Speedy Gonzales and the Black Stretchy Pants

Tues April 6 started as any other day. We woke up and went to a doctors appointment for the girls. That afternoon when I got home I was starving. I ate way too much and then soon got a headache that I blamed on the chocolate dessert that I ate. After resting for a while the phone rang and it was a neighbor who started off the phone call saying "I was hoping that you wouldn't answer because you would be at the hospital. I laughed at her and said no way I have at least two more weeks left. After the phone call about 6:30 Dave told me our goat had had a baby but had died so we called all the kids out and told them about it and we buried it. Then we had a late dinner and put the kids to bed.

About 5 minutes later I had a contraction. I thought weird and Dave told me it was just goat sympathy pains. So as I had a few more sporadic contractions I convinced myself that it was just braxton hicks because there was no way that they were "real." I sat down and watched AI hoping that the contractions would go away. I decided that I better make a packing list for the hospital because I had nothing ready. So I made the list and went to bed and the contractions kept coming but "nothing serious" I told myself. I was in serious denial.

By by 2:20 after slipping in and out of sleep and contractions I knew that this was serious. So I got up walked around noticed my contractions were probably happening every 5 minutes or so. I hopped in the shower for a while. Then about 3 I woke up Dave and said "I think this is the real deal we better get ready to go." So he packed the bag according to my list and I walked around doing pain management. About 45 minutes later about 3:50, Dave fed the dog(fatal error on his part) and we loaded up in the car and headed for the hospital. We live in the country so we had about a 25 minute drive to the hospital.

I was sitting in one of the bucket seats in the middle of the van breathing and struggling through each contraction. About 10 minutes into the drive my instincts took over and I started to push. "No" Dave yells "You are not ready! The baby is not lined up right! You need to breath! I don't hear you breathing!" "I need to push"

This dialogue continued for the next 7 or so minutes as I went into each contraction and the pushing urge came. I would like to say that I was using logic and considering what would happen if I kept pushing but I was going on pure instinct. About 3 miles from the hospital I told him that it was coming and he told me later that he reached back and felt the head between my legs. I don't remember, I was pushing. He almost wrecks pulling the car over to the side of the road and meanwhile the baby came right out. As luck would have it I was wearing my black stretchy pants and so I birthed the baby right into them. I grabbed the baby out of my pants and wrapped it in the towel I was sitting on "in case my water broke". Dave ran over to the side of the van and we had a beautiful moment where we saw it was a boy and the baby began to cry.

Dave got back into the drivers seat and we continued on our course to the hospital. I felt no panic or worry. The pain was gone and I had a beautiful baby in my arms born in the quiet of the van on highway 120. We almost even debated for 1 moment going home. But we were already there at that point so Dave ran into the ER and told them his wife just had a baby in the car. They brought out a stretcher and I "jumped out of the car" (that is what the ER guys said) and laid down as they wheeled me to Labor and delivery. We called the Dr, cut the cord and within 25 minutes the dr was there to deliver the placenta and stitch me up- one of the downsides to delivering my own baby.

We thought long and hard about the name. Should we call him Speedy Gonzales or Yosemite Sam(born on the highway to yosemite) or just Van. But after much consideration we have decided to call this boy Matthew Orland after his great g-pa Marion Orland whom everyone calls Pat.

So quick stats: Matthew born April 7th, 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long and born in the van.

So now what I most look forward to is his birth cert. It will not list the hospital or doctor but Highway 120 and now we just have to convince them to put black stretchy pants as the method/dr for delivery that being said it will likely be Dave.