Katie's side of the story...

Tom has been encouraging me to write my side of the birth story. Although I am not the writer he is, I'll give it a shot...

Tom left on Tuesday evening for New York and jokingly told me to hold out for 3 nights and then we'll be smooth sailing. We laughed it off and kissed goodbye.

Tom's phone broke on the way to NY, so he called me from the hotel with a bunch of emergency contact numbers, thank God.

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling great and went to the gym. I was on the elliptical listening to my i-pod when one of my favorite running songs came on and I just HAD to get back to the treadmill for a little run. I figured I'd go about a mile and then walk the rest of the time. Well... the running felt so amazing I just couldn't stop. I kinda lost myself in the music and kept bumping up the speed until one of the trainers came over, "what are you trying to do, have this baby today?" he said jokingly... hmmm...

I was so wrapped up in the run that I was nearly late for Yoga at the Healing House. My favorite teacher Janelle was teaching and it was amazing. I was still feeling strong, so the headstands were perfect (Janelle told me that headstands encourage breech babies to turn). The other women in class all laughed and said the baby was going to come out saying "om".

I splashed some water on my face, threw on a baseball cap and rushed out the door to make it to a lunch date with Jen Foreman. We had a great time talking and talking about baby stuff, breast feeding, birth, post partum, etc. It was really comforting to get real world advice. I left feeling fantastic.

I got home and was in the bathroom when I felt this strange sort of "pop" like a water balloon. It was like I was still going and couldn't get it to stop. "Oh my God, my water just broke". I had no idea what to do. I was running around like a mad woman when I realized that I still had not showered!!! I jumped in the shower and wasn't about to go to the hospital without shaved legs. The "water" kept on coming, so by then I was pretty confident it was labor and I better figure this out. Tom's phone was out of commission, so I started dialing the emergency contact numbers. I called the first two, no answer... Finally Dale Jackson answered his phone. "Hi Dale, it's Katie... is Tom with you?" He said, "oh shit..." and then I heard Tom's voice.

Up until this point I was relatively calm and keeping it together. But when I heard my dear husband's voice, I just lost it. I started to cry super had and told him in between sobs that my water broke. He took a deep breath and I heard his voice crack. He told me to try and calm down, try to remember to breath. He asked me to call my doctor and he would be on the next flight. I called the doctor's office and the nurse told me to go directly to the hospital. Our dog Sasha had been following me around the house with concern since all this drama started, she is so sweet. I needed a plan for her quick, so I e-mailed Anthony Stevenson, hoping he'd take her to the kennel. Of course he jumped into action and actually had Sasha at his house. We have the best friends... Without knowing what else to do, I put my toothbrush and chap stick in a bag and got in my car and drove myself to the hospital.

The EA network was moving at lightning speed, so Julie Erb and Jillian Holt were on the way to the hospital at the same time I was. Thank the good lord for amazing girl friends. I was so scared, shaking, and generally freaking out. When I got to the hospital, still dripping water, nurses casually walked me up to labor and delivery and showed me to a room by myself. I just sat down at this little table and hung out by myself for a few minutes wondering what in the heck was going to happen and what did I get myself into.

The nurse eventually told me to get in a gown so they could monitor the baby's heartbeat and the contractions. When I mentioned he was breech she cocked her head and said, "oh, well... let me go get an ultra sound machine and we'll see how this little man is doing." She put the gel on my belly and there was my sweet baby still nestled with his head up under my left rib cage seemingly content. Little did he know the world was about to get a lot bigger for him!

Jillian and Julie arrived about 30 minutes later and they were all smiles. I don't know why, but I was calm and content. My good friend Kate is a former mid-wife nurse and had volunteered to help whenever needed, so I left her a couple messages at work. Man, did I need her!

The monitor on the baby showed all was normal, but I was feeling these strong crampy feelings in my low back and stomach. It was coming pretty regularly... the nurse said at one point, "um... Katie, are you feeling anything?" I asked her what she meant. She said, "well, you're in full labor and you're contractions are coming about every minute or two." I said, "oh is that what this aching feeling is every few minutes?" DUH!!!!!!! I am the clueless one and not prepared AT ALL for any of this. Julie started to laugh and came over to see the monitoring machine. We were excited to see how high the "hills" got each time I'd have one. But the fun went away quickly as the pain got stronger and stronger. I declined drugs because I wanted to stay aware and thought it would delay the process until Tom walked through that door. I was getting regular calls from him charting his progress on getting himself on the 4:30 flight, so I was just praying for him and imagining his voice in my ear telling me I could do this. I just tried to visualize his big hands on my shoulders and touching my hand. I tried to see his blue eyes looking into my soul and welling up with big tears telling me how much he loved me.


