Eli Arrives!

This is Don writing as the special guest blogger on this post . . .
This post is very late in coming but it seems like we hit the end of July and life got very busy and very complicated quicker than we were expecting – much quicker. 
By way of background . . . as of July 30th Rachel had given birth to three children – all girls – all late – and all were induced.  (OK Liberty started on her own but then required a Pitosin (sp?) drip.)
So on Sunday, July 31st with Eli’s due date more than a week away we did not expect any excitement – we were wrong.  Here’s how it happened counting down to the moment of delivery. 
7:00 AM (T -10 hours 35 minutes)
Don leaves for Bishopric Meeting. 
9:00 AM (T - 8 hours 35 minutes)
Pregnant Rachel manages to get the girls to Church and sits uncomfortably through Sacrament Meeting. 

10:15 AM (T - 7 hours 20 minutes) 
Having made a good showing at Sacrament Meeting Rachel heads home with Liberty to be uncomfortable in a more comfortable place. 
12:00 PM (T - 5 hours 35 minutes)
Church is over and Autumn and Bizzie head home. 
1:30 PM (T - 4 hours 5 minutes)
Don is done with meetings and heads home.
2:00 PM (T – 3 hours 35 minutes)
Rachel serves a delicious Sunday dinner of roast and potatoes. 
4:00 PM ( T – 1 hour 35 minutes)
Rachel shows Liberty YouTube videos of newborns to help Liberty get oriented to the idea of what’s coming. 
4:30 PM(T – 65 minutes)
Rachel starts to have “really really minor” “braxton hicks” type contractions – similar to what she’d had earlier in the week.  Rachel starts walking around the house trying to “walk off” the “really minor” “braxton hicks” contractions that she’s having. 
5:15 PM (T – 20 minutes)
Rachel decides to take a bath. 
5:19 PM (T – 16 minutes)
Don hears Rachel exhale loudly in the bathroom and decides to investigate.  He finds Rachel hunched over in the tub in the middle of a “really minor” “braxton hicks” contraction. 
5:20 PM (T – 15 minutes)
Rachel assures Don that she is not in labor – in the middle of which Rachel has another contraction.  In response, Don recommends that out of an abundance of caution they get Rachel out of the tub, dressed, and they go to the hospital.
5:25 (T – 10 minutes)
Don calls Rachel’s sister Mary and asks her to come watch the girls – who are sitting on the couch wondering what is happening. 
5:32 (T – 3 minutes)
Rachel and Don get in the van and head toward the hospital.  Don calls Mary again to tell her that they’ve left the girls at the house.  Rachel is doing her labor-breathing-thing.   
5:34:01 (T – 1 minute)
At 400 North Main Street Rachel’s water breaks (with an audible whoosh!).  Don accelerates, but is thinking; “Ok, that’s not so good for the car but I’ve seen enough movies to know that the woman’s water usually breaks when they are at a restaurant or something and there’s still a half hour – or an hour – to get to the hospital.”  Rachel says: “I don’t want to have the baby naturally!” (Rachel [and Don] are both big believers in the magic of modern drugs.) 
5:34:30 (T – :30 seconds)
At about 1000 North Main Rachel – in a panting voice – says: “I need to push - call 911 – call 911!”  To which Don thought: “Got it – calling 911 – but for the love of Pete – DON”T PUSH!”  A lot of things happened all at once next . . . First, Rachel did not NOT push – so Eli was coming (apparently “not pushing” is difficult to do).  Don was pulling over with one hand and calling 911 with the other.  Van stopped at 1050 North Main Street in Springville (with a very perplexed looking Hispanic family about 20 yards down the sidewalk).  Don was reporting the address as he went around the van and opened the door.

5:35:00 (TIME!)
Rachel is holding Eli as Don opens the van doors.  And that was it.  Eli was born.  We quickly grabbed a towel that was in the van (we have no idea why it was in the van – and we probably don’t want to know).  So much could have gone wrong here – but didn’t.  He wasn’t breach – there was no cord wrapped around his neck – within a couple of seconds Eli opened his mouth and you could see his chest rise and he began breathing.  He cried a little bit (glad to hear him cry) – and then settled down into the blanket.  he had great color – if he’d been at the hospital his APGAR score would’ve been a 10.  Don tied off the umbilical cord with his shoelace.  And Rachel began to ooh and ahh over Eli – about how beautiful he was – and how perfect he was – she might as well have been in a comfortable hospital bed – but the fact that she’d just delivered a baby un-medicated sitting up in a van along the side of the road was, at least for that moment, lost on her as she comforted her new son.  Don picked the phone back up and updated the 911 operator on what had just happened.   
5:35:45 (T + 45 seconds)
At this point Don realized he had a camera on his phone and (with Rachel’s permission) snapped the picture below.  Somehow Rachel managed a smile.      

