Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 19:34:04 -0600
Reply-To: Bret Berger <bret@STONEFLYTECH.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bret Berger <bret@STONEFLYTECH.COM>
Subject: Fw: 2 go in, 3 come out
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
List members,
This e-mail, received yesterday from my brother-in-law Craig Broberg in
Portland, Oregon, illustrates the wisdom and practicality of Westfalia
ownership. Anyone with suggestions for names may contact Craig and Alyson
at: craigbroberg@yahoo.com.
-bret
1982 diesel Westfalia
Saint George, Utah
-----------
Dear Friends
We had a baby last night after a long wait. Alyson had a
precipitous labor which only lasted about 45 minutes. The
baby caught us by surprise--we didn't make it to the
hospital. Instead, the baby was born in our volkswagen
campervan, with me having to be the midwife. Despite the
rocky start, the baby is fine, and so is Alyson. Here is
the full story if you're interested. Reader's discretion
advised: may not be suitable for readers unaccustomed to
births in campervans.
A week overdue, Alyson had fetal monitoring Friday morning
with no problems. That night she had her first contraction
at 9:35pm, and by 10:00 we knew they were coming regularly
and that it was time to go. I took the suitcase to the
van, put down the back seat, got a blanket to put back
there, and started the motor. When I went back in to get
Alyson she was obviously now in heavy labor-that frantic,
screaming, demanding phase of labor. Yes I had the towel,
yes I'll get your purse, yes I'm hurrying. She tried to
get comfortable to walk to the car, but since the
contraction wouldn't let up Alyson didn't want to stand.
Finally, we pulled her to her feet and led her (half
dragged her actually) slowly along to the door and out to
the van. It was about 10:15 pm when we left. She was
really in pain.
Finally en route, with Alyson recumbent on the stretched
out back seat, the conversation went something like this:
Alyson: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Why do we have to live so far away from the hospital!!"
(We only live 5 miles away)
Craig: "Deep breaths, Alyson."
Alyson: "AAAAAAHHHHHHH!! Drive slower."
Craig: "I'm driving slower."
Alyson: "OOOOOOEEEEEAAAAWWHH!!!!! Drive FASTER."
Craig: "I'm driving faster, we'll get there, Alyson."
Alyson, after 1 mile: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
My water bag just broke!!"
Craig, speeding: "Deep breaths, Alyson" (then, to himself, "Deep breaths
Craig")
Alyson, after 1.5 miles: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!I
feel like I have to push!!!"
Craig, speeding even more: "Don't push, Alyson."
Alyson: "OH Craig, I feel like I'm going to have the baby now!
Craig (to himself): "Uh-oh."
Alyson: "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! PULL OVER, PULL OVER,
PULL OVER."
Craig, driving to the end of the block to a well-lit
street. "I'm pulling over."
I stopped the car at a bus stop and rushed to the back of
the camper, hoping to just reassure myself and Alyson and
then keep driving. I pulled away her blanket, and saw
instead that Alyson was right-we were too late! The head
was more than half out, just past the chin, facing down.
Wow. I remembered delivering babies in medical school, a
total experience of only about 8 newborns. But I had
sterile gloves on and a suction bulb then. I swept its
mouth out with my finger. By then the head was fully
emerged. I put my hands around the head and pulled down,
and thankfully the shoulders freed. The infant started
crying, much to my relief. "OK, Alyson, here's the baby,"
I said and put it on her belly as far up as the umbilical
cord would let me. I wrapped the blanket around them. I
tapped his foot a while to get him crying some more. When
convinced that both baby and mom were ok, I turned the
heater on full blast, then jumped out of the van.
I waved my arms at the first passing car, a mother with two
kids in the back seat. As she rolled down her window I
said, "My wife just had a baby, could you call 911?" I
didn't want to drive her myself-just get someone here with
sterile plastic and oxygen like I'm used to. I pointed the
lady to the gas station down the road, and off she sped.
Back inside the van, with Alyson and baby still lying down,
I grabbed another towel and wiped the wet neonate off more
and wrapped him up. He looked more pink now, and so did
Alyson. She was smiling and feeling so much better. She
acted like this was just another camping trip. It seemed
like she was ready to have me pop up the top, turn on the
stove and start making hot chocolate. The cord was still
attached and no placenta showed yet. Alyson told me where
the cell phone was in the packed duffle bag, and I called
911 myself. "They're on the way," said the dispatcher.
"Oh, is the baby already out?" I told her it was.
"Congratulations," she said, "boy or girl?" What?! In the
rush I hadn't even thought about it. I verified gender and
told the 911 lady it was a boy. "Oh, that's great,
congratulations." I never thought a dispatch operator
would be the first to hear the news that we'd had a boy.
By then my sister Emily, who was driving to our house to
babysit William, drove by and spotted us. She pulled over
and quickly came to see what was going on. "She had the
baby in here!" I told her. "WWWHHAATTT? NOOO!! Oh,
Craig, is everyone ok?" She had her shocked but happy face
on. She came in the van to look at the product of the
nights events and said something like, "Wow, Oh my, no
WAY." Seeing that everything was ok, she sped off to
relieve Alyson's mom.
Soon the firetruck was there. The truck's company got my
briefing of what happened, and all said, "Oh, it's already
done? Hey, congratulations!" No one seemed too worried or
concerned now that the baby was out. Two of the guys went
into the van, and we shut the door behind to keep the warm
air in. They checked blood pressures and heart rates.
Still no placenta, but baby looked healthy and with even
better color. His eyes were opened and he was looking
around at the sorry state of his parent's unpreparedness
around him. What a start.
The ambulance was now there, and the EMTs all said, "Hey,
congratulations, that's great." "What a great story,
delivered by his dad, good job!" I was struck by how
relaxed everyone seemed, and figured that it was a good
sign. Some onlookers had gathered too, and I told them,
"My wife just had a baby." "We knew it!" they all shouted,
"Congratulations!" "You should name him
Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway!" The crew were still tidying
things up. We decided that based upon the time that they
got the 911 dispatch call, that the baby was born at
10:20pm, about 45-50 minutes after her first sign of any
contraction.
Then I thought about doing what most fathers are in charge
of doing during a delivery-get the video camera. I barely
got it going in time to record them pulling Alyson out of
the back of the van. Seeing a fireman bringing the baby
through the sliding door separately, I realized they'd cut
the cord by then. I filmed all I could, took some photos
in the ambulance while the staff patiently waited, then got
back in the van to follow the ambulance.
At the hospital things became more routine. Both Alyson
and the infant were hypothermic, but otherwise fine. Baby
weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces. I don't know the length.
Alyson finally passed the placenta, which thankfully showed
no rupture or tear, and with no significant bleeding. The
baby got a thorough review and all was reportedly normal.
I can't be grateful enough for that, given the fact that he
beat us to the punch. With so many things that can go
wrong, it is a miracle that birthing ever goes right. I
feel blessed.
We've been thinking of names, and are currently considering
Cameron "Camper" Broberg, and Alyson "short fuse" Broberg.
We'll send you an announcement later.
Very Truly Yours,
Craig and Alyson
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