Our New Boss in the House

           Ellie Nicole was born on July 30, 2008.  The “Ellie” part was mine, and “Nicole” was Leizl’s choice.  It made for a beautiful combination, methinks.   Ellie comes from the Greek word for light, and Nicole means victory.   In fact, the name Ellie is taken from the character Ellie Arroway, who is the main protagonist in Carl Sagan’s novel, “Contact”.  In that novel, Ellie is a young and brilliant astronomer, who endures scorn and evils of superstition and fundamentalism, in her lifelong quest for truth.  Thus, if I am to ascribe some meaning, or at least hope that the name would, even to a narrow extent, hold sway her take on life; it is that I wanted her to find light in truth and reason, and feel sweet victory in their discovery. 

Last Wednesday was, surprisingly, tense-filled. The unexpected happened:  Leizl was not going to have a normal delivery but instead she was going to be wheeled for an emergency C-Section.  The reason:  there was a prolapse of the umbilical cord, meaning, the baby’s umbilical cord was pushed ahead of the baby’s head.  It happened when the water broke and the cord was carried along by the gush of water.  The danger lies when the fetus squashes the cord and cut of the oxygen supply.  (By the way, I tried to grasp as much medical terms as I could; becoming a doctor had always been my childhood dream, for which reason, I am easily prone to surmise that I would have been a better doctor than I am a lawyer.)

Actually, that might not be the entire reason, after all.   An attempt, I was told, was still made for a normal delivery but, surprise, surprise… the baby’s hand was clutching the cord and would not let go.  We joked that the baby was exercising full, arrant authority.

Straight from the operating room, Doc Chona Tremedal called me thru her cellphone and—in a very reassuring voice—told me the baby was fine, and Leizl was okay.  I heaved a sigh of relief.  When I got the chance to personally meet with the doctor, she came out with a big smile and a shaking head, and teased, “’Lan, your daughter’s proved she’s the boss in there.”

Well, if that’s the case, then I’m totally at her service.  Our new little pretty little boss.

(We are deeply indebted to Dr. Chona Tremedal and her husband, Jay, who performed the anesthesia, and to Doc Glinda del Prado who made sure Ellie Nicole was okay.  I’m breaking my head thinking how we’re going to pay you back, guys. J )