Page 71 - Philly Girl

Philly Girl 55

she returned with the doctor. He got the baby’s head out, and
then the newborn’s heart rate dropped precipitously. I was
terrified. I knew that meant impending doom. I prepared
myself to have a stillborn.
“Three cords around the neck and a true knot,” the doc-
tor shouted. I was crying and sweating and pushing. No one
could have predicted this dire circumstance, but my brain
told me a dead baby was coming. My experience as a mid-
wife was that this was the only expected outcome when the
umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck three times. It
had to be quickly unwound in the correct direction—almost
impossible, I knew—and it was a “true knot,” which was
strangling my baby. I heard the doctor say: “Shoulders out,
now body, cord unwound. Dennis, do you want to cut the
cord?” Oh my god … maybe he is alive.
There was no sound for a full minute. Hilary, a glam-
ourous nurse with scented perfume and a perfect manicure,
worked like a dog to get Jesse to “pink up.” Betty worked right
alongside her. Finally, finally, Jesse started to cry limply. We
all started to cry—deep sobs of disbelief and shock, gratitude
and relief. Jesse was tiny (6 lbs, 5 oz), and he must have been
starving in utero with that tight knot. Betty reassured us
that he would be okay, hugged Dennis, and stayed with the
baby. Betty, Betty, Betty— thank you!