Itaipu to Icarai
On Saturday, February 11th, Tio Carlos watched a bleary-eyed troupe of three (and one half) board a 38 bus across the street from his home in Itaipu. Our mini-vacay was over. Will had an appointment to help with a photo shoot at Oficina de Minas--the store for which he developed a website. Cecilia and I planned to get back to the apartment, call her OB Patricia, and start timing contractions. We three, with and Daniel onboard, settled for our bumpy transport.
Preferential seats on a bus are right up front, and the morning was cool; so the lack of air conditioning was not an issue. What was at issue was the fact that C's 'preferential seat' was directly over the front wheel well of the bus. She had not been comfortable (to put it mildly) for over a week now, and I was certain this bumpy omnibus should probably take us straight to the Maternity Hospital. But instead, we exited at our regular stop and followed Cecilia's preference to walk home . . . slowly.
The second time C braked for a contraction and Will wanted again to flag a taxi, Cecilia agreed. Unlike last night in Itaipu, the very next car to appear was a taxi with our name on it! We gratefully situated ourselves in an air conditioned cab and enjoyed the luxury of a smooth ride home. Will changed quickly into a suitable t-shirt, tucked their cell phone in one of his cargo shorts' pockets, then reluctantly left for his 2 PM appointment. Cecilia called her doctor, showered, and laid down. I unpacked our three overnight bags, and prayed.
Chapter Two
The Calls
For four weeks now, C had been having Braxton Hicks contractions--those random pre-labor pains that come and go. She hadn't really slowed down much at all, until last week. Nesting, along with a life training rule from Dora ("While you're resting, carry these rocks.") compelled her with lots of last-minute tasks.
BTW--We made a trip to Centro earlier in the week to search for a bench to put by the rocker. Will and the Gringa were on pins and needles throughout this errand, because the streets of Centro are not the kind of place we wanted to call Daniel's birthplace. (Would have made an interesting story, and possibly the evening news, but if we had a choice, we weren't up for that.) I think C thought we were being fuss budgets until we sat down for lunch at Mario's. Our waitress nearly passed out when she got an eyefull of Cecilia's belly and found out C was having contractions.
Even on this Saturday, these contractions were show-stoppers, but never lasted more than a few seconds. They were so sporadic; we kept waiting for "true labor" to begin. I checked on Cecilia after about an hour of rest, and she said she felt a little better. "Honey," I said, "I feel better too now that we're off the front wheel well of that bus!" By 4 PM Cecilia called her doctor again. When Patricia OB instructed us to meet her at the Maternity Hospital for a check, C called Will and I started re-packing my hospital bag from the trip to Itaipu. Where did I put my wallet? ID? extra cash? Not there . . . not there either . . . time to go!
Chapter Three
Arrivals
Will arrived with C's cousin Andre, who was the photographer for the Minas shoot. Andre would drive us to the hospital in Sao Francisco to meet the doctor. We were swept in a wave down the elevator, through the lobby, past the flat-footed doormen, and to the waiting car. Andre loaded our bags in his trunk, and off we went. Every day for the past three weeks, when Will and Cecilia would decide what needed to be done in that 24 hour period, Will would say with a big grin and a cocked head, "Wanna' have a baby today?" We were all hoping that today would be the day that there would be signs that true labor had begun.
Patricia OB was sitting in the tidy, quiet reception area of the new Maternity Hospital of Sao Francisco when we washed through the front door. As Cecilia and Will followed her around the corner to an exam room, those closest to the couple had begun to arrive: Dora, Helio and Cecilia, Flora, Joao, Anao and Julia. The reception area couch was full when W and C appeared again with Patricia.
Chapter Four
Options
"Fechada," Will said with a deep breath. Patricia OB found no sign that labor had begun, or that all the contractions Cecilia had endured for four weeks had effected any change. Now I was unsettled and began to pray silently over all the conversations. Will explained their options as he held Cecilia's hand.
Choice #1: Go home and wait two days for C's appointment on Monday. Option #2: Schedule a C-Section for Monday. Option #3: Check in, and have the C-Section right then on Saturday evening.Discussion and opinions floated around the group as Cecilia and Will sat between Helio and Flora. I kept my mouth closed and my mind engaged. Will stood up and took Cecilia outside so that they could come to a personal decision as a couple. It made my Mama's heart proud to see him do that.
Chapter Five
Options Too
At Cecilia and Will's apartment, I had shared the story of my first pregnancy with the two. How, at 41+ weeks, my water broke but still there was no progress in labor. How my doctor decided to perform a C-Section. How surprised he was during the procedure to find the cord wrapped around Steve Jr.'s neck 4 times. How there was no possible way the doctor could have known this. How there was no way labor could have progressed to a safe natural birth. How our first child would most probably have been stillborn, or so oxygen-deprived that he would have been severely handicapped. How our bright and competent son was saved by a wise OB and our Ever Wise God.
God never wastes an experience. Never. What I thought was the miracle of a safe, live birth in 1975 was now on the table again--perhaps to guide the decision of a new generation.
Just like Cecilia, I know how much I wanted to give birth, naturally and drug-free, to my perfect first child. She had shared that the preferred convenience of C-Section was the norm for the majority of women and obstetricians in Brasil. As a surgeon herself, Cecilia thought a surgical option for convenience sake was wrong; I agreed. Now the surgical option loomed large, and her dream of natural birth seemed to be slipping away.
Chapter Six
Option #3
I sat on a couch in the Maternity Hospital of Sao Francisco, RJ, Brasil, praying for Will and Cecilia to find God's perfect will for them and Daniel. As Cecilia and Will returned to the group, Will solemnly announced their decision to stay and have the baby that day; Cecilia cried quietly with Will's arm around her shoulder. I remember how difficult it was to let go of my dream; how disappointed and unprepared I was when my doctor used the "C" word. There was a time to grieve my plan, and then a time to watch God's plan unfold. His ways are higher than my ways; His thoughts higher than mine.
