plans of her own...

Tuesday at 3:37am our second little girl came into our lives. here's the story: our plan was to check into the hospital on Wednesday morning and our scheduled c section was to be completed by 7:20am. However Evelyn had her own plans which we would find out soon enough. On Monday I hurried home from work at 7pm because I had some things to take care of before we were to check into the hospital on Wednesday morning. I needed to cut a friends grass and pick up a new (used) glider with ottoman for Evelyn's room (finally complete). So I get home, change my clothes and I'm running out the door when I notice that rings on my wife's key chain were one short of a pair. A few months ago she took her rings off because her fingers were swollen as a result of the pregnancy. I asked if she had lost one. She said no. Well there's only one here. What? let me see. it was her great grandmother's ring and sure as shit, it was lost. A few years ago, I had had it refinished and added a sapphire and given it to her as an engagement ring. This ring was about 200 years old and it meant quite a lot to Jackie. So, nine months into what wasn't the easiest pregnancy in the world, she's balling on the floor of the living room wondering what could have happened to her family heirloom. I hated to do it, but I had stuff that needed to be done. So I said, "i'm really sorry baby. I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can." So I go cut the grass, then pick her and Gracyn up at home. We drive to pick up the glider (sweet by the way) and start on an adventure to look for the ring. We drove to 3 different parking lots where she had been that day. Didn't find it anywhere. Tore the house apart, the car, got on my hands and knees in the parking lot of Target and Babies 'R Us. nothing. By the time we get home, it's about 11pm. So I get some food (haven't eaten all day) and take a shower (I still stink from the grass cutting) and walk the dogs. (i'm getting to the point now). I get back to the house at about 1am. I sit down and start watching something mindless on tv; it's how I relax at the end of the day. Jackie comes downstairs at 1:45. "my water just broke." SHIT. we weren't prepared at all. We were so certain that we were going to have a scheduled c section on Wednesday that it never dawned on us that Evelyn might have plans of her own. So I scramble around the house, throwing random items that we may or may not need into a bag, and start making phone calls. All we really needed was for someone to come over and hang out at the house for a few hours while we were at the hospital. Gracyn was sleeping and she rarely wakes up in the middle of the night. I called Bobbi Jo, I called Brian, Jackie called Kelly, I call Jimmy, I called Jessee, Jackie called Cortney, Carmen, I called Jason. YES! Our friends that live right up the street have an 11 month old and they were awake anyway because he had an ear infection. I get all of Gracyn's crap together, wake her up, load her into the car and drive her to our savior's house. Thanks Carm and Jason. You guys are truly life savers! If it wasn't for you, Evelyn probably would have been born on my kitchen floor. (I would have swiffered first!). We high tailed it to the hospital. I didn't get lost this time! YEAH! the 4 minute drive to the er took more like 2 minutes as I squealed tire around every corner, ran every red light while Jackie was in the passenger seat saying things like, "slow down please. it's not going to do us any good if you get into an accident or get arrested before we get there. THE SEAT BELT IS DIGGING INTO MY BELLY! SLOW DOWN!" I didn't care. I was moving. So we get to the emergency room and I pull up to the er valet entrance. As we drove up, there was a cop convention outside the er entrance. (my registration is expired). At the moment I couldn't care less about the registration. I pull up, jump out of the car, run around to the passenger door and one of the cops is helping Jackie out of the car already. (good thing. it's not like any of them were doing anything anyway.). I tell the cop that Jackie's contractions are about 2 1/2 minutes apart. the cop knew what time it was. he helps Jackie into a wheelchair and walked at warp speed to the maternity ward (all the way on the other side of the hospital campus). We get to he nurses station, there was about 8 of them standing around talking. "um, hi. we're having a baby." They asked if she was having contractions. I said yes and told them the duration. Organized chaos ensued. They grabbed Jackie and threw her in the closest room, propped up her knees and started feeling around. She was 8cm dilated! This baby's coming now! Dr. Wood (obgyn) comes in and talks to us for a few minutes. "well you're 8 1/2cm dilated now. do you want to continue with your c section plans?" "yes. our first daughter was born via c section. let's just do it that way again." Anesthesiologist comes in, "you ready to get prepped for surgery?" "yes. do it already." Nurses come back in and feel around a little more. 9cm. "no time for surgery. you wouldn't make it to the room. the baby's coming out now." "epidural?" "no time for an epidural." SHIT. I tried as hard as I could to calm Jackie down. She was crying and clenching and sweating. Not more than 20 minutes later I see the head. 2 minutes later, I the head is out. 30 seconds, the shoulders. Push baby. it's almost over. you're doing so good. (i force the tears back remembering the somber words of my mother: "don't let your wife see you cry! man up and get in there and show her everything is going to be alright!") Evelyn pushed her shoulders through, her chest, torso, hips, legs, feet. I'M A FATHER OF TWO! Dr. Wood did his little squirting air into her throat and nostrils thing (freaked me out). She cries. I cut the cord (by the way, the cord is kind of hard to cut through. it's like cutting through a 14/3 cable). The nurses clean her up and give her to mommy. Tears. Final stats: 7lbs, 9oz, 20in. Labor time: 1 hour 52 minutes; 4 stitches. I'm so proud of you Jackie! You're tough as nails, sweet as pie and cute as a button. How did I get so lucky?