My entire body tightened to gear up as I opened my arms and prepared to pull my child into the world.
Nina gave one final push. “Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!”
Within seconds, the baby was in my arms. Celine Dion’s The Power of Love started playing above on the elevator speaker. It was the most surreal moment of my life.
Gasping for air, I said, “I’ve got it. It’s out.”
“It’s completely out?” Bonnie asked.
Tears filled my eyes, and my lips shook. “Yeah.”
The baby’s cry was strong. I looked down between its tiny legs.
“It’s a girl. Oh my God. It’s a girl! Baby, we have a daughter.”
“Really? A girl?”
Bonnie’s voice interrupted our moment. “Grab a shirt and gently wipe the baby’s nose and mouth.”
I looked around me.
Shirt.
Shirt.
Shirt.
Cradling the baby, I grabbed one of Nina’s tops from the pile and did as Bonnie instructed. “Okay.”
“Now, wrap the baby in another clean shirt. Make sure the head is covered. This is to prevent hypothermia. Whatever you do, do not pull on the cord.”
“Alright.”
I carefully wrapped our daughter in one of my flannel button downs.
“Make sure your wife is warm.”
“Baby, are you okay?”
Nina groaned and nodded her head.
“Listen carefully, Mr. Green. Can your wife hold the baby? Have her place the baby on her stomach.”
Nina reached out her hands, and I slowly transferred the baby onto her stomach.
“Mr. Green? You’re doing great. The afterbirth will probably deliver soon.”
“The after what? It’s not over?”
“No. Have her hold the baby against her skin and place something over them both. This will help keep everyone calm until they can get you out of there.”
I grabbed my coat and draped it over them.
“You’ll stay on the phone with us?”
“Of course. You may want to grab a bag if you have one from your suitcase to put the placenta in. The baby will still be attached to it until the paramedics get there. So, you’ll put it inside a bag somewhere close to Nina.”
Nina muttered, “We have large Ziploc bags that the toiletries are in. Grab one of those.”
“Ziplocs! Thank God for small miracles.”
We spent the next ten minutes or so huddled together, cradling our baby before Nina said, “I’m feeling like I have to push again.”
I hopped up. “She has to push again.”
Bonnie immediately responded, “Okay, that’s the placenta. Have her move into an upright position.”
After a few pushes, the placenta came out.
Holding what looked like a piece of raw meat, I asked, “What do I do again?”
“Just put it in the bag and keep it next to you.”
A pool of red surrounded the area underneath Nina.
“There’s blood everywhere.”
“That’s normal.”
“This doesn’t look normal.”
“The paramedics are almost there. I’m told the fire department is on site working with hotel maintenance right now. They should have you out of there shortly. Try to remain calm.”
An indeterminate amount of time passed. Nina was starting to sound disoriented. “Jake, I don’t feel good. Something’s really wrong. You need to take the baby.”
My daughter’s legs and arms flailed through the plaid flannel shirt wrapped around her tiny body as Nina handed her to me. I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.
Panic-stricken, I yelled into the phone, “She’s still bleeding. She’s losing a lot of fucking blood. You need to tell them to hurry! Please!”
“Does it look like more than a pint? Listen, Mr. Green, you need to massage her lower abdomen immediately.”
Suddenly, her head slumped over.
“No! Nina!” I cried.
Holding our baby in one arm, I repeatedly tapped Nina’s cheeks with my other hand. “Baby, please. Stay with me. Nina. Please.”
“What’s happening, sir?”
“She’s passed out. She’s unconscious.” My vision was blinded by the tears in my eyes. My lips were trembling as I spoke, unable to catch my breath, “Nina, wake up. Wake up. Please!”
It felt like the middle of a nightmare, my baby’s deafening cry a reminder that this was very real and not something I was going to wake up from. Bonnie’s voice became jumbled in the midst of my panic.
Then, came a jolt followed by sudden and steady movement downward.
As Nina continued to remain unconscious, looking like she was bleeding to death, the descent felt more like a downward spiral into the depths of hell.
The doors slid open, and even though light streamed in, darkness surrounded me.