Happy Halloween!

Our Beautiful Baby

Happy Birthday Evan...I mean Jason!

Jason Matthew
7 lb. 6 oz.
20 in.
12:50ish PM

I say he was born at 12:50ish because he was nearly born in the car. It was a crazy experience! One that I would never wish upon anyone. I had a doctor appointment at 9:30 am. I was about 2-3cm with a soft cervix but no contractions. I went home depressed thinking that this baby was never going to come and that I was going to have to be induced the following week or live with him inside me forever. Well, my first contraction was at 11:20am while I was watching The View. I called David and told him he should probably come home from work. As he finished things up at work, my contractions started to get closer and more intense. I spent the next hour on my hands and knees to relieve the uncomfortable pressure I was feeling. David finally made it home at about 12:30. I got myself in the van and we raced to the hospital. I was so scared that the baby was going to come out in the car and I have never prayed so sincerely in my life! I prayed aloud and pleaded that we would be safe and watched over and that the baby would not come out in the car. My doctor's office was expecting me to go there first, but David called and told them that we were going straight to the emergency room. They tried to convince us to go to the office first, but we emphatically told them that we were going to the emergency room. They told us they would have somebody waiting there for us. As we pulled up to the ER there was nobody there. David ran in and left me alone in the van. I wailed in pain and banged on the ceiling of the van as I waited for help. They came with a stretcher and told me to get on it. I simply yelled, "There is a baby coming out!" They blankly stared at me and after I realized they were not going to help me, I somehow managed to get myself out of the van and onto the stretcher. A mere seconds after I laid down I felt a gush of water and head emerging out of my crotch. I yelled again, "He's coming!" At this point they had wheeled me approximately 10 feet inside the building and were trying to figure out which room to put me in. It was then that I felt an uncontrollable urge to push and even though I was trying my darndest not to push, I felt a head pop out. Now keep in mind I was still fully clothed and thank goodness I was wearing my loose gaucho pants. A little freaked out by the situation, I yelled, "His head is out!" As they continued to wheel me to the room, David pulled my pants down (all modesty flown out the window) and confirmed that there was a head. So there in the hall the male nurse, Jeff, proceeded to deliver the shoulders and little Jason was born! Nobody knows the exact time he was born because it all happened so fast. And to my amazement, the ER is not very prepared to deliver babies. I think I realized that when the nurse said to the doctor, "Aren't you supposed to clamp the umbilical cord before cutting it?" Apparently there is usually enough time to get the mother upstairs to the OB floor before a baby is born. Thankfully my doctor was at the hospital and came down as soon as he could, but obviously not in time the delivery. He too was shocked at the speediness of it all considering he had just examined me a few hours earlier. It was quite a traumatizing experience but very comical when reflected upon. I also have such gratitude that everything went safely. It certainly is a good story for Jason's baby book. David is going to do some reading on how to deliver babies before the next baby is born.