*Warning, very long post*

I’ve left my beautiful girls at the hospital. I felt like I was tearing a part of my heart away, leaving them behind. But I’m so grateful to God, because it could have been so different. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions, to say the least.

It all began at 7pm, when we left for the hospital. Before that, my wife had dutifully gotten the cot ready for Baby O.

Suitcase all packed, and we were ready to go !! We prayed together, and off we went.

The plan was simple, I was to drop her in the induction ward, and go home by 9pm. When she goes into labour, I would get a phone call and meet her in the labour ward. But as with most things in life, it didn’t go according to plan.

Mrs Boso was hooked up to a monitor which was checking the baby’s heartbeat.

It was only meant to be on her for about 15 minutes, but they noticed some ‘dips’ in the graph for the baby’s heartbeat, and left it on for an hour.

I hate hospitals. My mum is a doctor, so I grew up around hospitals, and when she started her own clinic, I was there a lot. I find that hospitals are a place of despair, where you see so many worried or sad faces. I can’t stand it. I can’t stand needles. I can’t stand blood. I can’t stand any of it, nurses, doctors, the very sight of them causes my blood to boil. (No offence to any doctor reading this).

So when I saw the doctors, nurses and midwives ‘huddle’ and talk about the chart, I had a feeling something was wrong. I tried to pry information from the doctor, but she gave nothing away, all she told me was ‘We’re just taking every precaution’.

My wife was feeling sleepy, but I was determined not to leave until they removed the monitor. However, she wanted to sleep, so I left at about 10pm. I got home, did the dishes, and was about to take off my shoes when my phone rang.

The midwife said that they were concerned about the baby’s heartbeat, and that they had moved my wife to the labour ward, and they needed me to be with her as she was worried, and ‘needed to see a familiar face’. I could see through all the sugar coating, and demanded to know what had happened. Bless her, she did her very best not to panic me, and asked me to ‘drive carefully and not have an accident on the way’.

I grabbed my car keys, and ran out of the house. Jumped in the car, and it took all of my will power not to drive like a maniac. There was an accident on the route, so I had to take another way, which just added to my worry. I eventually got there, and made my way to the labour ward.

What had happened in my absence is that the baby’s heartbeat had dropped drastically, and set off an alarm. Before my poor wife could figure out what was going on, she was whisked off to the labour ward, and they explained to her that the baby was in distress and they needed to do an emergency Caesarean section. By the time I got there, they updated me, and I was told to quickly change into my ‘scrubs’.

My wife was worried, so worried. I didn’t know what to say to her. I held her hand, and we said a quick prayer. It was short, but I’ve never prayed a more heartfelt prayer in my life. We were whisked into the theatre. The midwife and nurse did their best to tell us not to worry, that it was probably nothing, and that everything would be alright.

Looking at everyone in the theatre, I noticed that there was a sense of urgency. They were all working like every second counted. It was so scary. I focused on making sure my wife didn’t panic, but it was SO HARD. The pediatrician was already waiting there before we got there, ready to examine the baby as soon as she was born.

The procedure started. It was nerve racking, but thankfully, it was also quick. At 11.24pm, Baby O made her way into this world. It took a few minutes, but she soon started to cry. Then I heard one of the the doctors say ‘there’s a true knot in the umbilical cord’. And then the doctor told me that was most likely caused the baby to be in distress.

She was handed over to the pediatrician, and the midwife asked me to come and see her. She looked so tiny, as they gave her oxygen, and the pediatrician checked her out. I caught a few glimpses of the doctors sewing up my wife back up, it was so gory !! But anyway, back to Baby O.

She was so gorgeous !! She had one eye open, and was looking like she was in shock. The pediatrician confirmed that everything was fine, and that it was probably the umbilical cord that caused the distress, they would watch her for a few days, but she was fine. We took the baby over to see her mother, who was under anaesthetic, but managed to say hello to her daughter.

After the operation, we were taken back to the labour ward, where I was allowed to hold my angel for the first time. It was such a wonderful feeling !! I sang to my little girl, I held her, I rocked her, and looked into her beady eyes. When I put her down, she cried a little, so I picked her up again. It was love at first sight.

I finally left the hospital at 2am. I was so tired, as I was awake since 5am the morning before, but I couldn’t sleep. I did a quick ‘google’ on the Internet, and found out what a close call we’d had. Apparently, a ‘true knot’ in the umbilical cord is one of the most common causes of a stillbirth. Already today, I’ve spoken to someone who knows a baby that died that way. I got on my knees and thanked God for his many mercies.

Today was routine, I spent most of the day running around, buying stuff for my wife, and helping her in the hospital. I couldn’t get enough of my little princess. I held her at every opportunity, she even threw up on me !! But she’s doing very well.

Mrs. Boso is recovering well, and if all goes well, she’ll be home on Tuesday or Wednesday. I’ve had LOADS of texts, phone calls and emails from friends congratulating me. Thank you all so very much.

Anyway, I’m home now. I’m going to have to work very hard at the housework, and helping with the baby till I go back to work on the 16th. But I’m so grateful. When I got back today, and I saw the baby seat, I almost burst into tears.

It could have been so, so different.

Baby O was born last night by C-Section. She showed up at 11.24pm, weighing in at 6lb10oz. (about 3kg). Mum is recovering very well, and Baby O is healthy and is sleeping right now. Will hopefully post again tomorrow night.