Hello! Hey, it’s Me.

Colin’s Birth Story

I haven’t had much time to blog lately, so I’m going to post a few things that could be interesting reads that I have written over the last few years.  First, here is Colin’s birth story.

Colin’s Birth Story

In detail and as told by Mommy

Sunday morning I started very light and sporadic contractions, which I attributed to “practice contractions.”  They stayed pretty regular throughout the day, but they weren’t painful - and I was only 35 weeks pregnant - so I didn’t really think much of them.  That morning Laney and I did our Whole Foods shopping, and after her nap, we took her to get her 18-month photos made.  The started becoming a little more painful toward the end of the photo session and on the way home, but again, I was walking and talking through them, so I didn’t think anything of it.  When we started timing them while we were eating dinner (around 6:40 p.m.), they were about 3 minutes apart and lasting 40-50 seconds.  However, I was still able to walk, talk and eat through them, so I finally called the practice simply due to the frequency.  Unfortunately Lucie, midwife on call was very busy, and didn’t get back to me until way too late! 

Around 7:30, I finally realized - hey, this is it!  Chris called the practice again b/c Lucie had not called back.  It was around this time that my body started “cleansing” and preparing for birth.  I was still a little skeptical, but realized that I was going to have a baby within the next 24 hours.  However, I still thought I had several hours of contractions and that we had plenty of time to make it to the hospital.  Chris was tending to Delaney, trying to get her in bed while waiting for my mother to arrive.  I called her around 7:15 or 7:30 and told her to come on over, apologizing in advance b/c I thought it could still be false labor.  Chris gave Laney a bath around 8 p.m. and got her ready for bed.  He was bouncing her on his back while I decided to get in the bathtub.  I need some relief from the pain.  It was at this time that Lucie finally called back and instructed me to come straight to the hospital.  My contractions were pretty much on top of each other, so I wasn’t getting any rest at all.  We called my mother and sent her to the hospital where I as intending to birth, which was about 40 minutes from our house.  Chris threw some items in a bag and tossed Laney in the car.  He came up to check on me (and hurry me along).  This was probably around 8:30-8:45 (I wasn’t clock watching!)  I informed him that he needed to take me to the closer hospital because I wasn’t making it any further!  Five minutes later, when the urge to push kicked in, I told him to call EMS b/c I wasn’t making it to the car!

While he was on the phone with EMS, I was concerned about what/where Laney was.  She was waiting for us in the car.  I told him to call our neighbor Mary and have Mary come get Laney.  Later Mary told me that she came running down the street, kicking her shoes off half way to get Laney!  While Mary was taking Laney back to her house, the first responder firemen arrived.  And the neighbors started pouring out of their houses!  Inside, I was pushing through half of the contraction and trying to breathe through the less painful (but still VERY painful) part.  My water broke just after the firemen arrived; it burst with a pop and I felt like it shot across the room!  Chris said it sounded like a shotgun firing.  The firemen really wanted me to turn over on my back, but I wasn’t budging.  Between pushes, I’d beg for the ambulance, asking repeatedly “Where’s the ambulance.”  The answer was always “one minute away.”  FINALLY the paramedics arrived, Becky and Robin.  They flipped me over on my back (not what I wanted to do, but I really just wanted to have the baby), and told me to push.  I pushed about two-three times, and his head emerged.  It was around 9:10 p.m., although no one was really watching the clock.  They left his cord attached for a few extra minutes at my request.

Chris and one paramedic team took Colin to the second ambulance to check his vitals and make sure he didn’t need oxygen.

They took me to the ambulance just after Colin was born; I still hadn’t birthed the placenta.  I remember sitting in the “stair chair” looking out the front door at four faces on the porch across the street.  I, of course, had no pants on, so I asked someone to close the door before transferring me to the stretcher.  It was raining outside. 

In the ambulance, the started an IV, which was for NOTHING!  I maybe got 200 cc’s of fluid – it was almost just rote for them to do so.  They handed Colin off to me immediately, and he latched on like a champ!  I was so proud.  Chris picked up Delaney at Mary’s house and drove himself to the hospital so we had a car there.  About half way to the hospital, I birthed the placenta.  It was quite easy – easier than I thought it would be.  I love that I was able to hold Colin in my arms for so long just after his birth.

My parents met us at the hospital.  My poor mother had already traveled all the way to the original hospital, and then back up.  I feel awful about that!  But I just wasn’t able to think about “extra” things at that time.

Chris stayed the first night in the hospital with us, and we had MANY discussions about Colin’s name.  We hadn’t chosen a name at that time, so we were going back and forth and discussing all the names that had been on the list.  Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much!  The next morning, Chris went home to eat breakfast with Laney.  Herb also drove in on Monday to see his new grandson.  Chris stayed with Laney the whole day and we were able to have a short visit.  He came back during the evening hours so I could shower, but then went home to be with her.  I wish I had been able to see Laney more on Monday. 

Tuesday morning Colin and I got up early and had breakfast.  Chris and Laney arrived a little before 9 a.m. to wait for our discharge.  A little after 9, the Health Team reporter of our local news station arrived for our story on “unexpected births.”  It was a successful taping with Laney running all over the place and Colin sleeping peacefully.  Shortly after that, we were discharged and were home for lunch.