Some new moms may worry – what if I don’t make it to the hospital and deliver my baby at home? This quickly became my reality. My husband delivered our third baby at home in our bed. It all happened so quickly, about 45 minutes from start to finish. We are fortunate and blessed that everything turned out alright.
I had always heard and read that with each baby you deliver, the faster the labor progresses. Both of my previous deliveries were fast, the first 4 hours and the second 3 hours. Never in my wildest dream did I think my husband would deliver our son in my bed where I sleep every night!
The morning of my son’s birth, I woke up after a great night’s sleep but felt cramps. Not thinking much about it, I went to the fridge had a glass of water. The cramps got worse. Then I woke my husband up. “I definitely have contractions call your parents to come watch the girls.”
Then I proceeded to call my doctor, who asked me how far apart the contractions were. I couldn’t tell her, so she just told me to get to the hospital. Thinking I had time, I decided to take a quick shower before heading to the hospital. While in the shower, the contractions became so strong and painful. Naively I figured we had at least an hour to get out of the house, right?
When I got out of the shower, my inlaws had arrived to babysit my girls. As we were just about to get in the car to head to the hospital, I sat down on the edge of our bed because I was having another strong contraction. All of a sudden, my water broke. I screamed to my husband, “I feel him coming out, and I feel the urge to push, call 911.”
Thankfully the girls were busy playing in the playroom. My husband called 911 as I laid down in the bed. The dispatch wanted all the details and was trying to help, but we didn’t want to talk. I literally felt the urge to push again and couldn’t hold the baby in. The pain was surprisingly bearable, probably because of my adrenaline rush. I just closed my eyes and pushed three times, and out came my son into the world. Miraculously he let out a huge cry right away. A sign of relief that he was breathing and his lungs were working.
When the paramedics came running up the stairs to our bedroom, my son was probably three minutes old. At this point, my husband had wrapped him in a towel. One of the paramedics cut the umbilical cord, and off we all went to the hospital in the ambulance.
Some people don’t believe us when we tell them the story of how our son was delivered. So many things could have gone wrong that day, but God was watching over us. I put together a list of what you need to know to deliver your own baby if it happens to you too.
1. Call 911 right away.
2. Try and stay calm, take deep breaths, and focus.
3. Grab towels for you and the baby.
4. Do your best to guide the baby out as gently as possible.
5. When the baby is fully out, don’t touch the cord. Leave it attached until help arrives.
6. Stay where you are until you deliver the placenta. Medical personnel will help with this.
7. And lastly, make sure there is no fluid in the baby’s nostrils or mouth.
WOW! That’s incredible, Megan! So glad everyone was healthy.
thanks Abby!