Welcome, Abraham!

Keelie Schroeder
Oct 16, 2020
6 min read

Well, this story is one for the books. Each of my birth stories has gotten shorter and shorter. If there is a number 4, I think I may need to plan for a home birth!

To start, let's back up...

The Friday before our little Abe decided to make his entrance into the world, I thought I was in labor...in the middle of the night of course. So we drove the 30 minutes up to Green Bay only to be told that I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced...fancy talk for not in labor. I had gotten fairly intense Braxton Hicks...fake or practice...contractions with all of my full-term pregnancies so, unfortunately, this was just my body getting ready to give birth (but actually I shouldn't complain this is really a good thing...BH work to strengthen the muscles that will help push the baby out!). With how active I am, my Braxton Hicks had gotten so intense that I no longer could tell the difference between fake and real...do you see how this could be a problem!?

Fast forward to Thursday, October 1...

8:20 am: I had my 40-week appointment with my midwife. She did her usual check of heart tones and then took out the handheld ultrasound to make sure the baby was still head down. She couldn't believe how low the head was...she told me to make my 41-week appointment but she assured me I wouldn't make it that long.

I was not convinced.

She has been telling me how low the baby's head is for weeks now...and I could feel it too! This little one was just very content hanging out in my belly. I never consent to check for dilation because it really means next to nothing. You can be 3 cm dilated for a week or go from nothing to labor in a few hours. Our philosophy is the less unnecessary intervention, the better. So I just figured I was going to be days overdue with this one.

11:43 am: I called my hubby and texted my mom because I had been having some fairly regular contractions. But again, because of my false alarm a week prior, I doubted it. So I went to take a shower to see if they would subside.

12:29 pm: The shower worked. The contractions subsided. I texted my hubby and told him it was a false alarm and I was going to get our other two kids down for their nap.

12:40 pm: I was laying my son down for his nap. Our routine is that I lay with him for a few minutes before going out. Well, I laid with him for about a minute and I felt a water balloon burst between my legs. MY WATER BROKE! I shot up and asked my 4-year-old to get me a towel from the closet and my phone from the kitchen. I told him that the baby was going to be born soon! He was so eager to help.

Just to give you a little background...with my last two pregnancies, my water broke in the hospital hours into actual labor. With my daughter, my water broke and within 15 minutes she was born. So when I called my husband to tell him the news just 15 minutes after I told him it was a false alarm, he was sure I was going to have this baby on our kitchen floor.

So he called an ambulance...

12:50 pm: My great aunt heard the 911 call come in on the scanner so she rushed over to see if I needed help...she lives just a few blocks away. Apparently the call said something about a woman whose water broke and that a 4-year-old would answer the door for the paramedics. She was alarmed...as most people would be hearing that call...and wanted to see if she could help.

Then my husband got home.

Then the ambulance with its 3 paramedics arrived.

Then my dad arrived to stay with the kids.

So by now, there was an audience in my living room and kitchen the size of a small cocktail party all expecting me to be moaning with pain like in the movies...but the strange part was that my contractions had almost stopped for the last 25 minutes, I did not have any more contractions. Sure, my water broke which tells you it was undoubtedly game time but on my end, this was so different from my other labors....until it wasn't...

1:00 pm: By this time my contractions had come back and were about 3 minutes apart and getting intense. So I hopped in the ambulance with my husband trailing behind us in our truck. Let me tell you, I am used to laboring while standing up, bouncing on an exercise ball, or basically doing anything but lying on my back like I had to in the ambulance. That 30 minute ride up to Green Bay was the absolute worst...those bumps...oh man...I do not recommend laboring in moving vehicle...not fun.

1:35 pm: But we made it to the Emergency Department. By now I knew the baby was coming. As soon as they got me transferred to the hospital bed and off the ambulance cart, they took my vitals and check my dilation...believe me they didn't have to look very hard because I was sure the baby's head was just about crowning at this point! My midwife tried to convince me that we should go upstairs to the labor and delivery room but my instincts said get out of this bed!

So I crawled out.

There was an audible gasp that came from the 36 people in the room (okay, so there were not 36 people but that room was so packed full of ED nurses and staff that my midwife literally had to kick people out...) I guessing this was not something they had seen a woman about to have a baby do before! (Later I was told...by many hospital staff in the maternity wing...that the ED can handle any sort of trauma but a woman giving birth in their department causes them to sweat a little!)

I think my favorite part was when I asked for a glass of water and someone asked "Is that okay? Can she do that?" and without hesitation, I said "YES! It is okay...GIVE ME WATER!"

At this point, I was still standing/squatting at the bedside...ready to push. So I did. My midwife told me I would have to help catch the baby because of the position I was in. Honestly, I felt like I could do anything, as long as it meant this all about be over!

I had read blogs about women who had given birth while squatting and I always thought it was kind of bad-ass (excuse the language). I mean, you'd have gravity working in your favor right? From then on, it became a secret bucket list item...

1:45 pm: Bucket list ✅ !

Out came our little Abraham Thomas! 8 pounds 4 ounces, 20 inches long...the smallest to join our little tribe of 3.

Notice how I have yet to mention my husband since we left the house?

1:46 pm: Ryan walks in just in time to hear Abe let out his first little newborn cry.

When he arrived at the hospital initially, he was told to go up to the maternity floor. When he got up there, he was greeted by two nurses: one promptly took our bags right out of his hands and the other quickly herded him towards the door saying "Let's go see if there is a baby!" Ryan was confused because when we left each other not 30 minutes prior, I was far from pushing out a baby. Upon arriving to the ED, all it took was a look at the alarmed staff behind the desk and they knew why Ryan was there. They all pointed to the room I was in...unfortunaly just a moment too late.

But ladies, I am not sad that he missed it. I was not waiting for anyone to deliver that baby. My body had gone through this twice already, I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew that my husband would be there as soon as he could.

I will admit that I felt pretty foolish that Ryan had called the ambulance but I truly do not think we would have made it in time without the help. I am so grateful that he called!

We feel blessed that the chaotic situation ultimately worked out so well...ending in a 24 hour discharge, healthy baby and momma. Ryan and I are so thankful for the care we received from everyone involved. We were surly being held in the Lord’s hands throughout it all!

Now I have a tiny baby to go snuggle while my other 2 are peacefully napping...