This will be a post without pictures- I don't have the cord to download the pictures off of my camera with me at the hospital right now, but I wanted to make sure I documented the events of our sweet baby girl's arrival before I forgot any of the details.
Caroline was due to arrive on Friday, August 26th, but as the day drew closer and closer we were all anxiously awaiting her birth and hoping that she would show up early. Nathan and my dad had both picked Wednesday, August 24th as her birthday and it turns out they were right!!
The morning started like any other- I didn't sleep well and hadn't been for weeks. Nathan left for work around 6:30am and I got out of bed shortly afterwards to shower and head downstairs for some quiet time before the boys woke up. After they were up and dressed, we watched a little tv, ate breakfast, and straightened up the house. I had everything finished that I wanted to get done before Caroline showed up, but kept coming up with more things to add to my list :) I decided to head to the bank and the store quickly that morning for a few last minute things- I had to be home in the afternoon because we were having some pine trees taken down on the side of our house. The boys and I headed out a little after 10am. On the way home, I picked up McDonalds for lunch (Tommy's choice) and we were home by 11:30 to find the tree men waiting in our yard- ready to start in on our trees. Around 11:45 I talked to my mom and assured her that nothing was happening- no baby, but maybe after the boys' naps we could go for a walk to try and get things moving. The boys ate lunch and then parked chairs by our living room window to watch the trees come down. Henry normally goes down for a nap around 12:30, but he was really enjoying watching the men work outside so I decided to let him stay up for awhile.
Around that time (12:30) I started to feel a few contractions, but they were very sporadic (ranging from 11-17 minutes apart) and short (only about 25 seconds). I re-read the sheet from my doctors office which said the contractions should be 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, and consistent for 1 hour before going in. I started to feel like she might be born that day, but probably not until that night. Around 1:20 I timed 3 contractions that only had 3 minutes between them, and given how quickly Henry's delivery had gone, I decided to call Nathan. According to our cell phone records, I called him at 1:27pm and asked him to come home. He told me he would leave right away. He called me back at 1:31 and told me he was on his way home (a 25 minute drive normally) and asked if I wanted him to call my mom and have her head over to watch the boys. I asked him to please call her and I hung up to call the doctor's office. The doctor's office told me to make my way in to the office (not labor and delivery) when I could.
Nathan called my parent's house and my sister, Sarah, who happened to be visiting for a few days, answered. She and my mom headed over and arrived sometime around 1:40ish. Once they arrived, they found Tommy by himself in his bedroom, Henry wandering downstairs, and me in the master bathroom. By this point I was in alot of pain and was not sure how I would manage to get downstairs into the car and all the way to the hospital. I just kept asking Sarah if Nathan was home yet. I felt my water break and began to feel alot of pressure. Sarah asked me if she should call 911 and I told her to call Nathan and ask- I was much too shocked and scared to make any type of decision! Sarah called Nathan at 1:46 and explained the situation, telling him that she was going to call 911. At this point, Nathan was about 1 mile away from our house.
I heard Nathan walk in and I heard him on the phone with the dispatcher giving our information. He found me in the bathroom, instructed me to lay down on the floor, and after two pushes, he caught Caroline as she was born at 1:50. He followed the instructions that the dispatcher gave him and laid her on my chest, covering her with a towel, and tying the cord with a shoelace. He then walked to the top of the stairs and welcomed the 2 police officers, 3 fire-fighters, and 2 EMTs that were just arriving. Shortly after those 7 people came, 2 doctors showed up to assess the situation as well. Caroline and I both had our vitals taken and I walked down the stairs to a waiting stretcher that would take me to the ambulance. Amid the cheers of the men cutting our trees and the waves of our neighbors, the ambulance backed out of the driveway and took Caroline and me to Bronson Hospital to be assessed. We havesince been resting comfortably at the hospital and enjoying all of the conveniences of modern medicine :)
At the time, adrenaline took over and the entire situation unfolded as if it was happening to someone else. Now that 24 hours have passed, the birth seems surreal. As I laid awake last night and pondered the "what-ifs," I realized how thankful I am for so many small details and the timing of everything that happened yesterday. I praise God for a healthy delivery and baby and am thankful that Nathan was able to remain so calm in an emergency. It truly amazes me that God not only created and formed Caroline, he also knew the entrance she would make into this world. It was quite a birthday for our little girl!!