At about 6:30 a few more medical people starting milling around. I knew Tom's flight was landing at 7:22, so I was just praying they would wait for him to arrive. Kate got there... thank god. She walked in the door and I lost all composure. I just broke down into sobs into her shoulder and she hugged me back, assuring me it was going to be okay. The doctor came in and Kate was right at my side as he went into this horrible description of all of the things that could very well go wrong with a C section, be wrong with the baby, risks, etc. I was horrified and stared at Kate. She looked right into my eyes and said not to worry one bit. "This baby is coming because he is ready. He is ready. Nothing is going to be wrong with him. I'm not leaving you. I will be in the room with you every step of the way." Again, I cried into her shoulder wishing with all of my might that Tom would walk through the door.

The doctor returned 15 minutes later and insisted on getting started. The risks of waiting were getting higher. Once the water breaks, there is more exposure for infection, cord complications, etc. I was in full on labor and they were concerned about him getting too far down into my pelvis, so the decision was made to move forward. Although I was a mess over not having Tom by my side, I was concerned about the well being of my baby, so I went along with everything.

My mind went sort of blank in the operating room. The spinal shot hurt, but I didn't flinch. I was shaking like a leaf and just trying to breath as we got into the actual procedure. Kate was there with me and was watching over the curtain. She kept on telling me that everything was going perfectly. I remember laughing at one point when Kate said the baby was mooning the doctor! Then he was out. He was out, but not crying. I just stared at Kate and said, "when is he going to cry? Why isn't he crying?" She said, "don't worry, he's just about to cry... just a second... any second now..." and then WWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! His voice was loud and clear, and I let go a huge sigh of relief. They brought him over to me and I saw the sweetest face every made. I said hello to him and he stopped crying and tried to open those tiny little eyes to see his mama. Kate said, "oh my god, he knows your voice."

After a few moments they took the baby to the nursery and Kate went with him. I spent another 20 minutes in surgery before being wheeled to the recovery area. I felt so strange. I just couldn't believe that I had a baby and now I was lying here in this bed in a strange room alone. Then... my Superman walked in with the biggest smile I've ever seen. Tom's eyes were sparkling and all he could say was, "he's so perfect". Then he leaned over me and hugged me. I never wanted him to let go. We laughed and he said he was 16 minutes after the birth and he told me the whole story about the golf course and the car ride and running through the airport and racing to get to the hospital. It was so beautiful and funny and endearing. I fell in love with him all over again right there in a hospital gown.

Fast forward to the next day, September 4th. All is going well, our baby is perfect and beautiful, we're doing great. Until my mom called with some sad news. My grandfather had passed away in the night. He was 97 years old and frankly he really wanted to go. But this man was the strongest I'd ever known. He was gruff and tough on the outside. He was not particularly fond of children. He'd say mean things on purpose to try and cause a stir or hurt someone's feelings, but I loved him with all my heart. I don't mean just a normal "you're family so I have to say I love you" type of love. I really, truly adored this man. I took to him when I was about 2 yrs old, and for whatever reason he let me in that gruff old shell of his. I used to go stay with my grandparents for a few weeks every summer. I remember one summer in particular when I was probably 10 or 11. Grandpa would get up really early in the mornings, and after a few mornings of being stuck doing chores with grandma, I grew wise and started sleeping in my clothes on, with one eye open. When I heard grandpa stir in the morning, I shot out of bed and was at his side, I was his little shadow. We did everything that summer and every summer after, sprucing up the fair grounds, weeding the garden, visiting his friends, driving all over the county. Grandpa knew everyone in the entire county, including all the gossip on each and every one of them!

My grandmother, his beloved wife of 69 years, died last summer and grandpa was miserable ever since. He was lonely and just over it. I knew he was getting close to leaving this earth. Then... when my mom told me he died, all I could think of was my baby Mack coming into this world as my dear grandfather was exiting. I just know they high fived as they passed through.

So... it's a long story, but things in our lives are so beautiful. We are over the moon happy with our family. Thank you to all of our friends who were amazing and stepped up to help us through every single step of the way. Thank you to my grandfather for leaving and blessing my baby boy with the power of his spirit.