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June 20, 2009

'The babies are so tiny, you hope you don't break 'em'

By DIANE PETRYK-BLOOM The Press Republican Sat Jun 20, 2009, 11:28 PM EDT

All your fears fall away when you see your child born.

"That's the first thing," said Ernesto Rodriguez.

He and his wife, Louise Dionne, of Chazy, became parents for the first time Jan. 30.

Their son, Camilo Joseph Rodriguez, came two months early after Dionne's sudden hemorrhaging and a harrowing rush by ambulance and ferry to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. He was born by emergency Cesarean section.

Rodriguez, 38, was always scared of blood, even with a minor cut, but under the circumstances, that didn't matter.

"I just stand there"¦ I have to see. When my son was coming, all fears disappear."

So much so that when the nurse asked if he would like to cut the umbilical cord, he said yes.

"If someone would have asked me before, I would have said, 'No, I cannot do that.' At that moment, you don't stop to analyze. You just walk ahead like never before. Do what you have to do. After, you feel like a hero. Like you can manage no matter what."

The couple did not know their baby's gender in advance.

Rodriguez got to tell his wife: "We have a son!"

It was a very exciting moment, a very beautiful moment, he said, "to see my flesh and blood in another human being — my son."

Things were a little less dramatic with Jenna Jones's four-hour natural childbirth at CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh April 11, but as their daughter was born, dad Mike Heonis, 29, had a few anxious seconds.

Doctors knew the baby had fluid in her respiratory system, and they didn't want her to breathe until it was suctioned out.

They took her aside and worked on her.

"It seemed like a long time, but maybe it was only 20 seconds or so." Heonis said. "I was nervous. I just wanted to hear her cry."

It was a relief when she did cry, he said, and then the doctors brought her over to him.

"She was just beautiful," he said. "Then it just hits you. You realize she's yours. You created her, and it's a wonderful feeling. It's euphoric."

Heonis also remembers a feeling of awe when he saw just the baby's head start to appear. Excitement. And a little fear, the only queasy moment coming when he heard — but didn't watch — the surgical scissors used to perform an episiotomy to ease the baby's way out.

The couple, of Chateaugay, named their daughter, also a first child, Maddison Elizabeth Heonis.

It isn't much different, even when it's your third baby, according to Jonathan Pribble, 34, whose wife, Jennifer, gave birth at CVPH June 8. They also have a daughter, 10, and a son, 7.

"The first time is scarier. By the third time, you kind of know what to expect," Pribble said. "But every time is unique. Very exciting. It's like waiting for Christmas. When you hear them cry, it's thrilling."

Newborn Benjamin Taranis Pribble would naturally do a good job of making himself heard — with the middle name of the God of Thunder.

Even though the doctors and nurses are reassuring throughout the mom's labor, the cry gives you a real sense the baby is healthy and strong, Pribble said. "Uncertainty goes away ... well, I actually did do a quick toe count."

Pribble said he likes being in the delivery room and being as much a part of the process and supportive as possible. Jones said Heonis was a terrific coach from the first appointment to the delivery day. Rodriguez said his first reason to be in the delivery room was "to be beside my wife.

"I know the woman is put in danger," he said. Being right there, "we can give emotional and physical support."

That wasn't always possible. Not once, through his wife Joyce's eight deliveries from 1955 to 1969, was Harold Ryan of Saranac allowed in the delivery room.

Dads got only a peek through the nursery window when Ryan's six daughters and two sons were born at CVPH.

Dads could only pace the waiting room like in all those the old-time movies — or read a magazine. Ryan's first daughter, Carol, was born in 1955, and he didn't even get to hold her until the following day.

He thinks today's way is better.

When you're in the delivery room, you don't have to be anxious just because you don't know what's going on, he said, or be at the mercy of someone getting around to telling you things are going okay.

Ryan, 78, thinks it's better for the mother, too. Other than that, he said, the emotions are all the same.

"You hope the baby is going to be normal and your wife is going to be all right. The babies are so tiny, you hope you don't break 'em. It's a wonderful experience."

"You become more human," Rodriguez said. "You become more understanding of others. I became more considerate. You understand the human struggle."

For Cuban-born Rodriguez, that struggle involved finding a way to liberty. Camilo means "born into freedom."

"I don't have another moment more beautiful or special in my whole life," Rodriguez said.