Well I guess four months is long enough for you to wait for Deuce’s arrival story. So here goes.
Katie was due to deliver on the 7th of Jan. On Dec. 30 at 6:30 AM she woke up feeling slight pain and having mild contractions. She got up and started moving around the house even though her contractions were 15 to 20 minutes apart. At 7:30 she woke me up saying the contractions were about 10 to 15 minutes apart. From our Lamaze classes I knew that with this amount of time between contractions that we had several hours before we needed to worry about rushing to the hospital. So I got up and began my daily routine like taking out the trash and making coffee.
At about 8 AM Katie said that she felt she needed to start getting ready just in case the contractions started coming faster so she got in the shower. I walked over to the glass door on the shower and could see her crouched down in pain holding herself up against the wall. I asked her if she was ok and she said that the contractions were way worse now that she was in the shower (I believe her water broke in the shower and she never knew it since we never did have the water breaking). She was in the shower for about 20 to 30 minutes. When she got out she told me that I needed to get dressed because we would be leaving as soon as she dried her hair and put her makeup on (such a prima donna). I jumped in the shower and took a 2 to 3 minute shower. When I got out Katie was kneeling next to our bed and holding her belly in pain. She told me that it hurt so badly and that we needed to call her parents to have them come get Claire. She said that she was not going to be able to sit long enough to put her makeup on. I still did not take her seriously and thought that she was just being dramatic but could see that she was definitely in a lot of pain. When the contractions got closer to 5 minutes apart I got dressed immediately while she called her parents. They said they start getting ready to come over. She told them to leave there house now or they could pick up Claire at the hospital. They left their house right then (they live 5 minutes away doing the speed limit). By now the contractions were between 5 to 7 minutes apart.
By the time I got dressed Katie was outside leaning against the car yelling explicatives at me and telling me to hurry up. Don’t think I have ever heard Katie say the things she was saying. Pretty funny now that I look back on it. But her pain was so strong that she was putting a lot of stress on me and I felt a little overwhelmed. Her parents weren’t there so we couldn’t leave just yet. I called them up and they said they were on the way and were about four minutes away. When I told Katie this she told me to leave Claire on the couch watching TV. In my panic I thought “leaving my 2 year old daughter home alone is a great idea”. I ran inside, sat Claire on the couch and turned her favorite channel on. I told her to stay there and watch TV and that her grandparents would be there in a few minutes. As I turned to walk out Claire yelled “Daddy! No!” I looked back and got a quick burst of sanity and realized that I cannot leave my two year old alone in the house even if it was for 2 or 3 minutes. So I grabbed Claire and ran to two of our neighbors houses. Both of them were not home. The entire time this is happening my wife is in major contractions pain and screaming words at me that I have never heard her use.
I took Claire back outside where her grandparents and Katie’s sister were pulling in. Katie’s sister jumped in the back seat and I hit 441 at about 80 MPH. Her contractions were at about three minutes apart and getting shorter. I called for one of my friends from the PD to escort us through the city. At least this way I would miss the traffic lights in Apopka. He said he would meet us at the airport and go the rest of the way. Katie was in major pain now and telling me that we weren’t going to make it. I called the Captain of the Fire Department and told him to have the closest fire station ready for us. He called me back and told me they were expecting us. Less than a minute later we pulled into the fire station. The ambulance and the crew were outside and they were pulling the stretcher out the back of the ambulance.
They assessed Katie and got her ready for transport to Winter Park (still a 30 minute drive +/- 10 minutes). Her sister jumped in our car and began to drive to the hospital so she could be there when we arrived. We were in the middle of morning rush hour traffic and were constantly stopping for idiots that don’t know how to get out of the way of an ambulance. Katie was so funny. The entire time en-route she had her legs crossed, as if that was going to keep Daniel from being born. The paramedic in the back with us is a friend of mine and was very kind even though he felt a little weird about having my wife back there with us. We had been driving for a little more than 30 minutes and Katie’s contractions were less than two minutes apart and 45 seconds long (in labor time that means the baby is ready to come out NOW). Katie was screaming and told the paramedic that she felt like pushing. He immediately began opening the OB kit and preparing for a child to be born in the back of his ambulance. He told me to get her pants off so I did. Within about 1 minute of me taking her pants off we were pulling into the hospital ER entrance.
