The Birth Story According to Daddy....

"Are you still awake?" I heard at 3:25am on Wednesday, the 12th of February 2003. Wendi had heard me going to the bathroom a few minutes before and had gotten up herself to use the bathroom for the millionth time that night. Groggily, I said yeah...she said "I think this is it, these contractions are quite more painful and stronger than previously." They were around 10 minutes apart.

That woke me up in a hurry. We started timing them and they were faltering and coming back stronger and more frequent. After a couple of hours, she was down to 7 minutes apart contractions, so she went to take a shower and we started to get things going. As soon as I opened the door to our bedroom, mom came out of her room asking what was going on and got so excited when we said we thought this was it. She went in to talk to Wendi for a few minutes and then got herself ready (I think she broke a few land records, she was almost ready by the time Wendi came out of her shower).
At 6am, we decided to page the doctor as they were still just over 7 minutes apart but they were lasting for longer than a minute at a time...no replies from the doctor...So by 6:30am, we paged her again and still no response...so by 6:45am, we called the call centre again, just to let them know we were on our way in as they just started to come even faster and were less than 5 minutes apart. Upon arrival at the hospital, mom and Wendi went in while I struggled with the parking meter (wouldn't take my Visa card) and all the bags in the trunk...Finally ran in to find Wendi and mom just waiting for me after having already cleared in the desk. We went up to the 3rd floor and went to the LDR side where as soon as we approached the desk, the nurses said "You must be Wendi Dubé"...so we were ushered into Delivery Room #6 at about 7:20am. Wendi got undressed and put her gown on and laid on the bed, all the while going thru fast and furious contractions, about 3 minutes apart. The first nurse asked a few questions and than said she was going off and there would be a new nurse to come and get the information again. Tracy showed up and settled Wendi in, checked her out (only 2cm dilated at that time)..;-(

I had to sign a few forms and so did Wendi. They said that I would have to go back down to the Front Desk and request a Private Room for afterwards. Of course, two people are in front of me when I get there being served by only one person, finally a second lady shows up to put us thru and asks me what I wanted, I said a Private Room for my wife, so she said, please have a seat and we'll get to you right away. Than about 5-6 people showed up and the first lady started taking on those people and then the lady that I had talked to started on them too, I got a bit abrupt asking her "what about me" "could I go back now" "my wife is in labour and I need to go", so the lady kinda sighed and made me sign the form and sent me back.
I came back up and Wendi was still deep in labour...

Then we waited.
Then we waited some more...
Then we waited some more...

The contractions were still fast and furious and around 11am, the maternity doctor, Doctor Adey came in to check on Wendi where we found out she was 3, 3.5 cm....So they called the anesthetist to come and give Wendi an epidural...The doctor showed up an hour later and attempted for over 45 minutes to find the gaps in Wendi's spine, braking a needle inside her and using two full epidural kits in the process, to no avail...he finally said, "well this might work, so tape her up" and left. Unfortunately, the epidural didn't work and my heart sank, knowing that Wendi was getting near the end of her endurance. I really wondered what would happened then.

At around 3pm, the Doctor checked Wendi again and she was 4cm, so we decided that I'd go home and set up some tapes for the shows we have been watching. I was on my way back, at Douglas and Admirals, when my cell phone rang, it was mom saying that "They just wheeled Wendi into the OR"...I freaked and stepped on the gas and made it inside the hospital in record time. Mom was carrying Wendi's stuff out of the Room into the waiting area and into the recovery room. I was very much worried and upset, never having the chance to say goodbye to Wendi. The nurses came to tell me that things were okay, just that the baby's heartbeat kept disappearing (even though he had a fetal monitor on as they couldn't keep his heartbeat on the normal monitor with the belt). So they were going to get him out under an emergency C-Section. Mom was telling me that everything was fine and to come in the waiting area with her, but I was freaking out still. I was pacing the floor in the recovery area and saw the back door to the OR open and peeked in, I saw the OB/GYN cutting Wendi's belly (although I couldn't see his hands, just his arms), I saw Wendi's profile and saw she was peacefully asleep (because the epidural didn't work, she was put under general anesthesia)...calmed me down some...Then one of the nurses said I wasn't allowed in the Recovery room just yet!! So I was pacing just outside the door and kept listening in.

Finally, I heard a baby's cry and said "There he is!! mom, there he is!!!"...Mom came from the waiting area and we were excited and mom said he must have been born around 4:10pm...one of the nurses at the desk overheard us and said, "4:11pm, it was 4:11pm"!!...so I kept wanting to go in the recovery room and they kept saying not yet...One of the nurses said, go around to the front door, someone is here to see you...and then someone else said no, the back door....and finally I was shoved the other way and just in front of the desk was a nurse with a baby in her arms...MY SON! My heart melted just seeing the bundle and I had to cradle him and bring him to my heart...

After looking at him, all wrinkly, the first thought in my head is oh my God...Wendi had an affair with a Sharpei dog!!! LOL He had like a dozen of wrinkles on his forehead. But oh my, such a sensitive boy...as soon I said that, he started bawling...I had to say sorry to him already..and he was only a few minutes old!!!

After a few minutes, I asked mom if she wanted to hold her grandson (she was carrying the purses and the cameras still) and we went to the visitors' area to sit down and she sat down and held her grandson for the first time. After a while, what felt like an eternity, a nurse came to tell me that Wendi would be shortly wheeled out into the Recovery Room and that I'd be allowed in soon. As we were waiting just outside the door, Charlene, a lady friend from pre-natal class who was being induced that way walked by, with her Pitocin drug and IV bag on a pole...and offered her to hold Alex...She almost cried and said "Really, Can I?...YES"...And she held him for a few minutes...

Finally, they allowed us to go in and I took Alex to meet his mother...She looked so relaxed (ie drugged up) that it was actually soothing, my baby-girl was okay, so my world was okay...I put Alex besides her and kissed her and hugged her. She was so out of it that it was hillarious, she kept asking why she had to keep her arms straight (she was having her blood pressure taken and kept bending the strap out of the way)!! She kept saying she was so out of it and feeling so drugged up. Finally, they wheeled Wendi to the Mom & Babe side, just before they wheeled her into room 306, they said too bad you don't want a Private Room, and I said, are you kidding, that's what we requested (private rooms are first arrived first served). So they wheeled her further to room 316 where she spent the next few days recuperating from her ordeal...