Hi,
Some of you may remember a few =
months ago when I
mentioned we were having a baby and lived three hours from the
hospital.
We were planning on staying nearer =
to the
hospital as the day approached, but things happened a few days sooner =
than we
had expected. At midnight, of course, her water breaks. We =
call the
midwife and she says to make our way in as a precaution,
as she is still not having =
contractions.
Us, figuring that this is our first child and things would not be moving =
along
too fast, we take our time gathering things together. It is a nice =
clear
night with no snow on the road (not normally so in Colorado in November) =
so we
decide to take the Westy so she can lay down in the back to relax and =
get
comfortable.
So off down the road we go about 2 =
AM.
Soon after we leave some mild contractions start. Still they are =
pretty
far apart and she is laying down in the back reading a book. Lots =
of elk
on the road so I do not really push it. About two hours into the =
drive,
the contractions start getting a bit more intense and closer =
together. She
still seems to be holding it together and in not too much pain so she =
says keep
going. As we approach the outskirts of Grand Junction, where =
the
hospital is located, she finally admits that she is ready for the =
pain
medication. So I fly through the pre-dawn city to the =
hospital. Pull
up to emergency at 5 AM. Grab a wheel chair but she wants to =
walk.
Up in the maternity ward at 5:10 AM, they tell her she is fully dilated =
with no
time for the pain medication. At 5:30 AM our son Carter James =
Andrew is
born!
So he came within a half hour of being a Vanagon =
baby!
Would have had to have come up with a Vanagon related name if that were =
the
case!
So once out in the world, he got his first ride home =
in a
Vanagon. And of course it had snowed two feet at home since we =
left so the
trip home took four hours.
It is good that the weather conditions were not =
reversed or
the Westfalia Mobile Birthing Center may have had to have been put into
use!
John Andrew 1984 "Westiico"