a labor that at this point was progressing slowly but certainly seemed destined to occur either way. This labor was punctuated with fetal heart rate decelerations and at one point I developed a fever. This time I was not as concerned about being in the hospital, in fact I knew it was where I needed to be. Something was not right and these people were all here to help. At one point, I was so close to having a Cesarean that when I was wheeling into the delivery room I thought that I was going to the OR. Gerard again was by me, but now he looked worried, not just concerned as last time, but worried to his very soul. Finally we went to delivery and with just a few pushes, this tiny, blue and quiet baby girl was born into a room with bright lights, bustling nurses and doctors, neonatologists and our pediatrician. I remember Gerard's teary eyes peeking out over his hospital mask saying to me 'we have a daughter' and we kissed and cried and prayed. This baby was also delivered onto my belly and again that strong feeling of love, protection and motherhood that must come from generations of mothers before us, was stirred. The tiny girl was taken to be 'started up' and hearing her cry was like a great symphony. I think everyone was relieved. Now I remember my name being called by the pediatrician who was trying to inform me of our baby's condition. I was shaking and distracted and told him to tell Gerard because there was simply no way I could comprehend him at that moment. I did however understand when my OB showed me the baby's umbilical cord which was in what is called a 'true knot' - picture a New York City pretzel with all it's twists turns and knots. This was determined to be the cause of the problems and we were lucky she wasn't stillborn as many with this condition are. That just made me cry and cry. The hospital hallway was decorated for Christmas. Outside my room, from the ceiling hung a very traditional, nothing special PINK Christmas ball. Every time I looked out my door I saw it and could not believe how blessed we were that this baby was okay and was also a GIRL! 23 years later she is still a blessing.