'The Valet Baby'

1:00AM:  I laid down in my bed with Troy at 1am, thinking that my contractions would stop completely as they had in the days and weeks before.  I once again wrapped my arms around my pregnancy pillow (you know, the Snoogle or Froogle or Pringle Dingle pillow...one of those that costs $75 bucks and promises you'll sleep like a log.  We named him Bob.), hoping it would be the last time.

I realized the contractions were too strong and uncomfortable for me to lay down and decided to get out of bed to walk around some more as soon as I finished my last contraction.  But before I could stand up, I felt the baby administer two hearty punches to my cervix and my bag of waters completely blew out with a gush of water.

I whispered, "Troyyyy.  Troyyyy.  Troyyyy."

Then a tap.

Then a nudge.

Then a shove.

"I think my water just broke."

"What?" 

"MY WATER JUST BROKE ALL OVER THE BED."

That got his attention.

He sat up calmly and said that we could call the midwives and his mom to come over to stay with the boys while they slept.

I asked him to move a bit more quickly.

I stood up and water gushed down my legs, but then stopped completely.  Did I just pee?  Shouldn't the amniotic fluid still be coming out if my water actually broke?

Okay, maybe we do have some time.

1:10AM: Troy called the midwives to say that I thought my water might have broken.  She said we could hang out and wait an hour or so and call back later.

1:20AM: He then called his mom who arrived 10 minutes later.  I'm not sure she had slept a wink in the two weeks before the birth.  She must have been sleeping in her clothes!

I had two distinctly different contractions and knew it was time to go.  I had to flag Troy down in the whirlwind to tell him to forget the phone chargers and get me to the hospital!

1:25AM: We leave the house and I called to tell my sister that I 'thought' I was in labor and we were finally heading to the hospital.

We were calm, we were excited, and that all changed soon after we pulled onto highway 59.

Leaving the house unsure if I was in labor, to being certain that I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time, all within a matter of minutes.

Troy drove between 95mph and 110mph the entire way there.  Looking up through the windshield between contractions, it looked like we were in a racing video game.  

By the time we reached the Sweetwater exit, things were getting intense.  At Beltway 8 Troy was promising me that we were close.  We were NOT close and I knew it.  By the time we reached the Kirby exit, I knew I wasn't going to make it.  Finally we were at the Main Street exit and I had hope that we actually were getting closer.

By the time we reached the fountain in the med center, I felt Truett's head begin to crown.  The familiar 'ring of fire' told me that he was only minutes away.

I instructed Troy not to stop for any more red lights and he obliged without hesitation.  After all, he had been hoping to get a police escort since we had left the house!

I could hear Troy on the phone trying to get through the 97 prompts to reach the after hours call service for the midwives, but he was unable to get through to our midwife before we reached the valet driveway after running our final red light.

2:04AM: I had one more contraction in the car before I was able to stand up.  But once I was on my feet, there was no moving.

Much to the dismay of the poor valet men and the HPD officer, I was not able to sit down in the wheelchair, walk or move.  When I made mention of the fact that I could feel his head, everyone kicked into action and the officer called the emergency response team down to the valet area.

Troy urged me not to push yet while simultaneously yelling for a doctor.  But if you've ever given birth, you know that not pushing is not an option at that point!

Seconds later, I told Troy, "I CAN FEEL THE HEAD....I'M NOT KIDDING."

2:05AM: Troy jumped into action.  He reached down to feel that in Truett's head was in fact completely out, got my pants down and supported Truett's head with both hands.  What a relief it was when he encouraged me to push with the next contraction, and with the second push, Truett had arrived!

I begged Troy to catch him and not drop him because I could feel the force that his slippery little body came out with.  But he had him with both hands and quickly announced that Truett was PERFECT!

I finally obliged the valet and sat down in the wheelchair, Troy placed Truett on my chest and with relief in the same breath, I told Truett and Troy that I loved them and said hello to my sweet new baby.  Moments later the emergency response team came downstairs, stunned to see that they weren't there to catch a baby, but to care for a baby who had already arrived!

The 15 doctors and nurses sprung into action but Truett never once left my chest.  I was in love!

We never got his 1 minute or even 10 minute APGAR scores recorded (though I declared that he got 10s across the board) and we did our best to estimate his time of birth based on Troy's phone records, much to the dismay of the baby-nurse who wanted it to be exact to the minute.  After the nurse asked for the time of birth for the third time, I laughed and said that I forgot to check my watch.

I've been giving Troy a hard time for thinking that he is now qualified to be an M.D., but I truly could not have done it without him.  He handle the situation perfectly (with the exception of the constant string of jokes he made on the drive to the hospital).  What an amazing experience and story that we will have the privilege of telling for the rest of his life!