(This is taken pretty much strait from my journal and was edited very little so if it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense in parts, just do the best with what you’ve got and remember that I wrote this within 2 days of delivering a baby so my stream of consciousness may be a little…off)

At 5:49 a.m. I was awakened by a tiny contraction that was very, very low, and just barely painful. As soon as it was over it seemed another one started right up and again just a little pain and I was only feeling it at the very bottom of the uterus. I stayed in bed laying down for about 6 more contractions that were just like the first. I glanced at my clock and think I saw 6:07 a.m. I got up, used the restroom and then came back to bed to wake up Boy and tell him that I was having contractions and that I was going to take a shower. He asked me if he should start timing the contractions, I told him to wait until after I got out. I have no idea how long of a shower I took. I was in there long enough to relax a bit and shave my legs. I did not count how many contractions I had but I do know the contractions went up a level on the pain scale while I was in the shower.

After I got out of the shower I put my robe on, had Boy time the contractions, paced and tried to get things ready to go. I think it had to have been round 6:30 a.m. because we started making phone calls at this time to family and friends trying to figure out if I needed to go to the hospital or not. From the time I got out of the shower & Boy started timing the contractions, there were no more than 2 minutes apart and were 30-40 seconds long. They were increasing in pain and as I paced it got harder to endure them. I would have to stop and brace myself to a wall, bed or desk and I was no longer able to walk or rock back and forth in order to have comfort or relief. At one point I got very noxious and sick and started dry heaving. Boy was on speakerphone with his sister Crystal and was trying to find out how to get in touch with Mom Bland. I remember thinking that Boy Shouldn’t have the phone on speaker because no one wants to hear someone else be sick, but I don’t think I ever articulated that to Boy. (As the story progresses, there were a lot of things I didn’t articulate to Boy that may have been helpful but it is very difficult to do when you are having contractions coming so fast and your thoughts of what to do are also coming so fast. It’s difficult because I can’t really talk coherently when I’m in the middle of a contraction and by the time it’s over, I’ve already had 3 or 4 new ideas and I don’t have time to communicate them all before the next contractions starts.)

So Boy is still trying to get in touch with anyone to help us know if what we were experiencing was normal and if we should continue to labor at home or go the hospital. The kids started to wake up and come out of their rooms. Boy told Roo that the baby might be coming today. Roo looked at me and got a big smile on this face. Roo asked why we were packing our bags and Boy told him that we would have to go to the hospital to have the baby. I was in a great deal of pain at this time and Boy was trying to get things together and he told Roo to come help me. Roo came to me and put his arms around me and gave me a big hug. Next Boy asked him if he wanted to go to Joe & Heidi Skousen’s house or if he wanted them to come here while we went to the hospital. He chose to go to the Skousen’s but was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t have time to eat breakfast at our house (the last thing I grabbed before leaving the house was a box of lucky charms for Roo to eat at the Skousen’s…I think it was a box of lucky charms)

So next we got in touch with Mom Bland and she said we should probably call the doctor to find out what our next step should be. From phone records and our best guesses, Boy called the doctor at 7:20 a.m. and when he was trying to get through the menu’s and directories to get in touch with the on-call doctor, I told him to just forget about it, load up the kids and GO!

It seemed like forever putting the last few things together and getting out the door. I told Boy I didn’t care if the kids were buckled because the Skousen’s house was not far. Boy buckled them anyway. Going over the speed bumps to get to the Skousen’s was no picnic either.

We were at the Skousen’s long enough to drop the kids off and for me to finish a contraction and have 2 more. We then sped off. At the first light we came to (on Plymouth & Green) Boy asked if he should run the light. I wasn’t having a contraction so I said “No”. (I was sorry I said that though once another contraction came.) We finally got through the light and on the freeway and this is where things started to get hazy. I remember telling Boy that I could not do this. He calmly said that I could and reminded me to breath. I held onto his hand and squeezed onto him and the “oh crap” handles in the car will all my might and then I started to cry. For a long time after this whole thing was over I could remember exactly what it sounded like but thankfully that memory is quickly fading. It was something of a groaning scream followed by sobs…uncontrollable sobs!

Again we got stopped at a light (Washtenaw & Carpenter) just off the freeway…Boy asked again if he should run it. I said no, but then audibly changed my mind. Boy pulled out from behind the car and safely went thought the intersection.

Now at this point in the story, I’m beginning to feel sick again, and like I need to puke, and poop or pee. I am also now holding myself off the seat with my hands and clenching everything I could. I had a million thoughts running through my head but the few that made it out of my mouth were “I need to poop”, “Ahhhh, my water just broke!”, and “I’m pushing! I’m pushing!” I also remember more crying, screaming and pleading with my Heavenly Father to help me.

Boy turned into the hospital and went to the women’s center and the doors were locked (yes we were at the wrong place) Boy ran back to the car and drove to the ER he pulled into the ambulance bay and ran inside to get help while I sat in the car. While in the car alone I had another contraction and couldn’t stop from pushing. I screamed “Somebody help me!” and then started pushing again. I saw the security guard stand up and run over. I looked down between my legs and saw a perfectly round dark pile of yuck! At first I thought it was the biggest poop I had ever seen! But then I touched it and it was hard. Then I worried it was the placenta. Just before panic set in another contraction and another push. I looked down again and this time saw shoulder and a back. The security guard then arrived with Boy close behind. I looked at the clock, 7:54 a.m. Boy moved the car forward to the correct ER entrance and then things were a blur. I was greeted my 20-30 smiling faces dressed in scrubs and lab coats, someone lifted the baby and cut the cord, the bottom half of my clothing was removed and I was assisted onto a gurney and wheeled into a labor and delivery room…or maybe it was an ER room first and then quickly to a labor and deliver room where things finally started to settle down. I was told it was a baby girl and that they didn’t have a scale so they didn’t know how much she weighed yet. I heard people asking lots of questions, one of which was “Time of Birth?’ No one answered of course because I was the only one there at the time of birth so I got to announce the time of delivery to be the last time I glanced at the clock, 7:54 a.m.

As things began to slow down, the baby was placed in my arms and the adrenalin started to wear off. I began to shake and had to give the baby to Boy because my arms were so weak from lifting myself off the seat to “clench” and then to push and then to not sit on the baby. Boy and I kept looking at each other, the clock and this precious baby and with absolute shock and disbelief…people just don’t have babies that quickly and they don’t have them in the front seat of their cars!

Once things were wrapping up and just before they moved me to the maternity floor, Boy stepped out to make a few phone calls and I was alone with this new baby girl that had been in such a hurry to get here. I started to cry again, but this time it was controlled and I was filled with Joy as I looked at her face and said a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for this new gift and also for the gifts I have already been blessed with , Boy, Roo & Ren.

So in case you got lost somewhere along the way here is the synopsis. From first contraction to delivery, 2 hours elapsed.  All said and done Fish “Fish” Bland weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz was 20 inches long, joined our family in the flesh on the 19th at 7:54 a.m. in the front seat of a Ford Freestar delivered by her mother, The Mom Madsen Bland.

It’s a story we haven’t tired of telling yet so if you think we left something out, or have any questions…give us a call, we would love to clarify any doubt or questions you may have!

Love

Da Blands

Boy, The Mom, Roo, Ren & Fish.