For those of you who follow on Facebook, you have probably noticed that we added a new addition to our family! No, this little one did not come to us through adoption, she is a true blue Busch with a very unique birth story!
Let's start at the beginning...It only takes one time...and on the morning of February 11, through a home pregnancy test, I found out I was pregnant! I was quite shocked as was Dave. We thought after Jalise that we were done with having children. Needless to say, we weren't.
We had decided that we wanted to try a midwife for the pregnancy and delivery after talking with friends and so on March 26th, we had our first doctor appointment. We met Barb, the midwife and felt very comfortable with her. Baby's heartbeat was 173...we were so excited to hear the heartbeat for the first time and Barb was pretty sure it was going to be a girl...
On May 13, I felt this baby move for the first time. I was so excited! Life~! May 30th was the Ultrasound. The whole family was present...and the doctor confirmed that he thought the baby was a girl.
The month of June came and we decided that it would be a good idea to tell our parents. When I told my Mom, she did the Happy Grandma Dance across her living room. She said she knew it! I asked her how and she said that she was looking at a picture and just had this strong suspicion that I was. I told her that she could tell Dad as I was not sure how he would respond! He was of course happy too!
I worked the summer at Camp and during the third week Dave found a comic and showed my boss Toby. At first, Toby was like, "Ok?..." Dave then pointed at me and it dawned on him. He gave Dave and I a huge hug. During one of the staff meetings, a dorm leader shared a very serious testimony that brought tears to our eyes...I nonchalantly said "Sorry if I am a little emotional right now." Toby and Dave looked at each other and smiled. I said, "Would you two knock it off? Yes, I am pregnant," and without missing a beat moved on in the meeting. It took a while for those in the room to catch on, but it slowly hit.
We saw the midwife again in July and August and everything was good. Heartbeat was 147. We saw her in September and the heartbeat was 134. She kept saying this sounds like a boys heartbeat...and all of a sudden I wasn't sure what to think. Our next appointment was scheduled for October 3. At this time, I was barely showing. Some friends didn't even know that I was pregnant and thought that I had ust gained some weight.
I had braxton hicks contractions off and on over those next couple of weeks. Nothing worth talking about. I was worried though because our exchange student's birthday was Oct. 1 and my sister's birthday was Oct. 2. I kept praying, "Lord, let me make it through those two days. October 3 is a good day..." Well, I think he heard my prayers.
October 2, I woke up in the morning and contractions were 45 minutes apart. Throughout the day, I would have one but nothing that I was concerned about. I was able to talk and smile through them so no big deal, right? We took the kids to Awanas and my back had been a little sore. Dave and I decided to go out for a drive to the lake to see what the water level was like and watch a storm blow in. We drove around and I told him that I was ready to go home and take a bath to see if my back would quit hurting. That was 8:10 p.m. I climbed in the tub and began to relax. I noticed that my contractions were a little stronger and closer--about 12 minutes apart.
Dave got home from picking up the kids and checked in on me and I told him that we should call my Mom and tell her to have her bag packed. That was around 9:30. At 10:06 we called her back and told her that she should get on the road. Dave told her that maybe she could convince me to leave for the hospital. The contractions were 8 minutes apart. In the mean time, I crawled out of the tub and sat in the chair in the living room to wait for them to arrive.
They got to the house around 11. By this time the contractions were right on top of each other and I had maybe a 30 second break. Dave drug me out of the house and into the front seat of the car. We were headed for Hastings which is 105 miles away. I remember looking over and he was driving rather fast. We got to the Ord corner and he asked me if I wanted to go to Ord hospital. I said absolutely not. Keep going. We have time. So we kept going.
25 Miles down the road Dave asked me again, "Do you want to stop in St. Paul or keep going?" I told him of course to keep going because my water hadn't broke and I had not lost my plug. At 11:56 p.m. he called in to Hastings to tell them that we were coming and they said they would be waiting for us. Little did we know how fast this was going to take place. At midnight Dave said, "Hey you made it to the 3rd." We laughed and he kept driving--quite fast!
At 12:02 I looked at Dave and said, "UH OH!" He said, "NO UH OH!" I screamed, "PULL THIS CAR OVER NOW, THIS BABY IS COMING!" Dave kept up the speed and screamed back, "Are you sure?" I responded, "YES!" I grabbed the visor as my body had now gone into involuntary pushing and promptly put it back as I knew I would break it. I firmly planted my hands into the roof of the car and stood up, groaned with the pain and the next thing I knew I heard my water break and I was quickly trying to catch the baby's legs as she was on her way to the floor! I did catch her and as I sat down Dave's right hand came off the steering wheel and helped lift her head and he helped to place her in my lap! It was 12:03 a.m. October 3, 2013. We were 1.5 miles North of Elba, Nebraska. We had just experienced a true high speed delivery in more ways than one!
Dave promptly pulled over on the side of the road at the approach of Hwy. 11 and 19th Ave. and our birth photographer Jamie pulled up behind us and asked what was wrong. I looked at her and said, "We didn't make it. We had a baby!" We were all so shocked we didn't quite know what to do. Dave then called 911 and told them that we had delivered a baby and that we were on our way to the hospital in St. Paul and to please let them know. We took off again, and only after getting back up to speed did he realize that he had not rolled up my window and we hadn't checked to make sure it was a girl. I checked and sure enough Kelsey Grace had been born.
About 5 minutes has passed and Howard County Dispatch called back and asked Dave if we needed any medical assistance. He told them no because by the time they got to us in the ambulance, we would be in St. Paul. He did ask them if they could give us directions to the hospital. As they are giving Dave the directions I began to deliver the placenta. By the time we get to St. Paul I was completely done with the labor and delivery process.
After missing one corner we got to the hospital and Dave drove into the ambulance bay and out came an OB nurse pushing a wheel chair. Dave opened my door and the nurse looked at me, looked at the chair and said, "This isn't going to work!" Several other nurses have now met us out in the bay and just aren't sure what to do! The one nurse asked, "What are we going to do?" I looked at her and said, "Seriously? Here. Take my baby." She then takes Kelsey and starts to run away, but not before stopping to ask, "OH! Are you still attached?" I told her no and another nurse stepped in and took the placenta and they ran down the hall! I told Dave and Jamie to follow them. Another nurse then stepped in and said to me, "How are we going to get you out of the car?" I looked at her again and thought oh please. I said, "I am going to get out of the car. Where do you want me to go?" She responded, "But you just had a baby!" I said back, "Exactly. I just had a baby! I am not dying here!" I proceeded to climb out of the car and sit down on the gurney. They then ran me down the hall to the room to be with Kelsey and Dave.
Upon arriving in my room they again posed the question, "How are we going to get you onto the bed?" I am pretty sure I rolled my eyes at them and said, "Just like this. I hopped off the gurney and onto the bed. I think I floored those nurses. While all this is taking place, I must say St. Paul is a qualified hospital and we received excellent care! It was a lot of fun to see 6 nurses try to help take care of myself and Kelsey. Needless to say, we were the talk of the hospital. It isn't very often that you have a baby in the front seat of Red 4 door Chevy Impala at a very HIGH rate of speed. That car will never be the same.
From my windshield to yours, have a great week!
