Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (Lifeline)

KSBW TV news anchors and Children’s Miracle Network Telethon hosts Kate Callaghan and husband Dan Green welcomed their first child, Owen Michael Green, into the world on May 10, 2005. But not without fanfare. Just moments after his birth, he wasn’t moving or breathing. His Apgar score (a screening tool that indicates a newborn’s condition at birth) registered only one out of a possible ten. The on-site neonatologist was consulted, but Owen came around quickly on his own. According to Dan, Owen has a flair for the dramatic. “Kate and I are afraid that was the beginning of a long tradition of his toying with his parents.”

As Kate’s due date approached, Dan and Kate became impatient. They took the advice of Kate’s mother and several friends to induce labor by walking Kate around the neighborhood and feeding her spicy food. “The advice worked and soon we were off to Salinas Valley Memorial,” says Dan. “Arriving at the hospital and headed for the Single Room Maternity Care Unit, we took a wrong turn and ended up at the door of Sam Downing’s office. Owen Michael Green

We were afraid we were going to have the baby on the floor outside of Sam’s office.”

The next evening, Owen made his debut and the new family was settled comfortably in one of the hospital’s private birthing suites. “Suddenly, Kate was in a lot of pain, but we thought it was just the anesthetic wearing off,” Dan recalls. “She went from holding the baby to intense pain and bleeding in 30 minutes.”

James Gilbert, MD, who had delivered Owen, determined that Kate had a torn blood vessel during the birthing process. “It’s a fairly rare occurrence,” says Dr. Gilbert. “An operating room was readied immediately and we took care of the problem.”

“I guess Owen wasn’t quite ready to leave the womb,” says Dan. “We didn’t expect to have any complications, but were so thankful that the hospital had a NICU and such a responsive team in the OR. When something goes wrong, it’s nice to know that you’re in the right place.”

Later, relaying the story to Sam Downing, Dan quipped, “We thought we would go in, have the baby, rest up and go home. But then, we needed the neonatologist, Kate had surgery and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. If I had, we would have used even more of the hospital’s services.”

So as far as the Greens are concerned, all’s well that ends well. “It’s the care Kate and Owen received from the beginning through their lengthened stay that really stands out,” says Dan. “All the nurses have a gift; we couldn’t have been in better hands.”