Chapter Seven
Settled
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| Cecilia waits for Daniel with her sister Flora and good friend Valeria. |
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| Will helped Cecilia make this sign for the door of the hospital room. |
Then we waited.
As Cecilia was transported to the surgical suite and Will disappeared to change into scrubs, Dora began to walk around, rosary in hand. I was praying too. Grandmothers' prayers avail much, especially when physical access in restricted!
Chapter Eight
The Wait
The waiting area was packed with anxious loved ones who tried to "use their inside voices."
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| Klaus, Valeria, Helio, Cecilia, Joao, Julia, Anao |
We drank water and watched a television tuned to some pre-Carnaval variety show replete with people of questionable gender dressed in sequined spandex and large headpieces. Very Tootsie-esque. Several in the group had hand-held devices for texting, posting, or games, but waiting was hard work!
In a (relatively) short time, the crowd moved to the second floor cafe/nursery viewing area to await Daniel's appearance. This WiFi cafe had two computer screens and a television, also tuned in to the same show that we had left upstairs. Tables and chairs made waiting more comfortable with a small service area for strong, good (pricey) Brasilian coffee, pastries, soft drinks, and wine. One end of the room was glass-walled, and overlooked a well-lit, sterile room filled with shiny plastic bassinets and incubators neatly prepped for a dozen babies. Daniel would be the only one to occupy the space this night.
Chapter Nine
Daniel Reese Maia Bingham
Soon, two masked individuals in blue scrubs came down the stairs from the third floor surgical suite carrying our boy. Daniel was practically upside-down in the arms of one. They disappeared around a corner, just out of sight, to clean him and check him out. A nurse brought him briefly to the window, then placed his beautiful diapered self in an incubator to help him get used to life this side of the womb.
"This is the first time in his life he's ever been alone," I thought. He calmly moved his long arms like a sky diver just outside the plane. Skinny legs jerked on his long pink torso. I couldn't stop staring at his dark hair and eyes.
When he started squalling and flailing, my heart ached.
Swaddle that baby! I wished the nurse would wrap him tight to make him more secure in this new world, but she just smiled from her desk through the glass. At some point, Cecilia and Will's friend (and doctor) Klaus tapped on the door of the Nursery and politely suggested that the baby would be less stressed if he were wrapped. Maybe it was the "Medico" designation on his visitor's badge, or the fact that he was a man--not a grandma, but the nurse promptly swaddled Daniel and then placed him back in his incubator after another short photo op at the window.
Don't you ever wonder what the faces of waiting family look like to the nurse who holds that newborn? Pride and love so strong, they could melt the glass.
Chapter Ten
Skypes and Celebrations
I had my iPad with me for Facebook posts and Skype calls to Texas. First call was to Steve/Dad in Cypress, Texas. Cecilia's name for Steve Sr. comes from Dora's assignation "Steve Pai." This keeps the 'Steve Sr./Steve Jr.' confusion to a minimum. Steve/Dad was online and I pointed the back camera to Daniel in his incubator, thousands of miles away from his Grandfather Bingham. We were basking in the moment when Will arrived in the room and made a beeline to the window to see his boy again. He had been with Cecilia since Daniel left the surgical suite; and now that she was settled in her room with Dora, he had only one mission--get as close to his boy as possible.
On Skype with Steve/Dad, there was father looking at son as a new father looking at son.
Will and his Dad spoke for a few minutes heart to heart, though they were continents apart.
The second Skype call to come through was Aunt Iris and Uncle Doug in Houston, Texas. They too got to see Daniel from a distance and Will up close. Iris and I shared some happy tears as she welcomed me to Club Grandmother. What a wonderful invention, this wireless technology that allows free face time across the street or across the equator.
Next up came a Skype from cousin Douglas in Los Angeles, California. The guys made comments about one another's beards and the great new arrival. Uncle Junior, as Douglas is called by his two nieces, seemed pleased that there was another male on the planet (although I know for a fact he couldn't be more delighted to be wrapped around the fingers of Zoe and Mia).
Helio and Anao passed a celebratory Cuban cigar to the new Dad. Gringo Will was surprised to see such a contraband treat. Then he remembered that this was Brazil, with no embargo on Cuban goods.
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| Anao and Helio |
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| Will's Surgical Feet Minus Havaianas |
Chatting and laughing, groups flowed in and out of Cecilia's room once they found her there. Dora said the group was doing everything but a tarantella--that frenzied gypsy dance.
Chapter Eleven
Quiet Time
Cecilia and Will invited Dora and me to come to her room for Daniel's first visit just after midnight. The rest of the welcoming party had been kicked out of the hospital and were waiting on the street below C's window. (They were planning out which couple would escort which Grandmother to her home--no matter how late they needed to stay.) We turned down the lights and found a blanket for Dora, who had been very cold since the afternoon began unfolding. She and I giggled as we shared the brown fluffy cover like preteens at a slumber party.
Daniel had arrived. All was right in the world.
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| For this child, we have prayed. |
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| The picture is fuzzy but the joy is not! |
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| Will shields Daniel's eyes from the glare. |
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| A Perfect Miracle |
Chapter Twelve
OH, BTW--
Hours earlier, Dora and I happened to meet Patricia OB and her team as they were on their way out the door following Daniel's birth. Everything went well, she said. Daniel's head is very big, she said; she seemed to be looking back at the procedure in her mind. Very Big, she emphasized with a nod and a relieved smile.
Everything went well--thanks to The Creator and Sustainer of our lives.
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