Like Sound Through Water
Chapter One: A Healthy Baby?
I pushed one final time and felt a tremendous release of pressure. Ben burst into the world, and I heard him gasp his first breath of air. A few seconds later, when he was nestled against my tummy and I counted ten fingers and ten toes, I felt an intense psychological relief that my baby was healthy. Healthy. That's what I believed.
"He looks good," my doctor proclaimed, her eyes excited above the blue surgical mask.
My husband, John, hovered above me and smiled.
"He's okay?" I asked.
"He's great."
And as my eyes met Ben's -- a precious first connection -- I thought so, too.
The pediatrician came into my hospital room the next morning and echoed the same opinion. Ben's Apgar scores had been high immediately after birth, meaning his circulation and respirations were good. Aside from his high bilirubin count, which caused his skin to have an orange/yellow tint or jaundiced appearance, he seemed fine. Ben was released with me to go home. The following three mornings, John and I brought Ben to the hospital for a blood test that checked his bilirubin count. It never exceeded the p ... read full excerpt from Like Sound Through Water: A Mother's Journey Through Auditory Processing Disorder ebook
