He wasn't in, so she left a message.
Still, Janaya was surprised when Adzick called her back that day.
He typically performs extremely delicate in-utero surgery to repair birth defects such as spina bifida and operations to remove lung tumors.
Janaya's insistence amused him. A surgical closure on a gastroschisis baby was simple. He was happy to treat her baby.
Janaya's baby wasn't due until Feb. 28, but by January she was getting antsy.
On the 21st she e-mailed Adzick to check whether he would be in town for the next month or so, in case the baby came early, as most with gastroschisis do.
"I don't mean to be intrusive, but I do prefer that you do the surgery on the baby, and I just would like to know what I can expect if there is a possibility that you will not be available," she wrote.
Twenty minutes later, she got his reply: Not to worry.
"I may be away for a weekend, but the surgical closure is invariably done on a weekday," Adzick wrote.
Still, by the end of the month, Janaya was so anxious she decided she needed to get away.
She threw a few things into an overnight bag and drove alone to her sister's house in Somers Point for a winter weekend at the Jersey Shore.
Sunday night she went to sleep early. She woke up a few minutes before 11 p.m.
The bed was wet.
She didn't think she had felt a contraction. But she was sure that her water had broken.
Was that unusual? Was it a problem? Janaya woke her sister, and they called CHOP.
I'm not feeling contractions. Should I go to the hospital here? Janaya asked the obstetrician.
No, come on in.
Janaya's sister drove.
They shot up the Atlantic City Expressway, over the Walt Whitman Bridge, and into West Philadelphia. It took less than an hour.
|
|
|
|
|
|
MOST POPULAR PHILLY.COM PHOTOS
Daily Headlines
Subscribe now! Daily Headlines Newsletter
Philly.com news blogs
Philly.com Promotions
