Stephanie, still recovering from the delivery, wasn't able to hold him yet.Ībout two hours later, the Parkers received the news that every family dreads after the birth of a child - there was a serious problem. Holding his crying son for a few brief moments, he handed Stuart back to the nurses who began their usual newborn care. Stuart had even received a 9.9 out of 10 on his Apgar score, the quantitative rating test used to measure the vital signs of a newborn. It was a 'perfect' pregnancy - no problems at all. Stuart has a 2-year-old sister, Sydney.Įverything had gone perfectly. Coast Guard lieutenant, stared into the hazel eyes of his second child. He was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces. One hundred and six hours and 19 minutes earlier, Stuart Scott Parker was born. 'Once we landed, I knew everything was going to be alright,' Stephanie said. But now here he was - being loaded off a C-17 Globemaster III onto an ambulance headed for Wilford Hall Medical Center. Shortly after his birth, doctors told the Parkers that moving Stuart from the third floor of the Hospital Auxilio Mutuo in San Juan, Puerto Rico, could be fatal. He was the newest patient for the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, or ECMO, team that was double- and triple-checking everything to ensure he was ready for the next leg of his journey. July 22 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, they smiled at each other and looked at their son.įour-day-old Stuart lay across from his parents on a medical cart surrounded by doctors, nurses and medical technicians.

SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) - Seth and Stephanie Parker held each other's hands and waited.

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