We welcomed out daughter, Kaia, into the world the other night at 11:52pm. Not even an hour before that, we were laying in bed, wondering when things were going to happen. Then, they did.
From 5pm or so, Christine started having random contractions that were not so intense. Nothing to say the time was almost here. They lasted on and off until we decided to go to bed at 10:45, at which point, they had slowed, and she was feeling frustrated again. After 10 min of laying in bed, suddenly 3 back to back contractions happened that were very intense. She said, "...they weren't this bad with Nash until the end!". Well apparently, this was the end, but we didn't know it. She quickly decided to move downstairs, and I called our doula and told her to come quickly. By the time we made it downstairs, Christine started yelling she was having the urge to push and to call the ambulance.
So, with a cell in one hand to update the doula, and another in the other hand talking with the 911 operator, I tried to keep everything together as he told me to get ready to catch the baby's head, and get some string. That was a bit of a shock. As it turns out there, amidst all the yelling and chaos, perhaps my description of the situation as Christine was yelling it to me was not quite correct, as the operator though the babys head was crowing. It was still inside.
About 5 minutes later, the paramedics arrived and started to assess the situation, also incorrectly. Since they aren't fully trained on all the variances of birth, they thought a complication was imminent because the water sack was starting to come out before having broken, and they mistook it for the placenta. So while Christine yelled that she didnt want to give birth in an ambulance, they started to prep her to get on the stretcher. Only at this point did I have a minute to run and grab my camera, and get 3 shots between them moving her out, and grabbing a handful of things to take with us
For some reason, probably lack of space, I had to ride in another truck with the supervisor, who didnt seem in any huge rush, so as the ambulance sped off to the hospital,whilewe were stopping at lights. I asked if he could just run the lights seeing as this is sarnia at midnight, and there might be 1 other car on the road at that time in the entire city. When we finally got to the hospital he said he would take me himself, but unfortunately he didn't seem to know where he was going. After a few minutes of looking for an elevator, he asked security to take me.
By the time I'd gotten to the delivery room, I'd missed the birth by only about a minute or two. That was a bit upsetting, but I shot what i could...
I was relieved everyone was ok, and there was in fact no complication afterall. Since I wasn't there, Christine cut the cord herself after only 2 pushes to deliver. So, from start to finish, less than an hour if we aren't counting the grey zone of time in the afternoon/evening when she wasn't sure what was going on. A pretty sizable improvement from the approximately 18hrs with Nash.
Around 3am, we were both tired, and I tried to sleep in the chair, but that didnt work. Around 630am, I got up and snapped a few last shots as the morning light came into the window before calling for a ride back to the house were I could actually sleep for a few hours. Big thanks to Sue, Christine's sister, for being such a big help with Nash the past little while, and quickly following us to the hospital with bags in tow.
This was night and day different than my experience when Nash arrived. Perhaps it was the fact that I'd just had my teeth yanked our hours prior that day, but I remember barely being able to hold it together. This time, perhaps because I missed the actual moment, I was much more with it, and that initial kick of adrenaline from when we were still at the house hand worn off by then, so I wasn't shaking anymore.
It was probably the last thing we expected birth plan wise, but it goes to show you never know what's going to happen. In the end, everyone was safe and healthy, and while it wasn't ideal, we're glad to finally have the addition to the family.