Bethany's Birth Story - Mark's long-winded
version
Bethany Hope was born at 10:03pm at Nativiti
birthing center in the Woodlands, TX. She
weighed 6lbs, 11oz and was 19.25 inches. Mom
and Baby are doing great!
**GUYS you can stop reading here. This is all your wives
expect you to know, and everything below may be too
much information. LADIES: continue reading. Melissa
will give you the rest of the story when you call her.**
Labor started gradually with Melissa calling me
to come home at noonish to help get our 3 other
little girls - Becca, Rachel, and Susannah - down
for rest time. After rest time, I took all 3
little girls to Walmart while Melissa finished
packing their bags to go to my parents' house.
All the while Melissa's contractions were in the
7-10 minutes apart range and getting more
significant each hour.
I dropped the girls at my mom and dad's and
then went home by about 6:00pm
Pregnant ladies like to nest. I did a great deal
of cleaning and straightening of our home after
my little girls left, so it would be a nice clean
home when we came home.
I continued to time many of her contractions,
but it was fairly casual as this is our 4th baby.
We have done this before. One of my major
responsibilities in all this is knowing when we
need to leave to go to the birth place. Melissa
has no sense for this. She is in denial or just not
aware of how soon the baby may come.
Melissa took a shower at about 8:30. She said
she had 4 contractions in the shower. I knew
she was in there for only 10 minutes. It was
time to go.
We don't like to go early because laboring at
home is so much more peaceful. Laboring in the
car, however, is less peaceful than at the
birthing center would have been. It is a 45
minute drive to Nativiti.
We left the house at about 9pm. Usually the
contractions slow down a little in the car. Not so
this particular Friday night. On 610 there was a
little bit of construction shutting down 2 right
lanes. My laboring wife was not pleased at the
prospect of sitting in traffic. I was ready to
motor down the left shoulder if necessary. It
was not necessary; there was hardly a slowdown
at that hour.
About 15 minutes later we were north of IAH
on 45 and she had a contraction that was pretty
strong right at 9:30. There was another 6
minutes later that broke her water. Our little
car did not take long to accelerate from about
70 to about 80. We were still almost 8 miles
out, and I knew things were going to happen fast
from this point. Contractions were now coming
every 3 minutes or so.
I made our exit, did the illegal U-turn in the
name of expedience, and got us to the place.
I nearly had to carry her inside because she
could barely walk.
There was another family there giving birth
right as we pulled up. The midwife called in
reinforcements when called her about the
water breaking 8 miles out. We arrived before
reinforcements. The grandmother of the other
baby being born, herself a nurse, helped us until
Emily (labor assistant) arrived. Emily came in,
and caught our baby about 2 minutes later.
Bethany was born 13 minutes after we arrived!
-Mark
version
Bethany Hope was born at 10:03pm at Nativiti
birthing center in the Woodlands, TX. She
weighed 6lbs, 11oz and was 19.25 inches. Mom
and Baby are doing great!
**GUYS you can stop reading here. This is all your wives
expect you to know, and everything below may be too
much information. LADIES: continue reading. Melissa
will give you the rest of the story when you call her.**
Labor started gradually with Melissa calling me
to come home at noonish to help get our 3 other
little girls - Becca, Rachel, and Susannah - down
for rest time. After rest time, I took all 3
little girls to Walmart while Melissa finished
packing their bags to go to my parents' house.
All the while Melissa's contractions were in the
7-10 minutes apart range and getting more
significant each hour.
I dropped the girls at my mom and dad's and
then went home by about 6:00pm
Pregnant ladies like to nest. I did a great deal
of cleaning and straightening of our home after
my little girls left, so it would be a nice clean
home when we came home.
I continued to time many of her contractions,
but it was fairly casual as this is our 4th baby.
We have done this before. One of my major
responsibilities in all this is knowing when we
need to leave to go to the birth place. Melissa
has no sense for this. She is in denial or just not
aware of how soon the baby may come.
Melissa took a shower at about 8:30. She said
she had 4 contractions in the shower. I knew
she was in there for only 10 minutes. It was
time to go.
We don't like to go early because laboring at
home is so much more peaceful. Laboring in the
car, however, is less peaceful than at the
birthing center would have been. It is a 45
minute drive to Nativiti.
We left the house at about 9pm. Usually the
contractions slow down a little in the car. Not so
this particular Friday night. On 610 there was a
little bit of construction shutting down 2 right
lanes. My laboring wife was not pleased at the
prospect of sitting in traffic. I was ready to
motor down the left shoulder if necessary. It
was not necessary; there was hardly a slowdown
at that hour.
About 15 minutes later we were north of IAH
on 45 and she had a contraction that was pretty
strong right at 9:30. There was another 6
minutes later that broke her water. Our little
car did not take long to accelerate from about
70 to about 80. We were still almost 8 miles
out, and I knew things were going to happen fast
from this point. Contractions were now coming
every 3 minutes or so.
I made our exit, did the illegal U-turn in the
name of expedience, and got us to the place.
I nearly had to carry her inside because she
could barely walk.
There was another family there giving birth
right as we pulled up. The midwife called in
reinforcements when called her about the
water breaking 8 miles out. We arrived before
reinforcements. The grandmother of the other
baby being born, herself a nurse, helped us until
Emily (labor assistant) arrived. Emily came in,
and caught our baby about 2 minutes later.
Bethany was born 13 minutes after we arrived!
-Mark
Katherine, Me, Melissa with Bethany, Emily
Midwife Assistant
Midwife Assistant