With all the commotion, I haven't yet taken the time to write my own thoughts about Mia and how she came to us. It's been almost three weeks since she was born. Dad suggested that I should do it before I forget the feelings that I had that day.
Saturday night, I had the hardest time sleeping. I spent most of the night restless in bed, angry that I wasn't sleeping. In all, I probably got somewhere between two and three hours of sleep Saturday night.
When Stef got up for church early Sunday morning, she asked me how I felt. Since I hadn't slept, I told her that I should probably stay home and rest. While I felt guilty for not going to church (I hadn't missed church since I got to Japan), I just didn't have the energy to make the voyage. So, I stayed home with Kelsey and gave Stef a day to herself.
Right after Stef left, Kelsey was up for the day. Since I was taking care of her, I didn't get to rest during the day. In Imabari, some of the church members gave Stef some interesting Japanese maternity clothing. Sister Ochi gave Stef a ride to the port after church, but stopped at the 100 Yen shop so that Stef could get some goodies to send home to family for Christmas. Stef said that she could walk to the port from the 100 Yen shop, but Sister Ochi had a strong feeling that she shouldn't let her walk. Stef came home at a quarter-to-5 and showed me all the stuff she had picked up in Imabari. She was so glad to have gotten a day to herself for once.
At around 7, we tried to put Kelsey to bed, but she wouldn't have it. Stef was laying in bed, feeling a bit of discomfort, while I tried to soothe Kelsey. I read her various books, rubbed her face, tucked her in, and read more books, but Kelsey seemed distraught and wouldn't go to bed. I closed her door and went back to our room. When 8:30 rolled around and Kelsey still hadn't fallen asleep, something told me to be prepared for a very long night.
Stef's discomfort got worse, and she said that they reminded her of Braxton Hicks contractions, which she shouldn't be having at that stage of the pregnancy. She was very worried, so I gave her a blessing. During the blessing, I wanted to tell her that she would take the baby full-term, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I felt like I was being told specifically not to say that. I blessed her so that she and the baby inside would both be strong. We decided we'd call the doctor the next morning and travel to Imabari to see him. The contractions went away soon after, and we went to bed at around 8:45.
At 11PM, Stef woke me up and asked me to time something. I was in a deep sleep, so I didn't really have any idea what was going on. I stumbled around to find some kind of clock, and then timed her pains. Stef was very worried, so I said I'd get the island doctor and call a rescue boat to take us to Imabari. When I got to the doctor's house, there was no response for about 3 or 4 minutes. When the doctor finally came to the door, I told her that Stef was having a lot of pain and that we needed to call a boat. She ran to the clinic to get a stethoscope, and then we hurried back to our house.
Stef called her mom and told her what was going on, and asked her to pray for us. I called my mom and did the same. We also called some friends in Imabari to let them know we were coming and might need their help. The doctor called the rescue boat at about 11:40 or so, but said it wouldn't get to our island until about 12:20. Stef's pains got progressively worse. At this point, I had no idea if her pains were labor contractions or some other serious problem. Either way, I knew we had to get to the hospital quickly. The doctor asked me for some string, and I ran upstairs to get a ball of twine that was left by my predecessor. I gave her the twine and she used it to hang an IV for Stef from the curtain rod.
I started packing a backpack with all the stuff we would need for the next day, and decided we'd get Kelsey up when the boat came. I knew that I needed to keep her calm, and that she'd be a source of more stress for Stef if she was upset. My supervisor, Tanago-san, showed up to see if he could help. Stef went into the bathroom while I was scrambling to get everything ready, and then I heard her cry out hauntingly, "Jesse, I'm bleeding!" I raced to the bathroom, where Stef was clearly distraught at the sight of blood. I knew that something was seriously wrong, but really had no idea what it was. I told her that everything was going to be all right and gave her a blessing right there. In the blessing, I said that if the baby did come early that she would know what to do. I blessed her body with strength and blessed the baby so that if she did come she'd be able to be strong and make it to the hospital.
I finished preparations while we waited for the boat to come. At about 12:20, when it finally came, I put on my big backpack, woke Kelsey up, folded her porta-crib up and took her out to the docks, holding the crib in one hand and Kelsey in the other. The paramedics rushed by with a stretcher, and I walked down to the emergency boat. I told Kelsey that we were going to go for a ride in a boat, and that mommy was going to be laying in a bed.
The boat was pretty small--not much bigger than a pleasure boat in America. It had a rectangular cabin with a bench on the left side, and just enough room for a stretcher on the right. Between the bench and the stretcher area, there was about a foot or two of aisle space for the medics to get back and forth. It wasn't much bigger than the inside of an ambulance.
I waited in the boat with Kelsey for what seemed like forever while the medics got Stef in the stretcher. When they finally returned with Stef, I held Kelsey close to my chest and tried to keep her distracted. The island doctor decided to ride with us on the boat. We set off for Imabari, and I overheard the medics say that we were going to arrive at 1:30, which was about 50 minutes later. I repeatedly prayed that Stef and the baby would be okay, and that we'd be able to make it to the hospital.