We rushed Katie up to the labor and delivery ward. The nurse at the counter looked at me and asked who our doctor was. When I heard this I looked up to see who was asking me this and directly behind the nurse was our doctor who happened to be there for a scheduled C-section on a different patient. Dr. Grace looked at me when I told the nurse that it was Dr. Grace and the doctor did not recognize Katie. Normally Katie is calm, reserved and all dolled up with her make-up. Dr. Grace didn’t recognize her and thought I was there with another woman. You should have seen the look on her face. If she could have beaten me she would have.
They rushed us into a delivery room and Katie was begging for an epidural. The nurse looked at Katie and said, “Dear, we don’t have time for that. You are at 10 centimeters”. Within 4 minutes of Katie being taken off of the ambulance stretcher and placed on the labor and delivery bed Deuce was born. Katie pushed twice and out he came.
Couple of funny things that came out of the story. Katie’s sister had missed Claire’s birth and told Katie that she would be there for Daniel’s. She had arrived in town for Christmas and planned to stay until he was born. She arrived in the delivery room about 3 minutes after he was born. She walked into the room and saw him in the baby bed and thought the hospital had failed to take the old baby out of the room before putting Katie in it.
Three things a pregnant woman in labor does not want to hear while having contractions:
1. A cop standing outside of the ambulance saying, “Come on and push. I have my catcher’s mitt” (my buddy Tapscott).
2. The driver of the ambulance saying, “How do I get to that hospital”? (he was new and the fire department normally does not go to the hospital we were using).
3. The paramedic talking to the husband on the way to the hospital while the wife is in mid contraction, “So, do you all plan to have more”?
All three of these things happened to us that morning. Good times!!
Katie was due to deliver on the 7th of Jan. On Dec. 30 at 6:30 AM she woke up feeling slight pain and having mild contractions. She got up and started moving around the house even though her contractions were 15 to 20 minutes apart. At 7:30 she woke me up saying the contractions were about 10 to 15 minutes apart. From our Lamaze classes I knew that with this amount of time between contractions that we had several hours before we needed to worry about rushing to the hospital. So I got up and began my daily routine like taking out the trash and making coffee.
At about 8 AM Katie said that she felt she needed to start getting ready just in case the contractions started coming faster so she got in the shower. I walked over to the glass door on the shower and could see her crouched down in pain holding herself up against the wall. I asked her if she was ok and she said that the contractions were way worse now that she was in the shower (I believe her water broke in the shower and she never knew it since we never did have the water breaking). She was in the shower for about 20 to 30 minutes. When she got out she told me that I needed to get dressed because we would be leaving as soon as she dried her hair and put her makeup on (such a prima donna). I jumped in the shower and took a 2 to 3 minute shower. When I got out Katie was kneeling next to our bed and holding her belly in pain. She told me that it hurt so badly and that we needed to call her parents to have them come get Claire. She said that she was not going to be able to sit long enough to put her makeup on. I still did not take her seriously and thought that she was just being dramatic but could see that she was definitely in a lot of pain. When the contractions got closer to 5 minutes apart I got dressed immediately while she called her parents. They said they start getting ready to come over. She told them to leave there house now or they could pick up Claire at the hospital. They left their house right then (they live 5 minutes away doing the speed limit). By now the contractions were between 5 to 7 minutes apart.
