As usual, I’m late in posting but it’s been crazy here lately. I really have only recovered enough to think in coherent fashion again, with the madness at work. So here’s the recap of Abby’s birth.
I woke up to Erin on her laptop in the bedroom Oct 14. She told me her contractions were much stronger and not to go into work. My mother had, thankfully, already been planning to come up so I told her to plan to stay. There wasn’t much consistency to the contractions early on so we were stuck in limbo for most of the morning. It became obvious they were going somewhere, it was simply a question of when. I took the kids out to get us some lunch so Erin wouldn’t have to cook. She had done breakfast but was in no real condition to much anything else by lunch. Mom arrived shortly thereafter and Erin and I went for a walk to help the contractions along.
Walking was an adventure. We’d go maybe 100ft before Erin would stop and grab my arm for dear life to make it through the contraction. We didn’t stay out long (maybe 15 mins) but it was enough. Then we came back around 2pm to time contractions. They stayed in the 5 min range for 30 mins so we figured we should call it and made prep to do so. Erin called the OB while I packed the car and we headed to the hospital.
I parked in front of the doors for obvious reasons. This irked the lady behind the desk who, as I walked in with Erin (who was waddling through contractions at this point) asked “Is that your car, sir?” I wanted to reply “No, I just found it and figured I’d take it to get us here” but I held my tongue. I saw Erin to the elevator and then dashed back to go park the van. This hospital has an OB Triage since probably a good third of the hospital is dedicated to labor and delivery. Erin was there signing papers through contractions and they let her go back when I arrived with the bags, letting me sign instead.
The room was small and Erin got dressed in record time so we could beat the next contraction. The nurse checked Erin, but would only tell us that “Her bag is bulging” and nothing about her dilation. Not helpful at all. And more paperwork! They then moved promptly to transfer her to a delivery room around the time Meg arrived (Erin’s friend to take pics). We all trotted briskly (run is too strong a word but they were definitely in a hurry) to the delivery room on the other side of the hospital (it’s not a big hospital). We get there and were met (inside a room with the heater running on an 80 degree day) by the OB representative (yet another guy I don’t know) who looked at her and said she was at 10cm. I rushed to get the laptop up with the birth playlist and I barely finish when the nurses start with their fever pitch stuff. Everyone is racing at this point and the OB guy breaks her water. The nurses and the OB guy are chafing under our request list. The OB, who seems dumbfounded that we want minimal help and no drugs, says “Well I’m not going to let you bleed to death.”
Dr Bedside Manner he is not.
He leaves and the nurses announce that Erin is Strep B positive (news to us) and want to know if it’s OK to give antibiotics. They haven’t given Erin a hep-lock yet so they have to get that in while Erin (who is literally convulsing and screaming with contractions at this point) begins to crown. To give you an idea on the speed here, we left the house at 2:45 and it’s now about 3:45. I focus on getting her to breathe (which, unsurprisingly, she’s not doing) and the nurses, who now realize she’s crowning, abandon the IV and tell me to hit the call button. I’m no idiot (I do a lot of technical stuff at my job, after all) but I can’t find the call button anywhere. It’s on this remote thing on the back of a unit where I can’t see it. After a good 30 seconds of the nurse prompting me where to look, I find it.
Mr Bedside returns just as the top of Abby’s head is visible. He’s not supporting her but is giving her a local anesthetic to likely give Erin an episiotomy (something she requested not be done). They spread a plastic wrap thing (think a plastic blanket) to catch the water and blood and such and then Abby’s head pops out, with the cord around the neck. Bedside is now in urgent mode, clamping the cord and cutting it. He then grabs Abby (who is in perfect head-down position) and pulls with Erin’s contraction to get Abby out. There’s a massive gush of fluid and Abby is flipped on the table. She lets out what I can only describe as an “Ahhhh” sound (the sound you make after guzzling water after being parched). The nurses are then in panic because of the cord. They take her immediately to the table and wash her, thinking she’s in distress. Erin wigs, thinking they’re intibating Abby (they’re not but we can’t see that from where we are, see pic below) and one nurse announces “We need NICU in here NOW”.
I need to stop here and note I’m not panicked like I was with Samuel (who also came out with a wrapped cord) and I marvel that his nurses never panicked over him like Abby’s are with her. My reactions were opposite to what happened.
So what happened with the NICU? They never came. Never let it be said that God doesn’t walk through your trials with you because, the moment you start to doubt, He shows up, and often shows everyone else up. As soon as the words had left the nurse’s lips, Abby began to wail. I literally laughed as the nurse said “Maybe not.” Indeed.
Abby came at 3:52pm, about 1 hour after arriving at the hospital. I started calling the close relatives, who were, of course, as shocked as we all were.
Samuel and Ruthie are curious still. They aren’t sure what to make of this. But they have their moments of sweetness.
