Baby Anthony, The Story. Part II

Usually I am good when the pressure hits.

But I just stood in my bedroom in my underwear staring at draws and opening and closing everything.
I finally ran out the door and I made sure to break every driving law on earth as I raced to the hospital.

When I made it to Jameson.
There was no one.
Just me out of my mind.
A nurse quickly told me that they were working on Christen and the baby boy.
In all the craziness of the moment I still remember that little fact slipping out of the nurse’s mouth. … We had a boy!

But that excitement was momentary as I listened for a cry.
No cry.
No crying baby…
Nothing.

At this point, I demanded to know if my wife was OK and what was going on.

Then I heard these words…
Your wife is fine. But your son was born without a heartbeat. The doctor is trying to resuscitate him.

I immediately lost it. And started wailing. My nightmare had begun.
Quickly I called both grandparents to come to the hospital.
And right after that they brought out baby Anthony to start working on him.
(Apparently after a half hour the doctor got his little heart beating)

As I stood over him I was overtaken with emotion. He took all the best of Christen and me.
He had my butt-chin. My nose and eyes. He had Christen’s hair, lips and perfect hands and toes.
…But he was struggling for his life.

The doctors told me that he would be life flighted to West Penn and were uncertain if he would live.
As our families started filing in, they were all overcome with the deepest sorrow.
Finally they had rolled Christen out of the operating room and there she lay.
When I first saw her, I began to really cry and I remember apologizing profusely for not being with her when she went to the hospital.

As she came out of the anesthesia, her first question was “How long is the baby?”
I thought that was a funny question after all that she had been through...
But I did not have the heart to tell her about everything that was going on right outside of her room.

When I went back to check up on baby Anthony there were more and more little hoses and plugs in him and they were getting him ready for the helicopter.

After a very short stop by mom’s room -
                                                         --away they all went.
Part 3...To come.