Our Beloved Son, John
The Beloved John
I was called to the delivery room one night to assist with a term infant because of a small amount of meconium that was present. Meconium is the substance within the bowels of the infant before delivery, and it can sometimes signal distress or abnormality in the infant. It generally requires a pediatrician or other qualified individual to be in attendance. However, most of the time these babies are born without complication and are healthy and normal.In the delivery room, both mother and father were anxious yet happy as they anticipated the birth of their first baby. The pregnancy had been uneventful. But when the baby was born, it was immediately apparent that there was a significant problem. The baby was anencephalic. This means that there is essentially no upper brain, and the dome of the calvarium, or skull, is also absent. These babies generally don't survive the immediate newborn period, and often they have other significant abnormalities.
The obstetrician immediately handed the baby to me. Even the father, beside himself in anticipation and excitement, could see that the baby was not normal. The mother had not been sedated and, of course, wanted to see her baby right away. The baby did not cry significantly, but it was not in any serious respiratory distress. It did maintain a deep bluish color, indicating the possibility of severe heart disease, which is common in these infants.
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