Volume
Four Number 1
SHAOLIN ZEN
Spring
1999
| Volume
Four Number 1 |
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Spring
1999 |
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(Continued from page 1) Michelle's contractions were subdued by an epidural as I rolled up the blinds to offer her a better view of the springtime torrents and flashing lightning. I pulled one of the nurses over to the window to show her the little geyser that spurted upward like an open vein of an underground dragon. Spurt-spurt-spurt. Rumble, crack, flash! The Gods had definitely arrived to watch this childbirth. By 4:00 p.m. the contractions were averaging 1-1/2 minutes apart and our sons' head was poised to pop out. Dr. Vernon Yamashiro took a seat like a catcher in a baseball game. The nurses put the stirrups in the hospital bed and like a sports team preparing for the final inning a calm suspense hung in the air as the rain stopped, clouds cleared and sun began to shine through the window. "All right now Michelle," Dr. Yamashiro quietly announced, "get ready to push." Most of us watched the paper strip slowly spewing out the machine to the side of Michelle's headboard. The peaks and valleys it drew showed her contractions as mountains of uterine effort. We all giggled as the seconds slowly ticked by. A minute and a half can seem amazingly long when you're expecting something incredible. "Ok Michelle," announced Dr. Yamashiro, "PUSH." Holding her breath, Michelle's face turned red as she clenched the hospital bed side rails. "One, two...nine, ten," counted Nurse Becky. "Ok, take a breath and push again." These first two pushes during the first contraction brought Rory's long black hair into the Dr.'s view. Resting between contractions, Michelle gathered her strength before pushing again. She got three pushes into the next contraction. Gripping some lower handgrips, Michelle could now curl her body forward over her own stomach. Unlike the screaming, ranting TV actresses who portray childbirth as a tormenting torture, Michelle's most visible anguish was her bright red face that displayed her mortal determination. To make a short story even shorter, in only 8 contractions Michelle squeezed out an amazingly large 11 pound 10 ounce boy without an episiotomy or vaginal tearing. Nurses and doctors spread the story and visited her to gawk and awe with comments like, "That's the biggest baby we've seen in this nursery in over 2 years!" "He's HUGE!" "I can't believe she didn't have a c-section..." The Dr. told us that 49 out of 59 women have c-sections when a baby is this large. Then he said, "It's always a little miracle when a baby is born. But this is a BIG miracle," he laughed. I followed my new son around like a shadow. If he was poked by a needle I held his hand and sang a song. When he had to wait an hour for tests in the nursery I sang songs made up on the spot to keep his attention or at least cover up the crying of the other babies who were all left in the nursery unattended and alone. Sure I attracted the attention of the nurses and bystanders. At first they may have been amused, but as the day wore on and my loving concern remained steadfast, I earned their respect, as their comments changed from, "You can LEAVE the baby here unattended," to "You and your wife are a great team." So here we are. A full moon watched from the sky, smiling down. The family Zhen. We are the Clan O'Connor. We are joyous. We are successful. We are a family. |
Listening To The Past
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