Schroeder's Urgent Entry

Yesterday (Thursday 3/26/09) afternoon at 3:30 we had my "membranes stripped" which with Julian caused me to go into labor within five hours. After our appointment, We went to the park with the kids, had dinner, went to Community Group, and went home to sleep. I slept pretty well all night. I was having a short, easy contraction maybe every thirty minutes.

At 4:48am (Friday 3/27/09), I heard and felt a POP! I told Stephen to grab a towel and, in the meantime, I kept my hips high as to not get water all over the bed. We called the midwife who told us to time contractions and call her back when they were 5 minutes apart and 60 seconds long.

I stayed in bed for about 20 minutes and the contractions were getting too strong to stay laying down. I moved to the bathroom. Stephen brought me the computer already set up to a online contraction timer. He then proceeded to put our things in the car and get the kids out of bed and in their car seats.

By 5:30, my contractions were 2 minutes apart and over 60 seconds long. Stephen came to get me and help me to the car. We got to the kitchen, and I said, "I need to push! I'm not going to make it!" We called the midwife and told her to come to our home and not the birth center. She told me to get back in bed and lay on my left side. I told Stephen to ask her if I had to...I knew it was going to be painful to lay down and not push.

So, it's 5:45, the kids are in the car, I'm on the bed trying not to push, and Stephen is trying to figure out what to do. He kept trying to go get Julian out of the car, but I wouldn't let him go. D'arcy got herself out of the car because she needed to go the bathroom. She walks into our bathroom and discovers a bag with a blueberry muffin that Stephen had brought in for me to eat a few minutes before. She walks out of the bathroom and casually asks, "Dad, may I eat the muffin?" At the same moment, I'm yelling that I HAVE to PUSH! She was totally unphased.

Stephen called the midwife and put her on speaker phone. The midwife tells him to check for the head, and tells him to pull the baby out and put it on my chest if it happens to come out before she gets there. He, in my opinion, very calmly says, "OK."

At 6:00 am, the midwife pulls up, parks her car on the curb, runs into our room, and tells Stephen she can see the head. Now that the midwife is here, Stephen once again tried to go get our 2 year old from the car outside, but I yell for him to come back. I give a couple of pushes through one contraction, and at 6:04am duren SCHROEDER vonnegut williams was born.

Whew...that was a CRAZY hour and fifteen minutes, but he is here and I'm sure glad to be on the other side.