Baby Came-(4)

I sent my wife a message by e-mail that I would go home as soon as possible after work on 29th, in August 2004, but she didn't notice my message until I came back home because she fell asleep. It was just one month before our child's scheduled day. She looked pale and exhausted when I saw her face in the evening, I went walk the dog instead of her, and we ate supper. But I sensed that she seemed consistently to be dull and something strange.

She shouted "Oh My God," when she was in the bath room. In no time, she dashed out of the room and told me that "I saw a lot of blood discharged." We promptly rushed to our regular obstetrician by car. Soon after she entered a consulting room at the clinic, I was invited to come in. Vice hospital director made us known the really shocking fact that my wife's placenta was about to leave the baby.

As you know, placenta is a lifeline to a baby in the womb, it means the life of the baby and my wife can be exposed to be danger. Hospital director came before very long and announced that he was searching a nearby big hospital like University Hospital that had facilities to be able to perform a Cesarean section and take a treatment for immature babies. It was around 10 PM on Sunday, any hospital could not meet our wish. However, the director once more requested Jikei University Hospital, then it worked out.

While waiting, my wife's agony became severer and severer. Whenever she shouted out of pain, the doctors there encouraged her by saying like this, "That's O.K. Heart beat of your baby is vivid." Soon came an ambulance with siren, she was transferred to the University Hospital. I followed the ambulance and arrived at Jikei University Hospital in five-minute drive.

The doctor at Jikei Hospital who diagnosed my wife immediately asked me to sign the consent form, explaining that unless she took the operation as soon as possible, her and our baby's life would not be assured. I signed it. As I later knew that it was a symptom called premature separation of normally implanted placenta, which can be cause of stillbirth. It was lucky with me not knowing such a horrific fact. As all got prepared, the C-section operation started just 0 o'clock in the morning.

I was at a vacant room alone during the operation performed. A nurse's explanation was followed that it was such a serious operation that it could take at least 2 hours and half and at most 8 hours or more. I was at a loss to the extent that I never experienced and I cannot find any words to express how I felt then. And I had never imagined it was such a huge problem, I only wore T-shirt and shorts, the temperature made me feel too cool.

I read Seicho-No-Ie's Holy Sutra, full of inspired and creative words as a form of poet, again and again and again to relieve myself.
(continued)