The Celebrated

...wherein we hide (with fiendish cleverness) a simple word. All you have to do is unscramble the word (found on page 12), then find it concealed within one of our ads. Click in to the contest link at www.AugustaRx.com and enter. If we pick you in our random drawing of correct entries, you’ll score our goodie package!

SEVEN SIMPLE RULES: 1. Unscramble and find the designated word hidden within one of the ads in this issue. 2. Visit the Reader Contests page at www.AugustaRx.com. 3. Tell us what you found and where you found it. 4. If you’re right and you’re the one we pick at random, you win. (Winners within the past six months are ineligible.) 5. Prizes awarded to winners may vary from issue to issue. Limited sizes are available for shirt prize. 6. A photo ID may be required to claim some prizes. 7. Other entrants may win a lesser prize at the sole discretion of the publisher. 8. Deadline to enter is shown on page 12.

I DIDN’T FAINT IN THE DELIVERY ROOM, BUT... I’ve witnessed the birth of four kids, each birth worse then the other. I’ve never fainted, however I definitely got a bit lightheaded with OUR last one.

My first child took forever to come out, not uncommon for a first time mother. Our second child involved back labor, and was very stressful. The third had the cord around its neck. Those three were all stressful in their own way. But the 4th came close to breaking me.

Once we were in the hospital and labor was coming along, the doctors found two things, ironically a combination of the previous two. My wife was having a second back labor, and the cord was around the babies neck. She had to go through most of her labor on all fours because whenever she laid down, the baby’s heartbeat would slow, evidently an effect of the cord strangling its ability to breathe.

When the baby was finally born, it took the doctors three minutes to resuscitate it. Doesn’t sound that long until you consider the idea of waiting 180 seconds for your baby to either take a breath or be pronounced dead.

When my son finally started crying, I had to stabilize myself on the birthing table because my legs had turned to jelly, and I too was bawling like a baby. In that moment I was definitely not the emotional rock my wife had come to depend on.