An Edmonton Birth Story

It all started on May 29, 2007. It was day 2 of 33 weeks. I had a stressful pregnancy due to my ex. We had a fight that afternoon, and around 4:30, I went to the bathroom and something extra came out (mucous plug). I called my mom.

"Mom, something came out that I don't think was supposed to come out."

Mom asked, "What do you mean something came out?"

"I mean something came out!"

"OK, I'm on my way home."

My mom got home half an hour later and said, "Oh, I think that's OK," to which I responded, "Mom, I don't think it's OK."

We headed to the hospital. I went straight into Labour and Delivery and the nurse told me that there is a test we can do to see if I was going into labour. She told me that there are a lot of false positives so if that happens, they'd keep me overnight. The nurse asked me to pee in a cup, so I did. I came back into the room and sat on the bed ... and my water broke.

The nurse said, "Oh, well, that changes everything." I then was hooked up to monitors and told that the hospital in my hometown doesn't take babies under 35 weeks and asked if I'd rather go to Vancouver or Edmonton. I chose Edmonton. My dad was contacted and told that I'm flying out. He came with me because he's retired and can take the time off. He rushed home to pack a bag for himself and for me.

The nurse came in to give me a suppository to slow labour down so my son wouldn't be born on the plane. I also got a morphine shot in the bum to slow down labour as well.

I believe it was around 7 PM when the ambulance took me and my dad to the airport. Med Evac jetted us to Edmonton—the plane was big enough for my gurney, gear in case the baby was born on the plane, and two flight nurses (two guys, seven kids between them), my dad, and two pilots (two women). My dad thought this was a lovely flight and took pictures of the scenery.

Around 11 AM Whitehorse time (12 AM Edmonton), I was told we are getting ready to land and the paramedic had to tighten the buckles on the gurney. I announced, "I think the baby is on its way out!"

"The baby can't be on its way out, I just checked," one of the paramedics said.

"I really do think it's on its way out!!" I replied.

Paramedic: "It can't be."

Me: "I feel a strong pressure in my rectum!!!"

Paramedic: "Oh ... well you can't push till we get to the hospital."

Me: "How am I supposed to do that?"

Paramedic: "Just breath through it."

Well, anyone who's had a baby crowning knows it's super-hard not to push when there's a contraction. ... We landed in Edmonton around 12:30 AM and were loaded into another ambulance. I was trying super-hard not to push ... very hard ... lights flashing, sirens blaring, racing through Edmonton. We made it to hospital and we were running through the halls (my dad was taking pictures of this process), and we finally made it to Labour and Delivery.

The paramedics promptly told the nurses that I was ready to deliver. "Oh, well, the room's not set up. We didn't think she'd really be ready to deliver," a nurse said. So I was wheeled to the room and as the room got set up around me, a lovely nurse told me that I couldn't do any hard pushing because the doctor was downstairs, but that I could do some pushing to get rid of the urge. Thank God! The doctor showed up ... three pushes and he was out.

At least 10 medical professionals were in the room, plus my dad, to witness his first grandchild's birth (he was at my head). My son was born May 30, 2007, at 1:20 AM, 4 lbs. 10 oz., seven weeks early. What an adventure. He spent a month in the hospital. He's now 3 1/2 and you'd never know he was only 4 lbs at birth.

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