Chapter 5: The First Born

 

It is 2006. Cyndi is pregnant with Carson. She is radiant when she is pregnant. I know the Pre-Eric version of Cyndi, may have not thought about herself as a mother. She thought she would be a designer somewhere, but she was born to be a mother. She somehow managed to get prettier when she was pregnant. I will admit, she was a little feisty sometimes, but hey what woman doesn't get a little feisty when they are lugging around a bowling ball in their body.

With Carson, she had a pretty good pregnancy. She didn't have many issues, which wasn't the same for the next two times. 

It is now early 2007. We are on our way to a couple's shower in our honor. We decided to grab a bite to eat at Applebee's. It is funny... I always though of Applebee's as sort of beneath our station, but that place such a weird role in our lives. More on that to come.

As we ate dinner, Cyndi kept saying her back hurt. She would be fine for a minute and then wince in pain for minute. Almost like a rhythmic pattern of muscular contraction was forming. As we started to work on her desert, a chocolate lava cake, the pain started to get really bad. I asked her what she wanted to do. Of course, as first time parents we didn't know what to expect. But the pain in her face just would not go away. We will go to the hospital.

We texted the gang at the couple's shower. You can imagine them laughing at us, oh those kids... she isn't in labor. They don't know what labor is.

We arrived at St. E, in the early evening on Feb 3. Carson was just 32 weeks baked, not quite done yet. They hooked Cyndi up to the monitors and the contraptions and the doo-hickeys. We sat there in that hospital for hours. Every few minutes she would wince in pain. The pain was coming from her back, this isn't labor honey.

Thankfully, they didn't try to send us home. They kept her in a room and kept a watch on her. The pain did not stop. It kept coming. Nothing showed on the contraction monitor. You are not in labor honey, its just cramps.

In the wee hours of Feb 4th there was a shift change. A new nurse took over. She was older than us, I would guess in her mid to late 30s. She was a mother and an experienced birthing nurse. But nothing showed on the monitor. So must not be labor, its just back pain. The attending would come in to see us, look at the monitor and say stupid stuff like "hang in there".  But don't worry, you aren't in labor.

Finally, in the early morning hours, after being awake and in the hospital for nearly half a day. The nurse slapped on a glove and checked my wife's cervix. Oh honey... you are 5 cm dilated and this baby is coming. In 30 seconds the tenor of the room changed from stupid couple who don't know what they are doing, to woman giving birth to a premature baby. People came running in and out of the room, they brought carts and supplies and were preparing to rush a baby to the NICU. All of the sudden it was organized chaos. The obstetrician was called in, and we were going to have a baby.

Now, at the time, I had never seen a birth. I had never seen a woman go through delivering a child. And, I was never more proud of Cyndi than in those moments. She stayed completely calm. Maybe my memory is fuzzy from time, but I don't ever remember her saying "I can't do it" or "I hate you", I just remember a her pushing. I was so amped the staff kept asking me if I was alright. Carson was born on Feb 4, 2007. Superbowl Sunday. At 45 I can now unequivocally tell you the best and worst days of my life. This day was the best.

As I mentioned Carson was not fully baked. He was premature and spent 11 days in the NICU. Those were some rough days. You are so scared for your baby. He has tubes hanging out of him and this thing they put on their baby arms to hold the IV. As I look back, we were very lucky. Carson was really healthy and just needed a few days to develop in a managed environment. Some of the other babies in the NICU were messed up. I have pictures of Cyndi, holding and feeding Carson in the NICU. I swell with pride as I look at them. What a warrior she was. Not just giving birth, but then turning around and spending 11 days with him in the NICU and the last several of which we had to go home at night and leaving the hospital without your baby is rough. I distinctly remember breaking down on a run back to the house from the hospital to get Cyndi some supplies.

He is as big as me now. I am sure he weighs a little more than I do. He is sweet, and kind, and wicked smart. His mother is so proud of him.

Next Chapter: The middle kid...