Christy's Birth

So once upon a time I had a baby in a hospital elevator and here is how...

Monday Night, December 19th

Jeff was out of town job interviewing in Arizona so I told my friend Mallory I could watch her daughter Marlo while her and her husband went to a Denver Nuggets basketball game. Marlo and Tyler get along great so it was actually going to help me out. Around 8:30 PM, in hopes of helping the two settle down, I put on a movie. They were pretty into it so I decided to use the free time to call my mom. We chatted for a while and around 10:00 PM I started to not feel good. I thought the pain was due to my varicose veins or that the doctor had checked me earlier that day. I went to the bathroom a few times thinking that would help me feel better, but it didn't so eventually I hung up with my mom. A few minutes after I hung up, Mallory and Nephi arrived to pick up Marlo. I wanted to ask them to take my 38 week pregnancy picture but decided not to because I didn't want to look dumb. We chatted for a bit and around 10:30 they left to go home. I still wasn't feeling great; I put Tyler down to bed and followed shortly after myself.  

Throughout the night I had pretty bad cramping and tightening of my abdomen. I woke up about every hour but was able to make myself go back to sleep after waking up each time. I did think the pain was odd but again, attributed it to either the varicose veins or pain from being checked earlier that day by my doctor.  I thought about calling my father in law, but I didn’t want to bother him, so I didn’t. I made it through the night but was very tired and still in moderate pain when Tyler woke up at 7 the next morning.

Side note: When I saw my doctor earlier that day she said I wasn't dilated at all so there was no way the baby was coming that week (when Jeff would be out of town). She said I wouldn't deliver sooner than December 26th and had me schedule my 39 week appointment for that day. I was happy to hear this because I wanted Christy to have a January birthday, January 7th to be exact. I thought a birthday of 1/7/17 would be cool (my doctor wasn’t a fan of that plan). I told Jeff and my family what the doctor said and was prepared to hold out till January.   

Tuesday Morning, December 20th

With the long night I had had, I wasn't ready to start the day when Tyler came in at 7:00 AM. I put on the TV for Tyler to watch a "kids show" and tried to go back to sleep for a little bit. The pain was too much for me to be able to sleep through, so I called Jeff. I told him how the night went and said I might call the doctor. He said I should call. Again, I was tempted to call his dad but felt like I had already bugged him a ton the day before about my varicose vein pain, so I didn't call him. I began to eat a bowl of cereal, but the pain stopped me from doing so. I decided to call the on-call doctor at the hospital.

A few minutes before 8:00 AM I was able to get a hold of the on-call doctor. I told her I wasn't really sure what contractions felt like but that this pain was pretty bad. She said that if the pain got to be 3-5 minutes apart and last for 45 seconds, then I should go in. She said that if I was in labor, the pain would be so bad that I wouldn't be able to talk through it (obviously, she underestimated my ability and love to talk). She told me to go lay down on the bed for an hour and record when and how long my pain was for. She also told me to call my doctor's office at 8:45 AM when it opened. I agreed to follow her instructions and hung up the phone. I went and got a piece of paper, pen, and laid down in order to record my pain pattern.

Pretty quickly after I got off the phone I felt my first pain (aka contraction). It did not last very long, certainly not 45 seconds, but was shortly followed by two other contractions, all three minutes apart. The pain was starting to get bad. I remember writing the first three contractions down and thinking, "Man, I have another 51 more minutes of this to go! That is going to suck!" While I laid in bed recording the contractions, Tyler called for me to come change the TV show he was watching because he wanted a different one. I told him my tummy hurt and that I couldn't come. A few minutes later he came to my bed with a fruit by the foot and asked if he could have it. Normally I would have said no, but I just wanted to be left alone so I gave it to him. He came a few more times, each with a different treat and I willingly obliged. 

