So, here we are... Kim is laying on the hospital bed, I'm sort of in a daze, stuck between making inappropriate jokes and being in shock1, and Krista, the nurse, is pulling stuff out of drawers, and getting the room prepped for delivery.

At this point, it was pretty obvious that were indeed going to have the baby. I knew there were people that would be interested to know about this. So, I called Kim's parents to let them know, but only got voicemail. Then, I called my mom to let her know. She answered the phone2, and her response to the news was something like, "Shannon! What are you doing in Florida?!?"3 I explained our situation to her, and she said she would call my sisters and let them know.

About the same time I was getting off the phone with my mom, the nurse firmly, yet politely, requested that I take my place by my wife's side, as we were about to start delivering the baby. Wait a minute. How are we going to deliver the baby without the doctor?

Krista directed Kim on what to do. She was to hold her legs with her hands, and to put her chin to her chest. Whenever a contraction came, I was to count from one to ten. While I counted, Kim was to take a deep breath, hold it, and "bear down". We would do this three times for every contraction.

Okay. Here we go. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10

1. back At some point, I asked the nurse if I should put on my shoes. This may sound funny, but anyone that knows me, knows that if the temperature is above 60°, nine times out of ten, I'm going to have on sandals. When we left the hotel room, I had picked up my shoes. Having not taken part in the delivery of a baby, I wasn't sure if you had to wear shoes or not. I mean, it seems like a closed-toe event. The nurse, after laughing at me, said I didn't need to put them on.


2. back Don't ask me why my mother was up at three-something in the morning. I guess you could argue that the phone woke her up, but really who knows. She worked third shift for a good part of my younger years. She may be a vampire.


3. back Her reaction made me think for a minute. I couldn't remember if I had told her I was going out of town or not. There was a time in my life that she would have rather not known when I was out driving all over God's creation. In college there were seveal spur of the moment trips from Raleigh to Boone, one trip from Raleigh to New York, and a failed attempt to cross the country by car. For her it was easier to not know that I was driving in the middle of the night.

Labels: baby, birthStory