From my perspective…. (I didn't proof read this. My computer hasn't been connecting to the internet so while I'm connected, I am trying to post this fast!)
Sunday, October 24, 2010.
I had an emotional morning, which set us back in getting to church on time. We arrived at church at 11:23 am, when it had started at 11am. Anyway, I was having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions, “false labor”, just some cramping with no pain, not consistent in timing. Around 12noon, I went to the bathroom and decided to stay in the lobby for a few minutes. I timed the contractions and they weren’t consistent, lasting only about 30 seconds long and coming either 3 minutes or 5 minutes apart… not that close together. And, again, they didn’t hurt. So, about 12:30, Steve had ended preaching and I wasn’t feeling that great. We told the Kalapala’s, who were to come over for lunch, we’d need to rain check and we snuck out before everything was officially done.
On the way home, I told David the contractions felt like period cramps… that “kind” of hurt. I assumed that real labor contractions were going to hurt more. We arrived home and had lasagna for lunch. My contractions were starting to be a bit more painful, but I thought if I was really in labor, it was going to last about 12 hours. I had to be intentional about relaxing through each one. I didn’t think to time them yet because they didn’t seem to last that long to me or come that frequently. David began to do stuff on his computer and I went to put a couple more things in the hospital bag, just in case this was the “real thing.”
After a few minutes, I needed to sit down… so I found a comfy spot on the couch to just rest and zone out. I was able to concentrate on the contractions and they got more painful. It seemed like I was only sitting down for 10 minutes, why I didn’t time the contractions or ask David to, I don’t know! He suggested I walk around a bit, so I got up to do so. I was totally sweating and hot so the layers were shedding. He then suggested that we put pressure on my knees, so I got on the floor and he squeezed my hips.
Ok, so now, I had painful contractions, I was hot & sweaty, I had tried sitting, standing, walking, kneeling, and I wanted to go to the hospital for pain medicine. By now, I was screaming through the contractions. If I was going to be going through these painful contractions for another 12 hours, I wanted drugs. David said, “Ok, we will go to the hospital. Put your pants back on.” I also felt like I had to go to the bathroom. In my mind I couldn’t make it to the bedroom to get my pants on… mostly because I thought I was going to have a bowel movement before I got there. David was running around finishing the hospital bag in between my screams and calls for him to come squeeze my hips.
I was leaning on an ottoman when a painful contraction came, and I felt like I had to have a bowel movement. I pushed, what I thought was going to be diarrhea, and my water broke. (I felt like I was losing a gallon of water and David said it was like a ½ cup.)
Now I knew I wanted to go to the hospital but I had to try going to the bathroom first. I made it to the bathroom and realized my contractions seemed a little further a part and were less painful. Each time one would come, I did feel like I needed to push… but in my mind, I was feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom too! After a few minutes, David came into the bathroom to check on me. We realized there wasn’t any poop in the toilet, but there was blood.
He wanted to check to see if he could see the baby. I didn’t think he would see anything. He didn’t expect to see anything either. He had me get on the ground and lean against the tub. He got me a couple pillows, and then he went to check me out. I remember he said, “I can see the head.” I was so surprised!
Our midwife was out of town down in St. George that weekend. We knew that if we called her office, it’d take time for the midwife on call to get back to us and we didn’t have time. David decided to call our Bradley teacher for some advice… he asked if she thought we could make it to the hospital or not. The answer: no.
I had a couple of contractions while the phone call was happening. He got off the phone with Adrianna and called 911 right away. The dispatcher talked him through my contractions. All my urges to push were involuntary. I believe I had 4 contractions total on the bathroom floor. His head came a little bit, then I was crowning, then his whole head was out. At that point, David told me to push again to get his body out. I didn’t know how to push on my own but I tried and his body shot out. He was covered in blood! I was in shock… “Holy crap, there’s our baby!”
David grabbed a towel off the towel rack and put the baby on my chest. He cried a little and just lay there breathing. We could have been more vigorous in drying him off but didn’t think of it at the time. The dispatcher told David to tie a string around the cord… he cut his shoelace, but didn’t tighten it around the cord because we wanted it to stop pulsating first. Little David Ernest Clinton IV was born at 3:17pm on Sunday, October 24, 2010. (911 call lasted 9 minutes total)
Within minutes, the paramedics knocked at the door. Six big guys walked towards the bathroom. Only 2 fit in there with me, but it felt like all 6 were trying to come in. They clamped the cord, David cut it, and they took the baby into the dining room (David went with him). They checked each of our vitals, had me get up and walk to the stretcher in kitchen. I got on the stretcher and they carried me down the 3 flights of stairs to the ambulance. The baby & I rode in the ambulance, they tried to get him to breastfeed but I didn’t know what I was doing…. And neither did the 4 guys in the ambulance with me!
We got to St Marks, and David pulled into the parking lot just as we did. They rolled me & the baby into the labor & delivery room. They weighed & measured little baby David right there. At the same time, the midwife on call from my midwife’s office, checked me out. I delivered the afterbirth and she said I had 1 little tear to stitch. They had to take baby David up to the nursery because hid temperature had dropped to 94 point something and they needed to warm him up. David went to the nursery with little David and I didn’t get to see them for another 2 hours. When his temp was back up, and I was moved into a recovery room, my boys rolled in and we got to spend some quality time together.
Oh man, it was quite the afternoon! I had no idea that my little baby David would come 10 days “early” and come so quickly. J We thank God for our little boy and that He kept us safe during the labor, delivery, recovery, and now raising the little guy.