After about 10-15 minutes later I decided to see if a shower would help the pain. I turned the water on and waited for it to get hot. While I was waiting, I texted my Aunt Julee and told her that I might need her and my cousins to come to my house. They lived about 45 minutes away from me. It was winter break for them so I thought my cousins could stay at home with Tyler if my aunt needed to take me in. Julee asked if she should just come but I told her I didn't think so and got into the shower.

As I was in the shower, the pain continued to increase and the contractions began to last longer. I tried to keep track of my contractions mentally while in the shower so I could write them down but didn't do so great.  I got out of the shower and texted my aunt and said I had changed my mind and wanted her to come. She said she and my cousins would come immediately. I noticed that by then I was starting to sweat. I also began to scream and go up on my toes with each contraction. Tyler was pretty concerned at my screaming; I told him the baby was hurting my tummy and for him to go and watch TV.

By this time it was 8:45 AM and I was finally able to call my doctor's office. I called her and told her what was going on. As I was telling her, a contraction came on and I began to scream. She said that it sounded like I was in labor and to head to the hospital. While I was on the phone with my doctor, my Aunt Julee called but I did not pick up. After I hung up with my doctor I got in contact with my aunt and she asked if I wanted her to have my Uncle Bryan, who worked about ten minutes away from my house, to come. I told her no, that I could wait for her to get there. It only took a few more minutes for me to change my mind again and asked her to send him. She said she would and I began to pack my hospital bag. Well, I attempted to. The pain was too great and I wasn't able to really get much packed.

My uncle arrived shortly. I had been screaming on and off all while waiting for him. I should clarify, when I say screaming it wasn't like angry maniac screaming (although others may say differently), it was like "Ahhh" and having my voice get higher and lower, louder and softer as each contraction came and went. By the time my uncle got there, I was in pretty bad shape. I told him where Tyler's car seat was and he went and put it in his truck. When he came back in for me I was unsuccessfully still trying to pack my hospital bag. He told me not to worry about the bag that he could come back for anything I needed. He said he just wanted me to get to the hospital. I agreed and we began to walk to his car.  

As we were walking through our complex courtyard I couldn't help but scream as each contraction came. I knew mentally that screaming was ridiculous, but I couldn't stop. All I can say is that it was an out of body experience and I definitely had no control.  When we were walking out to the car I just stopped in the courtyard and screamed, two construction workers walked by and kindly pretended not to notice me screaming. As I stood there, I could not get myself to go any further to the car. I could see my uncle’s car, but I couldn’t mentally get myself to go in it. I can’t explain it, I just couldn’t. My uncle offered to physically carry me pick and put me in his car, but I didn’t want that. I just couldn’t let him carry me. And then I was worried about if my water would break in his brand new truck. So, even though we were almost to his car, I said, “House!” He said, “You forgot something in the house?” I said, “No. House. I need to go back in.” Again, he offered to carry me to his car, but I said no. And so, even though we were closer to his car than my house, we turned around to walk back to my house. 

While we were walking back to the house, I had to stop a few more times to scream during my contractions.  After a few minutes of me standing in the courtyard screaming, my good friend and neighbor Lou came out of his house. He seemed confused and worried as he looked around to see what all the commotion was about. When he saw me standing there with my uncle, his eyes got big and he ran over to us. He said, “You’re not going to make me delivery another baby are you?” He and his wife had done an at home birth years ago when his daughter was born. I said no and he and my uncle helped walk me back into my house. Even though I did not want an at home birth, I geared myself up for one. I thought, “Ok, this is just how it is going to be” and was mentally preparing myself for it. When we were almost to my front door my uncle asked if I wanted him to call 911. I said yes. I thought, “What a great idea! I didn’t even think of that. How great is it that people can come help in an emergency?” We got into the house and Lou helped me get into my bed. He took my boots off. I took my pants off, laid down on the bed, and had him cover me with my bath robe. I was ready to give birth in the bed (or so I thought). 

