How our oldest son and hemophilia entered our lives, part 1
Reflecting on our boy's birth, before we knew of his diagnosis
First in a series.
My story starts on a hot and humid night in June 1996 in Houston. As my wife, Cazandra, and I entered the hospital, we couldn’t help but notice the storm gathering outside. We approached the check-in counter, and I explained to the attendant that my wife’s water had broken; it was time to welcome our oldest son.
Cazandra turned to me, and I could see the panic in her eyes. The attendant quickly found a wheelchair for my wife, and I knelt beside her and assured her everything was OK. An orderly wheeled my wife’s chair up to the delivery room, and a nurse arrived to help my wife change into a hospital gown. Cazandra told the nurse, “This is probably Braxton Hicks pains and nothing more.”
The nurse examined her and replied, “Oh, no, honey. You are having a baby today!”
As time passed, my wife’s labor pains grew worse. The nurse kept an eye on her blood pressure and regularly checked to see how many centimeters Cazandra had dilated. After about seven hours, my poor wife had dilated only 2 cm. The goal was 10.
After 10 hours, Cazandra told me she felt hot. She asked me to check with a nurse to ensure the air conditioner was working. I left the room and stood outside for a minute. My wife didn’t know that the intense storm we’d noticed while entering the hospital had parked itself right over us. Lightning had blown out the electricity, including the air conditioning. Luckily, the generator turned on, but still we had no relief. And on a hot June night in Houston, I felt like I were in an oven.
I went back into my wife’s room and lied to her, hoping I was committing a venial sin and not a mortal one. “I went to the nurse’s station, and they informed me that the janitors are aware of the situation.” Man, I stood amazed at how easily it was to hide the truth. I pacified my guilt by assuring her that the situation would be handled quickly.
After 12 hours of labor, Cazandra was still only 2 cm dilated, and the doctor explained that she needed an emergency cesarean section to deliver the baby. Cazandra looked at me, unsure of what to do next. I whispered in her ear that everything would be fine. The medical team prepared her for surgery and promised to invite me into the room to be a part of the birth.
As I changed into scrubs, I felt like the world was closing in on me. Everything seemed surreal. The operating room had no air conditioning, so nurses placed 10 box fans to keep the temperature reasonable. Later, when I described the situation to a friend, she said, “You folks did a ‘Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman‘ kind of thing.”
An orderly led me to Cazandra, but a medical team put up a block so I wouldn’t see what they were doing to my terrified wife. They placed me in a chair right beside her and made me face away from them. I put my hand on my Cazandra’s shoulder and kept affirming that she was doing well and we would soon see Julian, our son.
Suddenly, I heard and saw an amazing little boy in the doctor’s hands. Julian came into the world screaming at the top of his lungs. “Oh, my gosh. Look, Cazandra. Here he is. He’s beautiful.” The doctor held my son up and a nurse asked if I wanted to cut the umbilical cord. “Of course,” I replied. She gave me scissors and guided me on how to cut it, separating him from his mother. With one snip, Julian took his first step toward independence.
At this point, like many other stories in the bleeding disorders community, we had no idea that our boy had any medical issues. For a brief time, we sat together as a family. We couldn’t believe that our beautiful son was here. While filled with twists and turns, this day was one of the happiest of our lives.
We didn’t know that hemophilia would make its presence known in two days. And, like most people in our community, the news would knock us to our knees.
Check back next week for part two, where I’ll share what it was like receiving Julian’s hemophilia diagnosis.
Note: Hemophilia News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Hemophilia News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to hemophilia.
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