And then we waited.  We exchanged some jokes and shook our heads at what had just happened.  Unbelievable – and so blessed.  About two minutes after the birth a policeman arrived.  I think he looked about as rattled as we did.  Once he’d confirmed the umbilical cord was tied off he offered Don his I-like-to-gut-buffalo size knife and Don cut the cord – with Rachel watching (sorry). 
5:38:00 (T+3 minutes)
The Springville Fire Chief had jumped in his SUV when he heard the call and arrived soon after the policeman.  He quickly checked Eli – who was doing great – then set to work on Rachel who was still having contractions in order to deliver the placenta. 
5:40:00 (T+5 minutes)
The ambulance arrived (driven by one of our friends Jose) and they moved Rachel out of the van – onto a gurney – and into the back of the ambulance.  Now, mind you – the ambulance was not pulled to the side of the road.  It was blocking at least one lane of traffic so there was a quickly building backup of cars with people craning their necks to see what was happening.  They saw Rachel go by on the gurney and then Don go by with the baby.  The look from guys: “Oh wow – check that out!”  The look from girls: hand to the mouth – silence – shaking of head. 
5:45:00 (T + 10 minutes)
And here we are in the ambulance.  Jose did a great job getting to the hosptial fast.  Eli did a great job finding Rachel-alternates to suck on for the time being.  And Rachel was busy trying to get rid of the placenta – and dealing with the shock of a lightning fast delivery. 

5:55:00 (T + 20 minutes)
We arrive at the hospital.  Rachel is wheeled toward labor and delivery.  Eli and Don are coming up behind (Eli still wrapped in the towel found in the van).  Two reactions from hospital personnel: (1) “Ahhhhh, look at the cute baby – and what a brave mommy!” (2) (with furrowed brows and head shaking) “Can’t believe they didn’t get themselves here sooner.”  We were exchanging calls with family members at this point – most of which were beginning with: “What the [insert expletive of choice] is happening?”

I call this Rachel’s Let-Me-Tell-You-About-The-Day-I’ve-Had picture.  In shock over the fast delivery – and still having contractions in order to deliver the placenta.  In my view – a beautiful brave mommy.   
6:05:00 (T + 30 minutes)
Rachel delivers the placenta as her doctor comes through the door asking if she’s left anything for him to do.  He works on Rachel while Don is watching them check Eli out.  Below you can see Don’s shoelace still tied to the umbilical cord – and the van-towel still with him.  There’s also the frog blanket kindly supplied by the ambulance.  

6:15:00 (T + 40 minutes)
Here we are with the ambulance crew – who were wonderful.  We declined the waiver that would have allowed a media release. 

7:30:00 (T + 1 hour 55 minutes)
Things were in a much calmer state by now and the three older sister’s had arrived. 

10:00:00 (T + 2 hours 25 minutes)
Don returns to the van – aka – CSI-Springville. 
Closing Thoughts:
(1) I just realized that I wrote this post in 3rd person  - so excuse that. 
(2) I think it is important for women to closely study the difference between braxton-hicks contractions and the real thing. 
(3) Sometimes things happen that you have no control over and you have no choice but to let the Lord take control.  In retrospect I am grateful for the Lord’s calming assurance through that whole thing – and what I suspect was his intervention to clear the way of all the things that COULD have gone wrong – but didn’t.  Those couple of minutes we spent alone on the side of the road were poignant and beautiful and will be one of my favorite memories forever. 
(4) I married the most amazing person ever.  If she can do that – what CAN’T she do?  She was calm – she showed grace under fire – she displayed (even in that extreme moment) concern, and love, and appreciation for this new little miracle.  It wasn’t “Here Don – take him – I’m going to freak out here for a minute over what just happened.” (Which, frankly, would’ve been a reasonable reaction.)  It was: “Look at him – he’s perfect – here let me hold him.”  And then she cooed at him and did her best to comfort him.  That is, in my mind, heroic.

So now we have Eli.  A happy, healthy, hungry, boy who smiles and giggles at his sisters – loves to be held by grandparents but loves most of all to be with his mommy.