During the time Lou was helping me get on the bed, my uncle was taking Tyler in the house and on the phone with 911. He was answering a bunch of questions from the 911 dispatcher and had to check to make sure my water hadn’t broken yet. It hadn’t. I tried to lay on my side with my legs closed, in hopes that that would relieve some of the pain. It didn’t. The agent told my uncle to get four clean towels. My uncle asked where the towels would be and I told him that I didn’t have that many because I had packed them up months prior. I only had one towel per person and all of them had been used. Lou ran over to his house real quick to get towels. While he was away my water broke. It felt like a little water balloon being popped. It was kind of a funny feeling. By the time Lou came back, the paramedics had arrived. There was about five or six of the paramedics, which surprised me; I didn’t think there would be that many.  

The paramedics came and told me that they were going to get me to the hospital to have the baby there. I told them no, that I did not want to leave my bed. I did not want to get up. Again, I knew mentally that didn’t make sense, but the thought of leaving my bed was just unbearable. I asked Lou to call Jeff to let him know what was going on. I gave Lou Jeff’s number in between contractions. Jeff did not answer so Lou left him a message. Later on Jeff told me that he couldn’t understand the message because I was screaming so loud in the background. After what seemed forever, but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, I finally allowed the paramedics to put me on a gurney to be wheeled out to the ambulance. They had been asking me questions, to make sure I was mentally stable, I am sure, but I wasn’t cooperating. I would barely answer them. The paramedics asked me where I was supposed to deliver and I told them “Aurora South”. I now know that was not the proper name of the hospital, but it was the closest hospital so they probably would have taken me there anyways. When we were just about to get into the back of the ambulance a female paramedic asked the lead paramedic if he wanted a female in the back with them (legal reasons I am sure). He asked if she had ever delivered a baby before and she said no. He said then no, he needed the other paramedics who were more familiar with childbirth to be in the back with me. That made me a bit worried but with that, we were off! 

Immediately after getting into the ambulance the head paramedic put oxygen on my face and continued to ask me a bunch of questions. He asked me how long my first labor was. I told him 26 hours. He said, “Oh good, then we have plenty of time.” He also told me to not to scream, that although that is what felt natural to do, that it was best to pant like a dog. I tried panting but ended up more like spitting so I went back to screaming. He also told me how his wife was due with their first child in a few days so he would be doing the same thing with her. He had also delivered babies before. That made me feel good.  While driving to the hospital, they were timing my contractions and I think they were around two minutes apart. Other than me screaming, nothing eventful occurred while in the ambulance and within a few minutes, we were at the hospital ambulance entrance. The paramedic said we were there and jokingly asked if I still wanted the epidural I had been constantly asking about since they first arrived at my house. I knew it was too late for one, but I kept asking for one anyways. Every time I asked for one, they said not yet, but that I could get one at the hospital. I said I wanted one in my head. He asked, “Why, does your head hurt?” I said, “No, I just don’t want to be present.”    

Never appreciated the ambulance entry till now.

I briefly saw outside and was rushed quickly to the hospital elevator because labor and delivery was on the second floor. When we were in the elevator the paramedic said they were missing some kind of kit that was not on the gurney. That made me worried. I thought, “What kit? We NEED that kit!” We got to the second floor and as we were waiting for the door to open I said, “Baby!” He said, “I know, we’re here.” I said, “No! Baby coming!” I pushed and immediately felt a huge physical relief as part of Christy came out. Then the elevator opened up and they started to roll me but stopped so I could push, and with that, she was all the way out. 

They wheeled me into the delivery room and put Christy under my shirt and on my chest for skin to skin and to keep her warm while we waited for my doctor to come cut the umbilical cord. To be honest, I didn’t really want her on my chest. Having her body weight removed from me for a few seconds was nice. But I wasn’t about to say that. So we waited. Quickly after Christy was placed on my chest my aunt Julee came rushing through the door. She saw Christy on me and said, “You already had her?!” My aunt had gone to the wrong hospital or she would have been there for the delivery. I felt bad for that. The nurses had a bunch of pre delivery paperwork for me to fill out and I willingly obliged. They asked me what time Christy was born at. I looked at the clock and it said 10:17. I figured it took them a minute or two to get me to the bed so I told them 10:15.  

