Happy Halloween!

You know (or hope) there are kids living in the house when you walk in the room and find this:

Our Beautiful Baby

Happy Birthday Evan...I mean Jason!

Baby #5 Birth Story

Jason Matthew
7 lb. 6 oz.
20 in.
12:50ish PM

I say he was born at 12:50ish because he was nearly born in the car. It was a crazy experience, let me tell you! One that I would never wish upon anyone - EVER!!

I had a doctor appointment at 9:30 am. I was about 2-3cm with a soft cervix but no contractions. I went home depressed thinking that I was going to have to either be induced the following week or live with him inside me forever. Well, my first contraction surprisingly hit at 11:20 am while I was sulking, ignoring my children, and watching The View. I called David and told him he should probably come home, and then I went upstairs to file a nail. As he finished things up at work, my contractions started getting closer and more intense. I spent the next hour on my hands and knees to relieve the uncomfortable pressure I was feeling, while my mom tried to keep the children occupied and from getting freaked out by my moans. Emily kept asking, "What are you doing, Mommy?" I'm pretty sure my mom was a little freaked out she was going to have to deliver a baby, but she did a great job at keeping calm.

David finally made it home at about 12:30 PM. I was waiting outside ready with a trash bag to put on the car seat in case my water broke on the way. David's car was low on gas so we had to take the 12 passenger van. I miraculously got myself inside and we raced to the hospital. I was SO scared that the baby was going to come out in the car and I have never prayed so sincerely in my life! I prayed aloud and pleaded that we would be safe and watched over and that the baby would just stay snuggly inside me until we arrived to the hospital. All the while David cursed at the slow drivers.

My doctor's office was expecting me to go there first, but David called and told them that we were going straight to the emergency room. They tried to convince us to go to the office first, but we emphatically told them that we were going to the emergency room. They were unhappy with our bossiness, but told us they would have somebody waiting there for us. As we pulled up to the ER there was nobody there.

What the heck?!

I guess they didn't understand the urgency and thought we were some paranoid first time parents overreacting to normal labor pains. David ran inside and left me alone in the van. I loudly wailed in pain and banged on the ceiling of the van as I waited for help, while a hospital employee on his smoke break stared at the direction of our car in confusion. It seemed like forever, but finally David and the ER staff came with a stretcher. They looked up at me in the van, patted the vinyl padding of the stretcher like I was a puppy and told me to get on it. I simply yelled, "There is a baby coming out!" They blankly stared at me and after I realized they were not going to help me, I somehow managed to get myself out of the van and onto the stretcher hoping at least one of the staff members was good at catching. A mere seconds after I laid down I felt a gush of water and a head emerging out of my crotch.

I yelled again, "He's coming!"

At this point they had wheeled me approximately 10 feet inside the building and were trying to figure out in which ER room to put me. It was then that I felt an uncontrollable urge to push, and even though I was trying my absolute darndest not to push, nature took over and I felt a head pop out. Now keep in mind I was still fully clothed and thank goodness I was wearing my loose gaucho pants! A little freaked out by the situation, I yelled, "His head is out!"

They seemed to ignore my exclamation and they continued to wheel me to a room. Meanwhile David pulled my pants down as the stretcher was rolling (I'm thankful for a husband who thinks on his feet) and confirmed that there was a baby's head. So there in the hallway of the ER the male nurse, Jeff, proceeded to deliver the shoulders and little Jason was born!

Nobody knows the exact time he was born because it all happened so fast. And to my amazement, the ER is not very prepared to deliver babies. I think I realized this when my husband said to the male doctor, "Aren't you supposed to clamp the umbilical cord before cutting it?" Apparently there usually must be enough time to get the mother upstairs to the OB floor before a baby is born. Thankfully my doctor was at the hospital and came down as soon as he could. He too was shocked at my speedy bullet baby considering he had just examined me a few hours earlier. He at least got the pleasure of delivering the placenta.

It was quite a traumatizing experience but very comical when reflected upon. I also have such gratitude that my prayers were answered and everything went safely. I remember it seeming to take forever for Jason to begin crying. However, the entire time the nurse bounced his silent body in front of me so that I could see him, I could sense that there was life in him and that everything was going to be ok. It certainly is a good story for Jason's virtual baby book. David is going to do some reading on how to deliver babies before the next baby is born.