“I had him in the elevator”

In celebration of his birthday, and for all of you who have been asking me to write this down… I’ve finally decided to write Carson’s birth story.

When I was pregnant I sometimes day dreamed about the day he would be born…I imagined wearing my cute floral hospital kimono I ordered from Etsy, my husband bent down next to me sharing in my tears of joy as I snuggled him skin to skin in a calm atmosphere while somebody snapped a cute photo that would be a forever memory of his first moments in this world. As ridiculous as that sounds, that’s pretty much how the birth of my first son Jack went. After a few intense contractions, I had an epidural and didn’t feel a thing until the doctor literally told me to cough and he was born the second time I cleared my throat. I had a full face of make up on, my hair done and I asked the nurse if it was OK to enjoy my iced coffee while they cleaned up and I snuggled my sweet baby, both of us content and comfortable. I actually use to dread telling my story when other new moms would ask because I knew how obnoxiously perfect it was. In other words, I was in no way prepared for Carson’s entrance.

10:00am My doctor forgot to tell me that I had to pre-register at the hospital here in Florida prior to birth (different than in Virginia) so I called him on Sunday morning after a friend mentioned it to me. At this point I was already 37 weeks along and he told me to go to the hospital for a “labor check” because it would automatically register me in their system. Although that sounded a bit extreme, I was having a few sporadic contractions so I agreed. The nurse laughed when she checked me and told me there was “absolutely no signs of labor”. I left the hospital, went to the mall and shopped for a while, then came home, rested for a bit and had dinner. Irregularly timed contractions started picking up through the afternoon, but I’ve always had a high pain tolerance and blew them off.

7:15pm I called my sister-in-law to wish her a happy birthday and after chatting for a few minutes she told me to get off the phone and call my doctor. Apparently, she could tell from my voice that my contractions were the real deal. I didn’t listen. Instead, I turned to my husband and told him that if I was actually going into labor, I had to shave my legs (…Priorities of a true southern lady. My grandmother would be proud!)

7:35pm I put my 20-month-old Jack in the shower with me to bathe, and within a few minutes my contractions were literally 34 seconds apart. I could tell I was about to have him right there in the shower (with Jack!) and there was no stopping it. I screamed for my husband and he got Jack out, dressed, and put him in the car. Somehow I managed to literally crawl out of the shower, put on jean shorts and a t-shirt and hobbled down the stairs and into the car.

7:57pm I have never screamed so loud in my life. Poor Jack in the back seat was wide-eyed and most likely terrified. Like a scene straight out of a movie we were flying to the hospital and I was praying out loud between screams that he wouldn’t come yet. We pulled up to the ER entrance and a lady came out with a wheel chair. I fell into it, and she wheeled me into the ER while hubby went to park the car. What happened next was a mistake made by the hospital. Instead of putting me in one of the many empty ER beds, the group of doctors and nurses that were chatting at the nurses station said “just take her to the OB floor” I tried to tell them he was literally coming out but no one listed to me. Instead the volunteer took off with me and after I screamed for a nurse they agreed to send one with us. Before we even left the ER my water broke. I let out one more scream and his head came out… and they still refused to turn around and put me in a bed. At this point, Carson’s head was visibly all the way out and the only the only thing stopping him from coming the rest of the way was the seam of my shorts. I was begging the nurse to pull the wheelchair over so I could take my shorts off and she wouldn’t. To my utter disbelief, she literally said “The OB nurses will know what to do. Please calm down and put your feet in the stirrups”. I felt hopeless and scared for the health of my son. There was so much pressure on his head from the seam of my shorts and if I had the strength and the reach to punch the lady in the face I probably would have, but I didn’t so I just started praying out loud. (Keep in mind Aaron was still parking the car with Jack).

8:06pm We finally arrived to the third floor and an OB nurse who actually knew what she was doing rushed over and pulled my shorts off. I pulled Carson out (yes, seriously) and wrapped the umbilical cord around my arm so it didn’t get caught in the spokes of the wheelchair while they wheeled me the rest of the way to a room. I felt like superwoman. A few minutes later I heard Aaron say from the hallway “Lets do this” before he rounded the corner of the room with Jack to see me sitting in bed holding Carson. Needless to say, he was shocked!

What a wild ride. Even though Carson looked like he had been in a boxing match for a few days following his arrival, by the grace of God he is 100% healthy and has no long term side effects. And although it was a bit traumatic and a lot less peaceful than coughing him out while wearing a floral kimono, I’m just thankful to have a precious baby boy (who still knows how to make an entrance). And if there’s a next time, I’ll just go with unshaven legs.

First family picture of all 4 of us!

A little bruised and swollen, but he was adorable from the start

Carson now 🙂 Celebrating turning TWO!!!

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