I asked the paramedics to take a picture and text it to me. This is the picture they took. Not gonna lie, I knew the whole birth thing wore me out but I wasn't expecting to look this bad!

After waiting for a decent while, my doctor showed up. I still don’t’ know what took her so long since her practice was just across the street from the hospital. When she came I said, “And you’re getting paid for this?!” She didn’t really acknowledge that and asked if I wanted to cut the umbilical cord. I told her no. She said that not all women get it and it could be neat. I told her no. It was this thick spaghetti looking thing and I was not wanting to mess with it. I mean, might as well make her get paid for doing something, right? ;) After cutting the cord, she sewed me up and was gone.

After Christy and me were all checked out and cleaned up Tyler, Shelby, Trista, and Uncle Bryan were all able to come up and see us. They lied about Trista’s age because she wasn’t quite 14 yet. When Tyler saw Christy, he did not want anything to do with her. He didn’t want to see her. I think he was probably traumatized from the whole morning. Eventually I was able to bribe him to take a picture by giving him my cinnamon roll the kitchen had brought up as part of my breakfast. After a short visit with them they took Tyler back to their house and my aunt Julee waited with me till Jeff could get there.

This was the best we could do.

Eating his reward.

Jeff’s flight was scheduled to get in at 3:30 that afternoon, which is pretty impressive. When Jeff got the call from Lou earlier that morning that I was in labor, he was actually in between office visits for a job interview. He was supposed to be following a manager from one office to the other but stopped following her and started heading toward the airport. He called his parents and they booked him a flight to Colorado. Eventually Jeff was able to get ahold of the manager and tell her why he didn’t follow her to the second office. They understood, and the rest of the interview was put on hold. I felt bad for him though because he had just drived 12 hours on Sunday to get to Arizona and now, he was having to fly home only to fly back later on and drive his car back 12 hours to get home to Colorado.

Jeff arrived at the hospital and my Aunt Julee went home. Jeff was excited to meet Christy. He was also very disappointed that he missed her birth and I felt bad for that. It didn’t take long for her to wrap him around her fingers though! 

Meeting Daddy

He spent the night at the hospital but went home the next day to shower. That, and pack me a hospital bag. Haha. I asked him to bring a pair of pants and shoes because when I was switching from the delivery room to the recovery room, I realized I didn’t have either. I also told him which outfit to bring for Christy and a specific headband. When he did get home and grabbed Christy’s things it took a few minutes on the phone to teach him the difference between a bow, headband, and flower. 

Right outfit and right headband. Way to go dad.

I love the bowed beanies!

After two days it was time for us to go home. Jeff went and picked up Tyler from the Willis’s and brought him to the hospital to see Christy again. This time Tyler was eager to see her and wanted to feed her a bottle. We made it home safely and were eager to enjoy the rest of Christmas break with a new baby and time off for Jeff. 

Tyler enjoyed his time with the Willises

Second visit went much better. After awhile he started singing "Shake Your Booty" to her so there is hope. 

 

Trying to find a bottle to feed her.

Make yourself at home why don't you?

Side notes: Anytime a nurse came in to help me out she would said, “Oh, so you’re the one who had the baby in the elevator?!” I guess I was famous. Or infamous. You can decide.  

Later on, Lou told me when he first saw me screaming in the courtyard of our complex that he thought I had lost the baby but then he saw my belly and knew she was still in there.

He also said he didn’t want to tell me but when he was helping me in labor, he could see Christy’s head. I told him it was a good thing he didn’t tell me that or I would have freaked out.

 And so folks, that is how I ended up having a baby in the elevator! True story.