Wednesday, February 12, 2014

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night


In response to some questions from my previous post this is a rewrite of a post I wrote several years ago on my youngest daughter's birthday about the night she was born....in an elevator.



Let me tell you what my mom said
      about the night I was born
It was a dark and stormy night.... I know, I'm sorry, but it really was. There had been rain , thunder and lightning with tornadoes bouncing around us all through the evening. Streets were already flooded and the rain was not letting up.

My baby was due that day. It was getting late enough that I had given up hope that it  would come on the due date. The older kids were already asleep and we were heading to bed at about 10 p.m. That's when I got a sure sign that something was starting to happen. We called the doctor and he said he would meet us at the hospital. We called my in-laws to come stay with the kids and waited nearly an hour while they made their way across town through the storm.

My pains were getting pretty bad by the time we finally headed for the hospital, making several detours because streets were closed by the downpour. I'm sure I was very polite the whole way saying things like "take all the time you need" and "just be careful", or maybe not.

We made it to the hospital, checked in at the front desk, and a very young orderly brought out a wheel chair and invited me to have a seat. It was at that point that I realized that sitting wasn't an option. The baby was coming, right then and there. Instead of primly having a seat, I dropped my pants and and sprawled back into the wheel chair. My husband bent down and looked and said "yeah, its coming, its got some hair." Nothing says dignity like being laid out in a wheel chair in a hospital lobby with your shoes on and your pants and underwear hanging off one ankle.

The, by then, very white-faced young orderly spun the wheel chair around and headed for the elevator. By the time we reached the maternity floor I was holding a beautiful, 8 lb. 9 oz. baby girl in my arms. She was born at 11:55 p.m. on the day she was due. The doctor had some problems getting to the hospital through the storm and arrived about an hour after the baby did. Like I said, it was a dark and stormy night.

18 comments:

  1. WOW! I hope you got a discount on your delivery bill.

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  2. Oh my goodness, dear Jeanie! This is like an episode of The Young & The Restless! :) Emergency situations seem to arise at the least convenient moment, don't they, like holidays, weekends, middle of the night and terrible weather. It's a good thing your orderly wasn't Jerry Lewis, The Disorderly Orderly. I can just picture him with the baby coming shouting, "Lady... oh lady... nice lady... good lady..." :)

    I'm so glad everything turned out alright. It certainly makes for a good story, doesn't it? Thank you for sharing, Jeanie!

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  3. Wow! What a story! I guess that made it a natural childbirth whether you wanted it that way or not.

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  4. What a wild night! I guess when we get to that point, there is no room for dignity or modesty...just be done with it! Kudos to you, my friend. I'm sure you were a class act throughout it all!

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  5. What a cute story (now, I'm sure not then, LOL) but the end result of course was wonderful with a healthy baby girl!

    thanks for sharing it!

    betty

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  6. Oh, my goodness, what a story! I can just imagine that happening. Fortunately, you did not have to endure labor for long.

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  7. What a story for you daughter's baby book. And so did they adjust your bill? Reminds me of the people who got to the hospital and the baby was born on the lawn outside the hospital. The protested the charge on the bill for the delivery room. The hospital marked through "delivery room" and wrote in "greens fee".

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  8. This is just wonderful. Oh, yes -- I bet you really weren't even thinking about the other people in the lobby -- just "get this baby out of me!" I'm sure it felt harrowing but you were with the one you loved most and in a hospital a doc wasn't far! Oh, wow -- that really is one for the record books. I'm so glad you shared it!

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  9. Oh, my. That is hilarious... sort of. Mothers do whatever it takes, don't we? Great story. Yes, a dark and stormy night — with a happy, heartwarming ending!

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  10. What a great story, Jeanie! Is she still the adventurous type? I enjoyed the former blog post, too - always learning new things about you!

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  11. Oh my goodness! That's almost exactly like my story. Seriously! Except that my son was born just after midnight and he didn't show his head until Art and I were in the elevator alone. We didn't have a dark and stormy night either. This was so MUCH fun to read. I love it!!! I guess no one joked that you should name her Otis like they did about my son.

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  12. What a story! I remember reading Kay's story of the birth of her son in the elevator. I have no such stories to tell. Thankfully, I always made it to the delivery room for all of the births of my children. I really loved this story!

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  13. Nothing "elevates" our patience and sweet demeanor better than labor pains, and when a baby's ready to come, a baby's ready to come. And your daughter was ready! Quite a story.

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  14. Now THAT, Jeanie, is what I call your daughter making "an entrance"! Whoa!!!! I can't even imagine.
    xo jj

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  15. But what a fun (in hindsight) birth story to tell!

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  16. I can't beat that story!!! How amazing ... and scary at the time I'm sure.

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  17. I might add... my quickest labor and delivery was 39 minutes! I had that baby girl on the 'prep room' floor. With a junior nurse freaking out beside me. Such fun.

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  18. I was thinking exactly the same thing as Joeh. If the doctor is late to the delivery, a discount should be in order. Great story.

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