On Thursday, September 5th 2002, we arrived at he hospital for the birth of our 4th son who we had decided to name Davis. It was to be a routine repeat c-section. After being admitted I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and Gene and I listened to the strong heartbeat of our son and talked about when he would bring our other sons, Domnick, Dylan and Dalton to the hospital to meet thier new baby brother. I was prepped for surgery and shortly after the doctor came in and asked if we were ready. Away we went to the operating room. I felt very comfortable and confident with having the c-section as our other 3 boys had been born that way. As soon as my spinal was administered and the incision was started they called my husband to come in. Not long after he sat down, the time had come to see our new son.
I was so excited. The nurse held a mirror up at my request so that I could watch Davis be delivered. He was so beautiful! They took him over to the warming table to clean him up. It was so quiet. I asked if he was ok and the nurse said sometimes the babies need a little help to "get them going", because often times babies born by c-section have a lot of fluid built up. It was the same way with the birth of our first two sons. After a few minutes it was still quiet and I could see a look of deep concern on my husbands face. I asked him if the baby was ok and he said, "I don't know". He kept shaking his head and I could hear him saying,"Come on baby...come on little man..." We overheard one of the NICU staff say that they needed to tube him. I kept asking if he was ok, my nurse kept trying to reassure me that everything would be ok.
I heard my husband pleading out loud to God to please make the baby breath. I was so scared. The NICU staff kept calling for a doctor over the intercom, the only thing I could really make out was them saying STAT and 911...My husband looked at me and said he didn't want to leave, but that he needed to go get my mom from the waiting room. I said ok and he ran out. Shortly after Gene left my surgery was completed and my nurse said she was moving me to the recovery room so that they could continue to work on Davis.
It seemed like forever waiting to hear what was going on. My mom and sister were there with Gene and I. I was trying so hard not to cry and kept telling myself he would be ok. My mom kept saying he will be fine..."Domnick and Dyaln were hard starters too"....Finally a doctor came in after close to 2 hours and said that they were going to have to give Davis a trach...I started crying and said do whatever you need to do. Then another doctor came in and asked us if we would sign consent to have Davis transfered to Childrens Hospital. I was crying, Gene started crying and said give us the papers. As we signed they explained that Gene had to go with him, but I ,of course couldn't go yet. Gene was so scared. I told him don't be scared, mom will go with you. But inside I was terrified of being away from Davis and was trying to figure out how I was going to get out of the hospital and be with Davis...
Shortly after singing the papers, another doctor came in and told us that the best thing we could do right then was to see our son and say our good byes and let the baby "go naturally and peacefully". I stared at her and said, "I don't understand!?!". She said, that Davis had been with out oxygen for too long and that he would not "get better". His brain had been severely damaged. I started to cry. Gene was crying.
They asked if we wanted to see him and I cried, "Of course I do". My Aunt Sharon had come in by now. They brought Davis in. Davis was so perfect in every way. He weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 21 inches long. He looked so much like his big brothers. I held my beautiful baby and cried and kissed him and told him how much I loved him. We all cried and told him how much we loved him.
We asked for a priest to come and baptize our son. When the time came to take Davis off of the air pump that they had hooked to his trach, my mom, God bless her, sat with Davis and sang to him while she rocked him. My baby passed away in the loving arms of his Gram. Davis lived for 2 hours and 57 minutes.
Sadly our other 3 boys and the rest of our family were not able to see Davis before he passed away. Gene's mom, dad,and 3 sisters came that evening. Our sons Domnick, Dylan,and Dalton were able to come to the hospital the next day to see thier baby brother and spend time with him. Our friend Pam came to see him. Also a very special friend, Becky, came and was a pillar of strength to us during this devastating time.
Davis was cremated and we had a small, but beautiful memorial service for him on October 11, 2002. We were finally able to bring our baby home with us.
