She had the baby in the car!

Here she is!

It's been difficult to find the time to post anything on my blog since the baby was born, but here I am (finally) blogging the story for all of you out there who haven't heard it yet. I also have to admit that I told it a lot the first few weeks, and I needed a little break before I told it again here. This story is definitely in the "Never thought it would happen to me" category as far as life experiences go, but (as everyone tells me) it is a pretty good story for Kate to tell when she gets older. Here we go. I'll start at the beginning.

Before you continue I'd like to add a little disclaimer that this is a birth story and may be long, boring, and a little too much information for some, so consider yourself warned.

It was a normal Sunday and went by pretty much as the Sunday before. Get up, breakfast, church, lunch, naptime for the boys, etc... I was 5 days overdue and commented to Caleb that I was starting to believe that this baby would never be born and I would, in fact, be pregnant forever. He agreed with me. We were all feeling the "overdueness" and I'm sure his comment might have had something to do with how my feeling miserable was affecting our family dynamics. If mama ain't happy, you know... :) I had had Braxton-Hicks contractions for the whole last month of my pregnancy and even started timing them on 3 different evenings before they faded away and we went to bed a little disappointed.

We went for a walk with the boys to get some family time, but also to see if it would get labor started. I wasn't feeling very optimistic. Actually, I was kind of grumpy (sorry Caleb) since it was pretty warm outside. We came home, made dinner, put the boys to bed. Normal, normal, normal.

I had been having some contractions, but that was common in the evenings at this point, so I went to lay down and Caleb did the dishes (I know, he's awesome). Pretty soon after this I told Caleb I was having some contractions and maybe we should time them. This baby had to come out sooner or later (and this was on the later side), but I don't think either of us was very optimistic. So, I was resting, we were timing, and I even called my mother and said she could come over and hang out at our house with the disclaimer that we weren't sure if this was the real thing. She said she would eat dinner and come right over. Everyone was feeling pretty laid back.

Caleb and I had taken some "natural" childbirth classes because I wanted to go without an epidural this time (Funny, huh?), so I've read all these books and I'm planning on sticking this out for the hours and hours it takes most people to have a baby. It took me 5-6 hours for both of the boys, so I'm thinking this is the very beginning of a long-term process. I took a shower to relax and if (I was still thinking "if" at this point) this was really labor I might not get the chance to shower anytime soon. Well, after a few stronger contractions, Caleb called my mom and relayed the message that she should not wait to eat dinner and she should come over right away.

This is the point where things started to get painful, my memory starts to get a little blurry, and I started saying ridiculous things like "I don't want to have a baby anymore." I remember Caleb calling the doctor and saying we would be coming in sometime within the hour. By the time my mom arrived (she did not wait to eat dinner), contractions were coming pretty strong and I told Caleb we need to leave NOW. While my mom helped me down the stairs (we live on the 3rd floor of an apartment building), Caleb ran things up and down to the car. Literally ran. He told me later that he felt an impression like he should "run like the wind." So he did, or as nearly as you can while going up and down the stairs...

My mom and I stopped a lot on the way to the car. We took my mom's little Civic, since our van had the car seats and she would need them in the morning to take the boys back to her house. I sat in the front seat and was anxious to get to the hospital because I had pretty much decided I would take whatever drug they would give me when I got there. So much for natural childbirth, I thought. The hospital is close to our house (about 10-15 minutes), and we took the interstate to avoid traffic lights. The contractions were coming hard and Caleb was rubbing my back with one hand and driving with the other. He stayed pretty calm through the whole thing, but not so calm that he didn't feel the urgency to pass other cars and get there as quickly as possible. I don't know how fast he was going, but I remember thinking we couldn't get there fast enough.

About the time when the hospital came into view, my water broke all over my mom's front seat. I was worried about her being mad and kicked myself for not having a towel or something to sit on, but only briefly. With the next contraction I started feeling pressure and told Caleb so. He said "Don't push! We're almost there! We can see the hospital." I still thought we had enough time. I mean, we could already see the hospital, but that changed quickly.

With the next contraction I told him to pull over because the baby is coming NOW! I went into auto-pilot a little and told him something to the effect that I thought I should take my pants off. He said "Do what you need to do." I told him to pull over, but he couldn't at this point because of the guard-rail on the exit ramp. Then I had another contraction and out came the baby. In the car. On the seat. On the exit ramp. Caleb said he didn't believe me until he heard the baby cry. He said it was a weird feeling knowing that 2 people got in the car and here was a new person. I was kind of in shock, and then he told me to pick up the baby off the seat so she didn't fall on the floor. That snapped me out of it and I picked her up and held her against my chest.

So, we pull up to the emergency room seriously, like a minute later. I'm feeling a lot better now. Caleb jumps out of the car and pulls the pillowcase off his pillow in the back seat to cover the baby (still attached) so she won't get too cold. He runs into the hospital and says, "She had the baby in the car!" The nurses came out with a gurney and I remember them helping me get my shoes and pants all the way off and holding up some sheets (for privacy) as I got out of the car. I remember eyeing the woman staring at me as she walked by into the hospital, and then climbing up on the gurney (baby still attached). People were watching me as they wheeled me through the emergency room and saying "congratulations" and things like that. I was feeling pretty embarrassed. They took me upstairs to Labor and Delivery to deliver the placenta and wait for the doctor to arrive. I guess the rest is history and I am now the lady who had a baby in the car.

Katherine (or Baby Kate as we like to call her) was born at 9:21pm. We starting timing contractions at about 7pm, so it was a little over 2 hours from start to finish with about 30 minutes of hard labor. Obviously a little faster than we had expected. With the boys my labor took about 5-6 hours, but apparently things can move a lot faster with the more children you have. I don't feel like we dawdled this time, but next time (if there is a next time) we will probably have a lot of false alarms instead of risking something like that happening again. Don't want to do that twice. We were really lucky because Kate is healthy and I am healthy and we are very thankful for that. (Also, since people have asked and you may be wondering too, yes the doctor still charged us. Another fun fact, on her birth certificate her birth place is listed as "vehicle". Didn't know they did that.)

But that is our story. A fun one to tell, since most people I run into have heard it (or some version) before we even had a chance to tell it. Maybe I included a little too much information, but I tried to edit the more graphic details. If you really are curious to know more, you'll have to call or email me.

Kate and I about an hour after delivery. Sorry it's blurry, but it's almost the only one I could find with me in it.

Proud Papa in the hospital.

Baby Kate on the way home from the hospital.

This is the first time the boys met Kate. They were very, very, very excited.

"The" Car. Caleb did a good job of cleaning the seat. Not a spot.

Sleeping baby girl.

Sweet, sweet Baby Kate! She's a very alert baby (when she's awake). :)

In the swing while I'm making dinner. She has some "offerings" from Brucie in case she gets bored. :) Sorry its sideways, but I'm too lazy to reload it...

Baby Kate w/ Daddy at about a month old.

Some Memorial Day fun at Grandma's house with Bruce and Cowboy Clark wearing Grandpa's hat.