Sleeping just was not on the agenda for tonight, it was midnight and they had to be up at 4:30 to make it to Med by 5am for the C-section. Antonio just lay there listening to Sylvie's breathing next to him. The sound of her breathing machine made a clicking noise every time she took a breath, it was weirdly comforting because he knew she was getting the air she needed. She was curled up into his side having only just fallen asleep a half hour earlier, she was exhausted and had barely kept her eyes open for as long as she did. Gabby and Antonio kept trying to get her to go to bed but she felt bad for them doing all the work to make sure everything that they would need was packed. Gabby had decided to move to the couch for the night giving Antonio and Sylvie privacy so they could be alone before the baby came.
They arrived at the hospital just before five and checked in. "Okay, Sylvie, we're going to take you to pre-op and your sister and husband will come in right before we start the surgery, we will start at six and you will meet your little girl a couple of moments later." Sylvie nodded and Antonio moved up by her head, he leaned down and put his forehead to hers and whispered "You got this, I'll see you in there, after we leave I'll come back when she's situated, I promise." She nodded her head and reached up to kiss him. "I love you so damn much, you know that right?" she nodded again. "I love you too. "
They had a plan for in the OR, Antonio was staying with the baby after she was out and would follow her to the NICU and Gabby was staying with Sylvie. Gabby stood out of the way in the operating room while they were making the incisions and trying to deliver the baby. She let Antonio and Sylvie have that moment alone together, letting him reassure and comfort her, she knew it was a privilege to be in there and as much as she wanted to be involved in cooing over the baby and holding her when she's born, she knew that was not her place here, her only job was to take care of and protect Sylvie, everything else would come later.
The baby was out and the doctor handed her off to the nurse who took her straight to the warmer to work on her. Antonio kissed Sylvie on the head and spun around to focus his attention where it was needed. Gabby moved in and set down next to Sylvie's head. "Can you go look and take a picture really quick?" Sylvie's teeth were chattering. "Just a few more minutes and I will, I haven't heard her cry yet, let them get her crying first." Sylvie just stared at Gabby waiting.
Antonio appeared, "She's breathing, just not crying, they said APGAR or something is a 6 at one minute. She is 4 lbs 2 oz, she's beautiful" Gabby exhaled relieved, "A six is good in a preemie wait till the 5 minute one, I'll bet she's normal." Antonio had taken a picture and handed his phone to Gabby. Gabby held the phone up so Sylvie could see. "She's so little, she looks just like you, Tonio" Tears started to run down Sylvie's cheeks. "Hey come on sis you're a Dawson now we don't cry, we're tough, look Sophie's okay, you're okay, we made it through this, the nightmare is over." Gabby tried to reassure her.
Antonio was just standing there staring at this tiny baby in the warmer, the doctors and nurses were poking and prodding her and she didn't cry once, she just laid there and took it, she locked eyes with him and just held his gaze for what seemed like eternity. He knew in that moment that she owned his heart and he would move heaven and earth to make sure she was the happiest little girl on the planet, she had her mother's big bright eyes, there was no resisting her.
The doctor ushered him forward, "She doesn't appear to have any complications and she's breathing on her own and it looks like she put on a few more ounces the last couple of days. Her 5 minute APGAR was an 8, we couldn't of asked for better, it means she's completely healthy, do you want to hold her?" he looked at the doctor bewildered "Doesn't she need to go to the NICU, she's so tiny, why isn't she crying?" the doctor nodded,
"We will take her to the NICU to monitor her for the day but if she does good there is a real possibility that she may go home when your wife does, as for the crying some babies just don't cry right away but don't worry she'll show you how she can use them lungs soon enough" the doctor chuckled "she seems content." Antonio couldn't help the grin on his face as he stared at his daughter. "You can hold her and take her to your wife" the nurse reached down and picked her up and placed her in Antonio's arms, he just stared at her he couldn't believe how small she was, even wrapped in blankets she didn't feel like anything in his arms. Diego and Eva were both over eight pounds, he didn't know what to do with something so tiny.
"You wanna meet your mama?" she just continued to stare at him.
He walked over carefully to Sylvie, Gabby got up out of the seat, he sat down and held her up so Sylvie could see her. "Hey my sweet girl, I'm your mommy" she raised her head up to give her a kiss on the cheek. Tonio leaned down and placed his forehead on the side of her head and whispered in Sylvie's ear so only she could hear, "you remember what I said to you the first time we saw her on the ultrasound" Sylvie nodded her head "She has your eyes, your strength, your bravery, and I'm going to assume your compassion, thank you for giving me exactly what I wanted" he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.
"Doc said her 5 minute APGAR was an 8, that she's perfectly healthy and she may be able to leave when you get released." Gabby let out a deep breath of relief and crouched down thanking the lord. "She hasn't cried once, the doctor said she is just content, nothing is wrong with her, her vitals are good" the nurse came over to let them know they were going to move Sophia out of the room now. Antonio held the baby up again so Sylvie could kiss her "I love you baby, I'll see you soon." He handed her to a nurse and they went out the door to the NICU.
Sylvie was nervous as she set in her hospital bed legs spread apart and this tiny baby laying there, she had undressed her completely so he could look her over, she counted her fingers and toes and rubbed the bottom of her tiny feet. She had never held a baby so little and the hospital was sending her home with one in a couple of hours.
"It'll be okay Sylvie, you're going to be great and Gabby is out right now buying a preemie car seat and stocking up on diapers and preemie clothes." Sophie was four days old and had lost a little weight so she was currently 3lbs. 15oz. the doctors reassured her the weight loss was normal and that she would start to put weight on over the next few weeks. Sylvie was skeptical but she had no choice she was bringing a miniature baby home.
