Raegan's Birth Story Daddy's POV

Well October 19th couldn't arrive quickly enough so Raegan Mae Little forced us to move things up ... move them up to 9:21 AM October 4th, otherwise known as Tuesday morning.


My wife woke with contractions and "signs" (I won't go into details). We weren't sure if her water had broke or not and called her doctor. It was too early and we got an after hours number instead. She left a message as I was cooking breakfast. The doctor called back and said "Come on in so we can take a look just to be sure".

It took us 10 minutes to get on the way with me packing bags just in case, grabbing bags already packed, getting supplies purses etc, and her just finishing getting dressed. It took 15 minutes to drive to the hospital and she had contractions (harsh ones) the entire way

I pulled up to admitting, jogged in, and got a wheel chair. We were directed to an office to fill out paperwork. !?!?!?!?!?!? My wife was about to burst and we had to fill out paperwork !?!?!?!?!?!? Well they gave us the express job and we were heading up to the 3rd floor within 5 minutes. We had our room number, and I was driving her wheel chair like a NASCAR pro. (Years of pizza delivery has prepared me well for baby delivery )

Once in the room they did the nurses did their thing. I ran downstairs to park the car legally. When I returned I passed the nurses station near her room, and nurses were eagerly discussing who could perform a C-Section. I get into the room and my wife is laying back with frequent contractions. I notice on the "contraction measuring machine" that the baby's heart rate dropped every time Lynn got over a contraction. The heart rate would bounce back up but it was ... un-nerving.

Well soon the room filled with medical types doing everything at once, like an episode of ER but in a 10x10 room. One doctor kept getting hit by the door every 15 seconds as someone came in or out. I was informed that when we arrived that my wife was 6-7 cm dilated ... 15 minutes later it was more like 9cm. They had to move so fast that they couldn't give her a typical spinal block where her upper half would be awake and we could both be there when the baby was taken. Instead they put her under completely and I had to wait in the now barren 10x10 room.

Agonizing minutes (years) later, a nurse returned with an update. Everything was going well. I could wait in the hall to see the baby as she was wheeled past. Lynn would take longer to come out since she had to go through all that other stuff (that I really don't want to think about). For a good 5 minutes I teetered on the edge of calm and hysteria (it's a very short distance it seems). Then a nurse came and asked me how I was doing and I fell towards hysteria just long enough to make her worry about me for the rest of the day.

Soon the baby rolls out. They have her swaddled so tightly she looked like a head and body, no arms or legs. The doctor tells me she was 6lbs 4oz. She didn't cry much at all, just whimpered some. Remember the calm hysteria line? Because then the doctor says "She's a bit small for 37 weeks". Jerk. Like I needed THAT! Anyway, after a bit more waiting they allow me to see my baby girl as she's being measured, immunized, etc. She was 20 inches long and then they drew blood, stuck her with more needles, and basically tortured my little girl, but it was all ok since I knew they were actually helping her and she barely cried at all.

About 10 - 20 minutes later my wife is being wheeled to her new room. I quickly follow. She's recovering quickly. Two days later and she's up and about. Raegan doesn't eat much yet but shows signs of really wanting to eat. The only problem being she drowses off as soon as she's in my wife's arms

I've changed 4 diapers so far (eeeuuu) and if Raegan had been a boy I'd have been peed on at least once (phew). I smell like baby, and I like it

So that's the Very Long of it. I was drifting very close to the Very Very Oh Just Finish This Long of it a few times. Sorry, it's just fun to tell.

It'll probably be a week or sixteen before I'm back. I just wanted to drop in and share my news.

Daddy.