First of all, some of you may know that Tiffany chose to go to a midwife for this pregnancy, and she made a goal to give birth naturally. That means no drugs or epidural. Needless to say, midwives do things a little bit differently than regular doctors. So the story begins with Tiffany starting to feel her contractions getting stronger and closer on Nov. 6th at about 5:30 pm. I was at work so she called me to come home because she was certain it was labor. We dropped Sarah of at my parents house and called the midwife and went in to their office at about 8 pm where we learned that Tiff was dilated to a three. The midwife explained to us that they like to have women do as much laboring as they can at home because it is just more comfortable and they won't have to be at the hospital and be connected to all the machines and stuff. So she told us to go home and come back when Tiff can't take it any longer. She said the baby probably wouldn't be born until after midnight. At least that is what she thought. So we came home where Tiff was able too be more comfortable. We left Sarah at my parents house. At home, Tiff was able to walk around a little bit, sit on her body ball, and take a bath. Things were going all right. I would massage her lower back on every contraction and Tiff was doing really well with it all. This is where it starts to get interesting! At about 10:30 pm Tiff tells me that maybe we should go back to the hospital at 11:00 instead of twelve because the contractions were starting to get unbearable.
So I was able to be pretty calm and collected the whole time, up until Tiff goes to the restroom at about 11:00. While in there, I hear Tiff yell, "My water just broke!" That made me pretty excited because I knew that it was actually getting pretty close, but I figured we still had a couple of hours. Well, I go in to help Tiffany in the bathroom when she screams a scream that I have never heard any living creature create. She then screams, "I'm having the baby!" Yeah, by this point I was freaking out. I told her, "Don't push! Don't push!" So I hurried and helped her get dressed to leave, and Tiff says she's never seen me move so fast. I sped pretty much the whole way to the hospital and about halfway there, Tiff screamed an even louder scream than before. It wasn't so much out of pain as much as it was just panic that the baby was coming out. I kept telling her not to push and she had to concentrate the rest of the way to the hospital. I screeched into the parking space and Tiff was walking with her legs together until I could find a wheelchair.
When we made it to Labor and Delivery, the midwife, Nicole, was waiting for us and informed us that there were no rooms available. So we went into the triage room as a temporary place until a room would be available. However, I don't think Nicole knew that the baby was crowning. Once Nicole felt the baby's head, she said, "Nurse, we are having the baby now!" Tiff pushed for about three minutes and Melia was born. She was 6 lbs. 0 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long.
So we got to the hospital at 11:20 and had the baby at 11:26. I'm so glad that we made it because on the way to the hospital, Tiff told me not to get pulled over or else the cop and I would be delivering the baby. I am so proud of Tiff for reaching her goal of giving a natural birth, and I'm glad that Melia is healthy. Unfortunately neither of our mothers made it there before the birth, but at least everything else went well. Afterwards, Tiff told me she thinks that is the best way to give birth, all natural, and that she wants to go to midwives from now on. Now it's been a couple of days and Tiff is moving around like she didn't just have a baby.
In the hospital the next day, I brought Sarah to see Melia for the first time and she instantly fell in love and just wanted to hold her. She has been very soft and listens to us when she is around Melia. Thanks to everyone for your love and support and feel free to give us a call to come visit.