By the time I got dressed Katie was outside leaning against the car yelling explicatives at me and telling me to hurry up. Don’t think I have ever heard Katie say the things she was saying. Pretty funny now that I look back on it. But her pain was so strong that she was putting a lot of stress on me and I felt a little overwhelmed. Her parents weren’t there so we couldn’t leave just yet. I called them up and they said they were on the way and were about four minutes away. When I told Katie this she told me to leave Claire on the couch watching TV. In my panic I thought “leaving my 2 year old daughter home alone is a great idea”. I ran inside, sat Claire on the couch and turned her favorite channel on. I told her to stay there and watch TV and that her grandparents would be there in a few minutes. As I turned to walk out Claire yelled “Daddy! No!” I looked back and got a quick burst of sanity and realized that I cannot leave my two year old alone in the house even if it was for 2 or 3 minutes. So I grabbed Claire and ran to two of our neighbors houses. Both of them were not home. The entire time this is happening my wife is in major contractions pain and screaming words at me that I have never heard her use.
I took Claire back outside where her grandparents and Katie’s sister were pulling in. Katie’s sister jumped in the back seat and I hit 441 at about 80 MPH. Her contractions were at about three minutes apart and getting shorter. I called for one of my friends from the PD to escort us through the city. At least this way I would miss the traffic lights in Apopka. He said he would meet us at the airport and go the rest of the way. Katie was in major pain now and telling me that we weren’t going to make it. I called the Captain of the Fire Department and told him to have the closest fire station ready for us. He called me back and told me they were expecting us. Less than a minute later we pulled into the fire station. The ambulance and the crew were outside and they were pulling the stretcher out the back of the ambulance.
They assessed Katie and got her ready for transport to Winter Park (still a 30 minute drive +/- 10 minutes). Her sister jumped in our car and began to drive to the hospital so she could be there when we arrived. We were in the middle of morning rush hour traffic and were constantly stopping for idiots that don’t know how to get out of the way of an ambulance. Katie was so funny. The entire time en-route she had her legs crossed, as if that was going to keep Daniel from being born. The paramedic in the back with us is a friend of mine and was very kind even though he felt a little weird about having my wife back there with us. We had been driving for a little more than 30 minutes and Katie’s contractions were less than two minutes apart and 45 seconds long (in labor time that means the baby is ready to come out NOW). Katie was screaming and told the paramedic that she felt like pushing. He immediately began opening the OB kit and preparing for a child to be born in the back of his ambulance. He told me to get her pants off so I did. Within about 1 minute of me taking her pants off we were pulling into the hospital ER entrance.
We rushed Katie up to the labor and delivery ward. The nurse at the counter looked at me and asked who our doctor was. When I heard this I looked up to see who was asking me this and directly behind the nurse was our doctor who happened to be there for a scheduled C-section on a different patient. Dr. Grace looked at me when I told the nurse that it was Dr. Grace and the doctor did not recognize Katie. Normally Katie is calm, reserved and all dolled up with her make-up. Dr. Grace didn’t recognize her and thought I was there with another woman. You should have seen the look on her face. If she could have beaten me she would have.
They rushed us into a delivery room and Katie was begging for an epidural. The nurse looked at Katie and said, “Dear, we don’t have time for that. You are at 10 centimeters”. Within 4 minutes of Katie being taken off of the ambulance stretcher and placed on the labor and delivery bed Deuce was born. Katie pushed twice and out he came.
Couple of funny things that came out of the story. Katie’s sister had missed Claire’s birth and told Katie that she would be there for Daniel’s. She had arrived in town for Christmas and planned to stay until he was born. She arrived in the delivery room about 3 minutes after he was born. She walked into the room and saw him in the baby bed and thought the hospital had failed to take the old baby out of the room before putting Katie in it.
Three things a pregnant woman in labor does not want to hear while having contractions:
1. A cop standing outside of the ambulance saying, “Come on and push. I have my catcher’s mitt” (my buddy Tapscott).
2. The driver of the ambulance saying, “How do I get to that hospital”? (he was new and the fire department normally does not go to the hospital we were using).
3. The paramedic talking to the husband on the way to the hospital while the wife is in mid contraction, “So, do you all plan to have more”?
All three of these things happened to us that morning. Good times!!
