Before I begin, you should know that mom and baby are doing great. Mom is obviously tired, but very thankful for a safe delivery. We always prayed for a safe delivery while she was pregnant – we just did not realize how real those prayers were.
Picking up where I left-off in the fourth Baby Update, Sarah and I went back to the hospital at 10 p.m. due to the fact Sarah could simply no longer withstand the pain. You have to understand, with Nolan, when Sarah was induced, she went into immediate artificial labor, they would check to see that she had not started to go into active labor, so then they would give her some drugs to ease the pain, the contractions would stop, and then Sarah could rest and conserve her energy. When we returned from the hospital last evening, that is what we expected. However that is obviously not what happened.
I posted the fourth Baby Update at 11:30 p.m., rolled over and went to sleep. Then at 1:30 a.m., I was woken up due to the pain Sarah was in with contractions. She got out of bed and decided to stand in the shower to allow the hot water to relieve the pain in her back. I called the maternity ward and asked what to do. They told me that the pain-reliever medication would have worn off by then, so Sarah just had to listen to her body and allow it to decide whether or not to come into the hospital. I went to talk with Sarah and she was in an obvious amount of pain. She knew that she should get to the hospital, but knowing and going are two different things!
I tried to get Sarah ready to go to the hospital, but she was in a great deal of pain and trying to cope through each contraction. Finally she got ready, and before she started down the stairs at her parent’s house (where we are staying), she called for her Mom to come because she was certain her water was about to break. By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs, her body started pushing!
Frantically, at 2:00 a.m., Sarah’s Mom and I rushed her out to the vehicle telling her to try and stop pushing (much like telling someone not to sneeze!). I unlocked the vehicle, started it, ran around to the other side, and in that amount of time, her water broke right there on the driveway!
Immediately I ripped out my phone and dialed 9-1-1. The emergency-responder dispatched help right away. She then had Sarah go back into the house and lay down on the floor. Her dad grabbed all the blankets, pillows, and towels that he could get his hands on and tossed them down the steps to the entrance way. I continued to follow the instructions of the 9-1-1 operator. Thankfully I did not see the baby’s head, and within a few minutes, two fire trucks and two ambulances pulled up to the house. The first few fire-fighters came in the house and it was quite obvious by their wide-eyes that they are more skilled with burning fires and not mothers giving birth. RIght behind them, though, came in the EMTs and they did an amazing job. They were calm and had the situation well under-control.
After only five pushes from Sarah, Lauren Analeigh Goertzen was born, in her parent’s entry way, at 2:20 a.m.!
Baby Lauren came out crying and after some oxygen, she turned pink right away. Lauren and Grandma hopped in the first ambulance and went to the hospital. Soon behind was Sarah and myself in the second ambulance.
Today, Sarah’s parents, Sarah, and myself are still in a state of shock. We are incredibly thankful. Thankful to the emergency responders, thankful to the maternity nurses, thankful to our doctor, and obviously most thankful to God for truly keeping our baby (and her Mom!) safe and healthy.
We are so touched by the support, thoughts, and prayers of all of you who have sent us well-wishes. In fact the first two fire-fighters who came on the scene stopped by the hospital this evening with a plush dalmatian dog for baby Lauren. This was both their first baby delivery and they said this has only happened four times in the history of their fire hall!
So as I said at the beginning, both baby and Mom are doing great. They will most likely be released from the hospital tomorrow [Saturday] morning. We will stick around here for a few days because the doctor wants to make sure baby and mom are doing well before we travel. Once he says all is well, then we will head back to Trail.
Sarah gave me a daughter for our 5th wedding anniversary – I have to still get her a card!
