Page 309 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

push, while the doctor maneuvered the baby into a safe

position.

“Okay, I’ve got it. Push!” said the doctor urgently.

Silence, dead silence. They laid my son on my belly as

the doctor’s look of panic caught my eye. The baby was

blue. I had never seen a baby that shade of blue before.
He wasn’t breathing and apparently hadn’t been for a

very long time. Chaos resumed as the nurse took him from

me, ran to the other side of the room, and followed the

instructions of the pediatric specialist. I panicked

with each moment that went by. Everyone in the room
seemed frozen in time. Finally, like the clapping of

rolling thunder and by the grace of God, the baby cried

out with the force of ten men. Everyone in the room

cheered with relief. The baby had made it, and it was

time to let his father, who was still deployed in Iraq,
know he had a son.

This would not be our only scare with this little boy.

He has endured more than any other person I know. He has

experienced ear surgery, urinary surgeries, multiple
procedures, developmental delays, and a genetic disorder

diagnosis. He struggles with things that take most

people no effort at all to do, and goes through it all

with no complaints. This is his life. These are the

cards he has been dealt. The lesson he has taught me,