Birth Story: Baby Doll

Frank Wilson

Baby Doll was born in October, a full month before she was due. Now this was rather unusual for me. Most of my babies wanted to stay in the womb permanently and had to be coaxed out with a case of Pitocin. She couldn’t wait to kick her way into the world. The night my water broke I waited for a couple hours before finally waking my sweetie. "I think my water broke…" I said anxiously. He rolled over and yawned, "I don’t think so," he began. "Let’s see if we can go back to sleep." So we did. 

The next morning I still seemed to have a slow steady leak but no contractions. My sweetie went to work as usual. I called my doctor and moved my appointment up a day. When I arrived at his office, he seemed amused as I told him the story. "Well, I tend to agree with your husband," he said. "Given your past history, there is no reason to believe that the baby is coming for at least another couple of weeks." But just to humor me he ran a test anyway. I waited somewhat impatiently. "Well?" I asked. "Hmmm," he said thoughtfully. "It appears to be inconclusive." I shifted my huge belly to a more comfortable position. "I think I’ll send you up to the hospital just so we can be sure." He patted my shoulder. "What are the odds?" I asked. "I’ll give you 50/50," he said. He always gave me 50/50. 

I jumped back on the freeway and headed for the hospital. I didn’t have anything with me but my purse, not even a novel or magazine to waste time while I was waiting. I called my sweetie, "He sent me to the hospital…" I began. "Do you want me to come?" he asked. I knew he had an important meeting and he was not happy about missing it for a false alarm. "No, just go to your meeting. I’ll let you know." I shut my phone and concentrated on driving downtown. It was almost noon, so I drove by a McDonalds and grabbed a hamburger on the off-chance that I wouldn’t be eating for at least 24 hours. My labor was always long. 

I finally arrived at the hospital around 1:00 and the nurses were waiting for me. My doctor didn’t mention that he was planning to call me in! They set me up in a room and then left me alone. After an hour I still didn’t know anything. Eventually a nurse came in and ran a few tests. Nobody seemed all that excited and I was starting to worry about my kids at home. This was taking forever! Finally someone came in with a stack of paperwork. "Sign this stuff," she said as she wrapped a blue wristband around my wrist. "Why?" I asked. "Am I staying?" I still didn’t know anything. "Hang on a minute…" she hurried out the door. Ten seconds later a nurse came in to talk to me. "The tests were positive…we’re having a baby today!" Suddenly my mind was churning 90 mph. I had come to check on the baby, not have one today! 

I made a half dozen phone calls and lined up the anesthesiologist (we couldn't have any pain). This could not be happening! Before long my sweetie arrived. Hours and hours and a case of Pitocin later, my beautiful little Baby Doll pushed her way into the world. At 6 lbs 8 oz, she was the smallest of the twelve. They had an emergency crew in there just in case. It took them 45 minutes to determine that all was well, but then they left us alone. We examined her delicate features and counted each tiny toe. She was perfect! We excitedly called the kids to inform them that their little sister was finally here. When I called Bossy, she seemed a little bummed. "What’s wrong?" I asked. "I thought you would be excited." She paused for a moment, then she said, "I hope you know you missed Grandparent’s Day today!"