"I don't know, Tonio I've never done this before, and I'm still not completely better." She pulled a diaper out and was putting it on her trying to get her dressed to take her home.
"That's why I'm here, to take care of you guys and so you can heal from having her and from being sick, so stop worrying." Antonio was more at ease, Sylvie had to have a blood transfusion after surgery but her iron and hemoglobin had somewhat normalized and weren't dropping like they were before.
"I'm just glad I can breathe again, I never want to feel like that again, it's horrible."
Antonio just sat there staring at her lost in thought from her last comment. She said she wanted more kids but he didn't think he was willing to put her through that again even if she wanted to risk it, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't have the same complications. And he didn't think he could survive watching her like that again, she almost died trying to have this one.
"Tonio, what's on your mind, where you at?" Sylvie was looking at him worriedly. "Nothing baby, I'm just tired and I'm thinking about Diego and Eva when they were first born." He smiled at her and stood up to grab the baby from her.
"Come here, do you wanna lay on daddy, I think I need you to lay on me" returning to the recliner, he laid her on his chest and put a blanket over her. Kicking the recliner out laying it all the way back with one arm behind his head, he just stared at the ceiling, thanking god everything turned out okay.
"Do you think it's weird she hardly ever cries?" Antonio asked still staring at the ceiling; she shook her head, "No, I just think she knows she's loved." Antonio didn't respond, he was exhausted and the silence in the room was welcoming, he couldn't remember the last time he was able to be alone with Sylvie in complete silence.
Sylvie got up to use the restroom, her incision was still very sore but she was able to move around better. When she came back the room was quiet and she could hear Antonio breathing, he was asleep with Sophia on his chest. She was glad he was finally able to sleep, he hadn't gotten a full night sleep in months and she felt horrible about it. He constantly worried about her and she couldn't wait until she was better so he could relax. Sylvie grabbed her phone and snapped a couple of pics of the two of them then climbed back in bed. She had already packed and organized everything she could.
They had a ton of stuffed animals and flower arrangements on the window ledge, floor, and dresser that she had no clue what she was going to do with. She was pretty sure they had received gifts and flowers from damn near every district house and firehouse in the city, it was ridiculous but apparently everyone knew how sick Sylvie was and they wanted to do their part. It was nice to know how much they were cared about from both sides.
Sylvie texted Gabby to find out where she was and to tell her to be quiet when she came in because Antonio had finally fallen asleep and she wanted to let him get as much as he could. She looked around the room, she had to be quiet so there was nothing to do, and she was bored. She guessed going home probably wasn't such a bad idea.
It was six before they were finally loading the truck to go home, Sylvie was exhausted and really just wanted a shower and to lay in her own bed. Gabby followed them home but she was no longer staying, she had been back home since the baby was born. "I'm going to carry you up the steps" Antonio looked over at Sylvie in the truck. "I can make it up the steps just fine" he shook his head. "It's three flights and you just had surgery, it took you five minutes and I ended up lifting you into the truck, you don't need to climb stairs, Gabby can carry Sophia up." She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Fine but only because I'm exhausted and don't want to argue about it."
Antonio placed Sylvie down gently right in front of the door and unlocked it, when Diego heard the door unlock he came out to greet them, "Sylvie" Diego wrapped his arms around her gently and hugged her, she hugged him back. "I'm glad your home, where's Sophia?" She pointed to the couch where the car seat was and he went over and started talking to her.
"Can you go help dad and Tia get stuff out of the truck and car? There's a lot." Eva wasn't home yet she had a study group for a test that was coming up so she was at the library.
She unhooked Sophia from her car seat and carried her to the bedroom and laid her on the bed so she could get ready for a shower. "I need you to be good while I'm in the shower cause daddy, Tia, and brother are busy and I really need a shower okay?" She looked down at her daughter with her wavy brown hair, tan skin, and big blue eyes and smiled. Sophia just stared up at her with those giant blue eyes.
When she finished her shower Antonio was laying on the bed holding Sophia, when he saw her he stood and laid her back on the bed and went to Sylvie. "You feel better?" she laughed. "Actually yeah for the first time in a long time I do." He put his forehead on hers and wrapped his arms around her neck and they both just stood there with their eyes closed finally he broke the silence "thank you." It was simple but Sylvie knew what he meant. She leaned forward and kissed him then went back to just holding on to him.
Gabby had came down the hallway to bring Sylvie's bag to the room so she could unpack it. She stopped in the doorway when she saw Antonio and Sylvie touching foreheads, she didn't want them to see her and she turned and went back into the living room. Eva had just got home and was searching the fridge for something to eat.
"Eva can I ask you a question?" Eva stood up to face her. "Yeah sure what is it?" Gabby hesitated, maybe it was none of her business, but it was driving her nuts. "Your dad and Sylvie, do they always touch foreheads and hold on to each other." She didn't know how else to explain it. Eva looked at her odd and chuckled "Yeah, I call it their triangle of solitude, they do it when they think no one is paying attention and they whisper at each other too, they've always done it since they first started dating, I think it's adorable, they are completely oblivious to everyone around them." Gabby laughed "I've noticed, I'm surprised I didn't catch on before but I've seen it a lot over the past couple weeks and it was driving me crazy wondering if I was the only one who noticed."
Eva grabbed her food and went to set at the table. "They are definitely meant for each other, I don't think they could ever survive without one another." Eva smiled.