The Birth Story, Part 3: Isabella Grace

*If you haven't read part 1 of the birth story you can click here to read it... or click here to read part 2.*

Now, only 5 weeks overdue, the ACTUAL birth story...

JUNE 16th, 2009, TUESDAY MORNING:

5:06am- Just woke up and I can't believe I am still pregnant! I really thought it was going to be last night, but... this little one, is just too content in there. Well, you never know, it could happen today...yeah, right.

5:08am- I get up and go brush my teeth. Figure I better brush my hair and do some makeup in case today is the day. I don't feel any different than yesterday, or the day before, but I refuse to go into labor and not look presentable. Lipstick is a must at all times!

5:16am- Is that a contraction? Lasted around 30 seconds. Hmm, feels a bit more all over than the ones from the last few weeks. Well, you never know. Better let Tim know that today could be the day so that he can be prepared to possibly miss work today.

5:17am- Tell Tim today could be the day, so just be aware. Go back to finish my hair, and here comes another one. Whoa, that was only a minute apart. This is a little stronger than last. This is totally labor. I mean, believe me, I know labor when it hits. After this many babies, there is no doubt.

5:18am- Waddle over to Tim, whom is still waking up from the 1st contraction, only a minute ago, and tell him I am positive this is labor and we should be ready to leave asap, but not before I put on my makeup...he goes to wake up Karizma whom is going to be in the labor room this time.

5:20am- They are coming fast and strong. What happened to the 10 minutes apart and having to wonder if it was true labor or not? We can't take chances, so we better hurry it up. I know my last labor was 90 minutes, but that was a fluke, remember? Still, I start to think that better safe than sorry, or else a helicopter will end up having to pick me up off this mountain.

5:21am- Where is Timmy? He should totally be in here getting ready to leave any minute. There he is, in the kitchen, pouring himself a bowl of Cocoa Puffs, like he has no care in the world. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!! COCOA PUFFS?!! WE HAVE TO GO, TIMMY!"

5:30am- Karizma is dressed and ready. Miguel has loaded Tim's car with all my hospital stuff. I wake up Walker, like I had promised I would do, in case I went into labor while he was asleep. He is so happy and excited and says "today my sister will be born."

5:37am- Go and check what is taking Tim so long. He seems to be a bit out of it and has gotten dressed for work. Nice slacks, dress shoes, and pressed dress shirt. Too bad he hasn't gotten around to doing his hair, which usually takes him a good 15 minutes. He is very, very, very particular about his hair. The hair will have to wait, because these contractions are NOT letting up, coming every minute, for 30 seconds, and I cannot walk or talk through them. Man, this is happening much faster than I thought it would.

5:45am- Finally getting in the car, about to head down this BUMPY dirt road. Tim seems pretty concerned about us making it to the hospital. Karizma is in the back seat pretty quiet. I hope that I am not scaring her, because the contractions are pretty strong now. Good thing the dirt road is only about 3 miles long.

5:51am- Only about 1 mile left to go on the dirt road, but you can tell that with every minute that passes, as does a contraction, Tim gets more and more anxious. He asks if we can call 911 so that we can meet an ambulance at the fire station on our way to the freeway. I tell him it would be more time stopping and getting into the ambulance and that we should just keep heading down to the hospital.

5:52am- Tim is now begging for me to let him call 911. A total submission comes over me as I hate seeing him so upset and I tell him to go ahead and call. In the meantime Karizma calls my Mom, whom has never missed one of my babies being born and then calls our sweet friend Bette, whom we have also invited to watch Isabella's birth.

5:58am- The 911 operator does not get that we live in a very rural area. She wants us to stop and wait for the ambulance. Yeah, right. Tim tells her no. He tells her over and over that we will meet them at the fire station that is enroute to the freeway exit.

6:04am- I see about 5 firefighters standing in front of the station. The ambulance is out on the driveway, ready to go, and the gurney pulled out. I start to cry. "There aren't any women! Oh, Lord, these guys are so big! How are they going to know what to do?!" How I want my Mom right now. They are very strong now, and coming so close together that I don't have concept of time, or much else, for that matter.

6:10am- I am strapped into the gurney. Strapped in. How am I supposed to labor like this? My legs are closed together and have a harness over my shoulders and chest. This is sooo uncomfortable. I want to be back in Timmy's Camry and those comfy leather seats! The firefighter at my side looks like a linebacker for a pro football team. Lord, help me!

6:27am- I look out the window. I can see cars and familiar places. I have managed to wriggle one of my legs out of the lower strap and am trying to give myself some wiggle room up top. The contractions are on top of eachother and I realize it has only been an hour. I am ready to admit to myself and anyone else that the 90 minute labor with my last baby was indeed not a fluke!

6:30am- I see El Cajon, which is a little city on the way to the hospital, which is still a good 15 minutes away, out of the window. I also see traffic. Lots of it. There is an accident just ahead. I ask the linebacker to just take me to the nearest hospital because I think the baby is coming very soon. I just know it. HE says not to worry, that we have plenty of time. I can tell he feels bad for me, because I am moaning and groaning through my contractions. Yeah, they are strong, but managable. He lays a hand on my shoulder to comfort me and I am truly touched by his kindness.

