Ryan Patrick McLachlan
February 13, 1997
7 pounds
This was second child. My first was 3 years ago. He was 10 days late and came rather quickly at the hospital with very little pain medication. I knew this one would probably be quicker, but not like this.
On Wednesday, February 12 about 9 I lost my mucus plug. In my previous pregnancy, I had delivered within 24 hours after this happened so I was ready. The baby was due February 14th so it was time and the plug was gone so now I just had to wait for contractions. I had light contractions all afternoon. We had a neighborhood meeting at our house in the evening. During the meeting, I would have mild contractions but didn't really notice the time interval with all the other caucus. My parents arrived about 10 p.m. to watch our 3 year old while we went to the hospital and I was afraid they had wasted a trip.
About 11, I got up from bed and went to sit on the couch and time contractions. They were very light, but they were about 7 minutes apart. My husband was concerned since my last delivery went fast and the hospital was 30 minutes away. So we packed our bags and arrived at the hospital about midnight. The nurse took information, hooked me up to monitors and I was dilated to 3. We thought it would be just a couple of hours. We monitored for an hour and then walked for an hour. As I was walking, the floor nurses were commenting that I didn't look like I was in labor. The contractions were still about 6 minutes apart, but nothing hard.
At 3 a.m. the nurse checked me and I had made no progress. She asked us what we wanted to do...what do you mean--I want to have this baby! She said I could go home. We didn't like that option since it would be an hour round trip to make it back. So we walked some more and still no progress. About 6 a.m., we went home on the urging of the nurse. I was due the next day, 3rd pregnancy, dilated to 3, and she told me to go home. I was to come back when I couldn't talk through the contractions, had regular contractions, or my water broke.
Well, that never happened! My parents left with my 3 year old son about 10 a.m. on the 13th. My husband and I took a nap. I awoke about 11:30 in great pain, but the contractions were very irregular (a sign of false pregnancy the nurse told me). Finally about 12:15 I called the hospital, told them my story, and said I was coming back in for pitocin and an epidural. They said they couldn't guarantee that. So I called my doctor's office. They were on lunch till 1 but would call me back then.
At 1:03 p.m. the phone rang. It was my doctor's nurse and she said I could come in. My doctor was out of town, but the on-call doctor would take care of me. I went to change my clothes and my water broke. I was glad because I knew I wouldn't be sent home. After that, I went to the bathroom as I had BM problems and wanted to take care of that before hitting the road. After my BM, I felt more pressure! It was the baby. I yelled MARK for my husband to come.
He came in the bathroom and told him to call 911 because "I'm having this baby." He panicked and finally got through after 3 tries. The operator talked to him and had him get a towel under me. I had five contractions during their conversations. During all of them, I had the strong urge to push but didn't for my husband's sake. The paramedics arrived after that. They asked if I would wait for the next team and I laughed at them! On the next contraction, with 2 seconds of pushing a head came out. Shortly thereafter was the body and legs. This happened about 1:20 p.m. 17 minutes after talking to my nurse!
The baby was a healthy boy. He got to see his room and get cleaned up on his changing table at one minute old. We got all the pictures, just on my bathroom floor and in his bedroom. My placenta would not deliver, so we rode by ambulance to the local hospital instead of my hospital of choice. An hour after the delivery, the placenta finally delivered. We stayed at the hospital less than 24 hours and returned to the birthplace!
I think I'm done now. Who knows what will happen next time!
