Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Moment of Recognition
Suzi Schweikert, a practicing OB/GYN, is blindsided on an airplane by a man who claims she delivered his child. Did she or didn't she? How's a busy doc to remember them all?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
6 comments:
This article couldn't have found it's way to me at a better time. We adopted our son 18 months ago, and life has been absolutely amazing. We recently decided to give in-vitro (FET) one more try, and sadly it didn't work. The night I found out we weren't pregnant, we watched a television show where a couple saw their baby's ultrasound. At that moment it hit me like a ton of bricks...I'll never get to experience an ultrasound. What a moment of truth.
But like the author, after my initial moment of sadness, I realized that I too experienced my own "birth story". Colin was 2 months old, 3lbs, and in a NICU...but I could pick out any one of his 20-some nurses that made sure to come see us and introduce themselves on a airplane 5 years from now!
As an ObGyn (and a mother)-- I loved that story... delivering babies is so hard.... it's so hard to do it well. Raising babies is even harder... I heard so much of myself in your voice Suzi. Please keep writing.
This article makes me glad my third child was born at home woith a midwife who not only hugs me when we run into one another but occasionally calls or emails just to say hello. It's such a personal event -- it's great to have personal care.
I have given birth 4 times and adopted 4 times and each brings a unique emotional experience to the process. One is not better than the other-just wonderful in its own right. What a wonderful article. A family is born!
This brings me back to the birth of my youngest child. My primary care doc was supposed to "catch" the baby, but when she decided to appear a bit early, he was on vacation out of the country. A midwife filled in, and she was strangely aloof. Upon hearing the noise I made when she checked me after I arrived at the hospital, she remarked that I would "never" be able to get through childbirth without meds. Never mind that I'd done it twice before... I found her lack of support infuriating. My husband and I spent four hours of hard labor alone in a dark room, checked a few times by a nurse. The midwife showed up at the very end to catch the baby. She did an adequate job, as there were no interventions or complications. But I learned later that her only child was adopted, and perhaps she hadn't fully come to terms with the fact that she hadn't given birth herself.
I'm so glad this article was written. Of course adoptive parents have those moments! The first time you meet your child, in whatever circumstance, is not one to be forgotten.
However, there are also births that involve no narcotics, tiredness that does not approach mind-numbing exhaustion, and parents who feel thrilled and empowered by the experience they had meeting their children. I would have liked to have heard those acknowledged as well.
Post a Comment