6:38am- I tell the linebacker at my side that the baby is coming. I have to push. The firefighter behind me, that looks a lot like Tim's Uncle Gene, tells the linebacker to check me. He lifts the blanket and says, like I am not there, "No, she has a long way to go. She isn't even crowning yet." I am thinking to myself, I haven't crowned since my 3rd baby! They just come out now! You want some crowning... I'll show you some crowning! I did warn the linebacker that I was going to push, and again he lays a hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eye and says, "Just do what you know to do. You can do this." I can tell he is saying it to be kind and supportive, but not because he actually thinks I am going to pop this baby out in about 2 seconds.

2 Seconds later: One push and Isabella's head is now out. I quietly tell the linebacker that the baby's head is now out. He looks at me like he feels bad for me because I must be delusional, but will check to humor me. He lifts up that blanket again and if I could bottle the look on his face, it would make me laugh all day long. He obviously could not believe it and says to the other firefighter, "The baby is coming! The baby is coming!" All this is happening in what feels like slow motion, but is actually going so fast. Within another push her shoulder is out, than another, and she is laying on the gurney between my legs. No one to catch her. How I longed to be able to reach down and grab her to put her against my chest. But, as they lifted the blanket off me I noticed all the meconium. They started to wipe her off and I looked out the window so I could get some idea of where my baby had been born. Yep, figures. On 8 freeway in front of the Costco and Babies R Us. (Two of our favorite places.) I started to get serious twangs of guilt that Tim had missed her birth, and Karizma, and Bette, and especially my Mom. But, looking at her made it all better. I loved how the linebacker looked at her with such wonderment on his face and he admired her cooing at her saying, "You are so pretty and pink!"

6:48am- We are now parked in front of the hospital. We have been sitting her for a few minutes as the firemen finish up some paperwork and then cut the cord. They call time of birth now, although it was actually 10 minutes ago. They finally hand her to me and it is awkward with all the straps, but she is so beautiful and I can't contain the tears and joy and emotion. They swing the back doors open and there is Tim and Karizma with big 'I knew it' smiles on their faces. As they strolled me through the halls of the hospital one of the firemen asked a nurse where labor and delivery was. She says, as we all board the elevator, "Having a baby, huh?" D U H!!! Everyone just gave her a look like she must be kidding, since I am holding her. Funny how everything around me is a blur. I only have eyes for her right now. Faces, hallways, rooms all just blend in together. I do apologize to Tim and Karizma for not being able to make Isabella wait. They are so sweet about the whole thing.

As they get me situated in the room I do take a minute to look at her, finally, and determine that, yes, she is truly a girl. Her skin is so pretty and pink, like the linebacker said. She has soft light brown hair, like her Daddy's. She is so squishy and warm and precious. I am in love, love, love. Isabella, you, my sweet girl, are an answer to prayer. The desire of my heart.

My Mom finally makes it down. The Hammang's arrive. My sister, Elisa, brings all the boys down to meet her. It is a birthday party in my room. Everyone rejoicing and joining together in prayers of thankfulness for her safe arrival. I know that Tim is saying a quiet prayer of thanks that I did not deliver a meconium covered baby on his nice leather seats, in the car that he won't even let the boys wear their shoes in. And I say a prayer of thankfulness for the Holy Spirit that had me be a submissive wife and listen to my husband about calling 911. It would have been heartbreaking to not have a suction for Isabella in Tim's car because there is NO DOUBT she would have been born in that Camry. The rest of the day is sweet and we count down the minutes until we can take our new baby doll home. Sometimes, well, most times, life does not go according to your plan and Isabella ends up spending 11 days in the NICU. However, we are thankful for the doctors that caught the meconium aspiration as it could have been a real serious mess if we had taken the baby back up the mountain.

Thanks to everyone that prayed for her, has continued to pray, and for your patience to hear my story. The day of her birth I thought it was funny. While she was in the NICU, I placed blame on that ambulance and the firemen. We spent a lot of time in prayer for her and what she was going through. She even had a brain scan done while in there that the doctors were concerned about. It showed a cyst on her brain. The one that the tech, at 36 weeks pregnant, had said was gone, was actually still present. The doctors determined that it was the CPC from before and affirmed it was nothing to worry about. I see how the Lord had us be blind to the knowledge that it remained on her brain during this ordeal so that we would be focused on the real issue at hand. Now, I see how God used it to grow me. Us. How it taught me to build up hope. And, God doesn't want me wallowing in playing the blame game. She is healthy now and instead the Lord is pushing me to pray for those wonderful men in that ambulance and their firehouse and their safety. I am humbled by their sweetness, their gentleness with me, and the apparent joy that they had in bringing Isabella into the world. We look forward to thanking them again soon.

Now, if we can figure out how to get a birth certificate for this little one. We have to jump through hoops, and provide lots of proof of things, and get statements from those that saw her come into the world, and present her to the offices that take care of this stuff downtown. It is going to be a hassle, but, she is worth it all.