Charlotte's 0th birthday!

The birth of Charlotte!

To make this whole process even more interesting I have been living in Detroit for almost 3 months doing radiology rotations at hospitals I am interested in for residency next year. These are really important rotations for our next 5 years so just a little unfortunate timing!

Ash and I had decided with our midwife, Peggy, that we were going to try and induce on Friday, 9/11. This way we could "plan ahead" and I could try to get home for the entire labor process! We were both a little skeptical about having our baby on 9/11, because this day always brings some feelings of sadness and we didn't necessarily want it associated with our baby's birth. In the end we thought it would be fine and went with it..

Ashley had an appt. set for Thursday, 9/10, to make sure she was ready for induction and we were both very nervous and excited for her appointment the day before! I don't think either one of us slept very well Wednesday night... Well, Thursday morning I was in a procedure room helping with a liver biopsy, with my phone outside the room and no overhead pages coming into the procedure room... So, during the only two hours I couldn't be contacted, Ashley's water broke 250 miles away!! I looked up at some point to see four residents urgently waving me down to get out and "hit the road!" Ashley had called the operater and told the radiology department secretary to go find me, QUICK!!

Of course, because we weren't planning for labor until the next day, none of my stuff was ready to go! I ran over to my apartment, conveniently located in the back of the hospital parking lot, and threw as many things as possible into the car and hit the road a little after 10:00 a.m. As I drove to Erie, around 90 mph in our Toyota Yaris, I passed a cop sitting on the side of the road with a radar gun pointed RIGHT AT ME!! I said a silent prayer and the cop didn't even flinch! I got phone calls from Melaura, our friend who graciously helped Ashley through the first part of labor, and our midwife. They politely told me to "hurry up" because Ashley was moving right along!! That's about the time I upped the speed to 92, but a Yaris can only go sooo fast...

I arrived at the hospital and sprinted (literally) in my dress clothes accross the street and upstairs. Melaura helped me out with some "coach" pointers right before she left, and away we went! Ash was such a trooper during the contractions, tuffing it out and never once said anything mean to me or any of the nurses! She took some IV medication to help calm herself down a little, which worked like a charm! She was able to take mini naps in between labor, and even had dreams about Tater... She woke up once declaring, in a frustrated voice, that "Tater's soaked..." Going through all of this and she was worried about our dog, maternal instincts anyone?!? She decided not to get an epidural, and once the pushing started she did such a great job! She was a like a seasoned veteran, polished breathing, controlled pushing, I couldn't have "coached" it any better! :) The first thing I saw was a full head of hair, and then I got to deliver Charlotte with my bare hands which was sooo awesome! What an experience...

First two things Ashley said after delivery:

1. In response to Peggy saying "It's a girl!" Ash said "Did you actually check!?" She had been very nervous that we were going to have a boy, with all of our girl clothes and decorated room! Peggy responded: "she has a vagina!"

2. "That actually wasn't so bad!" And all the nurses looked at her like she was loony! In the end Charlotte weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces, had a full head of hair, 10 fingers and 10 "finger" toes, and cute pudgy cheeks!

What a day full of blessings, I arrived in time to help Ash through the last four hours of labor, mom and baby were healthy, and our nurses, midwife, and Melaura were so helpful and great during the entire thing! Hope that helps give everyone a little insight into my side of things... I know we can't see you all for a while, so we thought we'd let you in on a little of our happenings!