Stef's pains got progressively worse. Since the medics needed to walk through the small aisle between me and Stef, I couldn't do much to help her but keep Kelsey calm. I tried to hold her hand every now and then and let her know that I was there and that everything would be fine. As the pains got worse, though, Stef started crying out in agony. Kelsey got a bit upset as she saw her mom in pain. I did my best to distract her and assure her that everything would be okay. Kelsey did surprisingly well. I watched every minute tick by on the clock. 1:30 could not come soon enough.
The medics looked nervous, and I'm sure the fact that they spoke no English had something to do with it. Luckily, the doctor spoke English and was able to help Stef and give direction to the medics. She held Stef's hand as the pain worsened. At this point, I still wasn't sure what was going on. I knew that Stef had pain and that she was bleeding, but not much else.
Suddenly, Stef's water broke. I knew that the water breaking meant that the baby would be coming within the next few hours at most, but I hoped that we'd be able to make it to the hospital to deliver the baby. At 12:55, I turned to Kelsey to comfort her as Stef cried out in pain, when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a baby. I didn't know that the baby was coming, or that Stef was even pushing. She had mentioned that she felt the need to push, but I assumed it would take a while. Little Mia was motionless and purple, laying on Stef's abdomen while the doctor got some equipment ready.
I prayed that Mia would be all right. Stef and I had talked about different scenarios with the birth, and we had said that the worst case would be having the baby on a rescue boat in the middle of the ocean. It turned out that we hadn't even factored pre-term labor into the equation, and Stef was only 26 weeks pregnant. When I looked at Stef to see how she was taking everything, she had a big smile on her face as she looked down at her tiny little baby.
The doctor put a tube in Mia's nose and throat to suction out moisture, and then she started moving. Stef held her close as gently as she could, and the medics got out a an oxygen mask and set it over her head. Her whole little head fit inside the bulging, rounded part of the mask, and Stef held the mask in place. As Mia did her best to breathe, I prayed continually that we'd be able to make it to the hospital to get her the care she needed. Stef talked to Mia and told her to stay strong and hold on, and that we loved her so much. Mia tried to cry, but the only sound her tiny lungs could muster was a kitten-like squeak.
Even though we were a half-hour away from Imabari, and she was tiny, we didn't panic. I had a calm assurance in my heart that everything was going to be all right. Still, I watched every minute tick away until we finally arrived in Imabari. The doctor and our friend were both waiting at the port as we got off the boat. I asked the island doctor if she'd ever delivered a baby, and she answered that she hadn't. The medics also had never delivered a baby. It was a miracle that everything went as well as it did on the boat.
The doctor told me that they planned on taking us all to the hospital in Imabari to make sure that the baby was stable enough to be transported by ambulance to Matsuyama. We traveled together to the hospital in an ambulance. I had to fill out new patient paperwork at the Imabari hospital while they took Mia off into another room. Stef hung around for a while, but then she was transported to the clinic where she had originally planned on having the baby.
The doctors checked Mia and decided that she was strong enough to go in an ambulance to the Ehime Prefectural Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (in Matsuyama), which was about an hour and a half away from Imabari. They told me that I should go there as soon as possible. I was willing to go immediately, but our friends were tired and were our only mode of transportation. They told me I should take the first train in the morning, and rest from 4AM to 6:30AM with Stef. I wasn't able to sleep.
I didn't have a jacket, and I was disheveled, but I walked in the cold to the train station to take the first speedy train to Matsuyama. I waited in line for the fast train to come, but it never did. There had been snow at one of the stops, so they canceled the train. I went from being first in line for the fast train to last in line for the slow train. The slow train took over an hour and a half, instead of 35 minutes. I took a taxi to the hospital and went to see Mia. With my Japanese and the doctors' English, we eventually communicated enough to where I understood Mia's condition. I stayed with Mia for a bit, then grabbed a taxi back to the train station.
After taking a fast train back to Imabari (it was back up and running), I ran to the port and hopped on the first of two boats to head back to Uoshima to pick up some stuff we'd need in the next few days. After changing boats in Yuge, the Uoshima ferry arrived at our island at about 4:40. Our grocery delivery came in on the same boat. I ran home, threw some stuff in a suitcase and, with the help of my supervisor, unloaded the groceries into the fridge. I got back on a boat at 5:20 and headed back for Imabari.
In less than twenty four hours, I watched my wife give birth on a small boat in the middle of nowhere, and traveled from Uoshima to Imabari, to Matsuyama, back to Imabari, back to Uoshima, and back again to Imabari. It was, by far, the most eventful day of my life.
At one point, our friend John, who was waiting at the hospital in Imabari with us while we waited to find out if Mia was okay to be transported by ambulance, asked me how I wasn't freaking out. He said that if he were in my shoes, he would be yelling and screaming and demanding answers. I told him that even though everything was extremely new and disorienting, I knew that everything was going to be okay. Throughout all this, I was able to keep my sense of humor. I firmly believe that I drew strength from the many family members who were praying for us back in America.
Thanks to everybody who's prayed for us or sent us good thoughts and vibes. We really appreciate it. I'll give you an in-depth update of our situation in the next couple days.
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