The Business of Being Born Message Board

Baby’s Birth Date: 4/4/05

Birth Story: I had had several bouts of contractions and went to the hospital, two hours away from our rural town, to get monitored. Although I was effaced to 80 percent and dilated at a 2, I was sent home. That was Friday evening. On Saturday, I was fine, and didn’t notice anything much. On Sunday, I felt extreme pressure and it hurt to sit, walk, or be in any position, really. I started having contractions that night at about midnight, but figured it was false labor again. I went back to bed, only to get up in a lot of pain. I called the doctor and was now not able to breathe or talk through contractions. He said to come in the morning. I took a warm shower and by the time I was done, my husband decided it was too intense to wait. We dropped of our baby with a family member and started the two hour drive through rural mountain passes at 4 a.m. Fifteen minutes into the drive, I had hard contractions. I stopped to pee on the side of the road in the wind and cold, and I actually felt better. As we came to Beryl junction I screamed at my husband that I felt so much pressure and I was scared. We turned to go to St. George, hoping to make it to the hospital. As we came into Enterprise, I felt the urge to push, and I was terrified because I knew we still had almost an hour to a doctor. I told my husband to pull over and call the hospital. I screamed through contractions as he was on the phone. They told him to call 911 for a police escort. We got on the road again and I called 911. Unable to talk through contractions, now on top of one another, the dispatcher wanted to send an ambulance. I said I wasn’t going to have a baby, I just needed to get there faster! As we passed through Veyo, passing a hay truck along the way, I told Robert I couldn’t make it. I screamed at him to pull over and let me out. He wanted to just get to the hospital. After a couple pleas, he pulled over in Dammeron Valley. I told him I just needed to pee and the pressure would be relieved. I stood there, hunched on the hood of the car, crying because I couldn’t pee and the pressure was increasing. He said I needed to get in the car. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to sit. I wanted to squat. I got down in the sand in a frog position as the contractions came. I swayed with them, groaned with them. A man and his teenage son pulled up behind us and asked if I was in labor and needed help. My husband was already with the dispatcher from 911. As a contraction ended, I stood up and I felt the warm rush of my water breaking. I told Robert and he helped me into the car. With my feet up on the dash, he looked into my eyes and helped me not to be scared. As I pushed, I didn’t feel pain. I felt such relief and so much power within myself. A moment later, the volunteer rescue squad came and a woman jumped right in to deliver the baby and my husband held my hand through the back window. A few minutes later the ambulance showed up and rushed us to the hospital. Little Will spent time in the NICU for cold shock and complications from inhaling meconium. The nurses at the hospital held my hands as the doctor cleaned me and checked the placenta. In the dim room, my nurse washed me and reassured me. As the week went on, I tried not to cry, but one evening, as I was dealing with all the NICU machines, I just broke down. All the “what ifs” kept haunting me. It was so cold and windy and I was so scared that night. I wasn’t expecting to give birth in a car. I wanted to feel safe, with nurses and doctors. The nurses and social worker took time to talk to me and help me through my emotions. Now, almost three years later, I am grateful I had the opportunity to experience birth on my own. I have had two inductions due to complications, and the natural birth gave me strength as a woman and as a mom. My body knew what to do the whole time. And we get a cool birth certificate, too. It says at the place of birth the mile marker and highway number.