Our friend and neighbor Jon called me at 7:07 and asked me if I was around. I said, "I'm just around the corner at Dana and Ryan's, do you need me?" He said yes and that Tracy was in labor. I told him just to drop off Gracie (their 2-year-old), thinking that Tracy had just started some minor contractions. He then asked me if I could come to their house instead. I pulled up to their house at 7:08, got out of the car and heard Tracy screaming inside the house. I picked up the speed and Gracie opened the door for me. Tracy was on her hands and knees crying and screaming through a contraction. I took Gracie in the living room and asked her to watch TV for me. Jon then came downstairs and asked me to gather a few things for them to take to the hospital. I started looking for things when another contraction hit Tracy. I told Jon I would bring anything they needed to the hospital later and told them to go ahead and go. Jon was able to get Tracy in the garage but not into the car. Tracy yelled that she had to have something and to call 911. I had called 911 a few minutes before but we decided that it would take just as long for the ambulance to make it to the house as it would to drive to the hospital so I hung up. This 2nd call we would definitely not hang up. Gracie came to the garage and started asking what was wrong with her mommy. I guided her back to the living room and told her that mommy was having a baby and her tummy was hurting her. The 911 dispatcher answers and immediately starts asking me questions. How far apart are the contractions, are there any health concerns, has the water broken, how far along is she..... Tracy starts to have another contraction and screams. This time the 911 dispatcher hears her and immediately says, "You need to get her on her back with a blanket under her right now!" Jon starts trying to bring her inside. In the meantime I go and check to make sure Gracie is still watching her movie. She is the best child ever! Jon gets Tracy inside and on her back and the dispatcher tells me that we need to remove clothing from the waist down. I almost asked "Why, you don't want her to walk to the ambulance like that?!" It then hit me "Oh my gosh a baby is coming RIGHT NOW!" He tells me to get some clean towels for when the baby comes, so I have Gracie help me grab some towels. I know the dispatcher is thinking that he is talking to someone with a splint personality because I would be all serious and then talk in my kid voice to Gracie the next minute! Jon whispered to me to take Gracie outside so I asked her to sit right outside the screen door and watch for Dana and Ryan (who I had called to come over and help watch Gracie) and the ambulance. The dispatcher told me to get a shoe string and I asked him if it needed to be clean. He said no and that we would use that to tie off the umbilical cord. Tracy started to say that she couldn't deliver on her back so Jon and I tried to pull her up and put pillows behind her back. What a grip she had! The dispatcher then asked if the baby's head was crowning. Jon said "no," but then literally seconds later it was. I checked on Gracie outside again and she was doing just as I asked so I kept telling her how good she was doing. We finally hear the sirens and I tell Tracy they are almost here! Jack just didn't want to wait any longer though. He came so fast! He came out just as the fire truck pulled up and then our friends Dana and Ryan. It felt like it took everyone forever to make it, but from the time Tracy laid on her back the baby was born in 3 minutes! The firemen were just walking up to the house and I'm thinking maybe they don't know the baby is here so I tried to encourage them to pick up the pace. The dispatcher is telling me tie off the umbilical cord. I keep telling him that help has arrived and I'll let them take care of it. He did not give up though so I finally asked the firemen if they needed the shoestring so the guy would lay off. The firemen looked at me like I was crazy! The dispatcher then told us congrats and we did a great job. I hear the firemen ask Jon if he wants to cut the umbilical cord and he replies, "That's okay, you go ahead." He is probably thinking "I delivered this baby so I don't need to cut the umbilical cord to feel involved!" What a day or not even a day, just 23 minutes! Tracy looks at me and says, "Can you believe you just saw a baby being born?" I said, "Oh no, I am completely terrified now!" The ambulance came and took Tracy, Jon, and their beautiful healthy baby boy to the hospital while Gracie, Dana, Ryan and I waved them goodbye. Tracy and Jon are one amazing couple! Tracy was so tough through all the pain and Jon was the best obstetrician (he was so calm and seemed to know exactly what he was doing). My heart raced for the next two hours. I was still in shock from what just happened. Gracie on the other hand seemed to handle it well. She asked how her mommy's tummy was and I told her it was all better and that she was a big sister now! Tracy and the baby made it home on Sunday and are doing great!
Looking back now, it is so cool to see how God worked through the situation! I don't need the baby story on TLC for education anymore, in fact this story should have made the show!
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3 comments:
Jack is so tiny too! He is precious! Twenty three minutes of labor, huh. That, I can handle.
You are most definitely a champion.
THAT'S CRAZY! I can't imagine... it was weird (and messy) enough in a hospital.
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