So we left for the hospital about 0100 on Monday morning headed for Christus Saint Catherine which is mere miles from the house. A short conversation and I decided to go to Memorial/Hermann because the very nice Christus chain does not allow VBACs. It is just their policy. We got to Hermann and Michelle’s contractions were about two minutes apart. Now you would think that we just made it in time but you would be wrong. The contractions slowed and labor eventually wasn’t progressing at all. Contractions were down to about 6 minutes and dilation had not progressed.

Morning came slowly and Michelle and I slept some. No-one gave us grief about having planned a homebirth and chickening out. No-one was concerned about any of that. They were supportive of Michelle’s decision to have a VBAC and were very nice to us both. When it looked like the labor was going to degrade they said that two options remained and that was Pitocin or a C-Section. The attending, as there were lots of residents in and out, said that she would start the Pit. slowly and ramp it up only as necessary. Michelle opted for an epidural at this point. They didn’t even ask me to leave the room which was awesome. They gave her the epidural and left to let it take effect. When they came back to start the Pit. an exam showed Michelle was ready. They came in ten minutes later and started having her push. It was less than ten minutes until Aisling was born.

We relaxed and took a deep breath and I took pics and video. I wandered out as soon as everything was in hand to feed my monkey and when I came back Michelle told me they wanted to take the baby to the nursery for an hour to bathe and measure her. If you know us we are opposed to new babies being out of their parents sight. We frankly don’t trust hospital staff. Michelle told them that we would talk about when I got back. I got back and went to the head. While I was indisposed they came back and told Michelle they had changed their mind about it and would do everything in the room with us. I didn’t even have to explain our position to them. We were very happy.

While all this was happening, and yes I am going in a non-sequential order here, I was reading my blackberry to keep myself sane. Michelle’s grandparents came up and visited for a bit. While they were there I saw an email I wasn’t supposed to see. It was an email from my boss telling my team I was no longer employed. Yes I was fired while my wife was in labor. It felt like getting kicked in the gut to be quite honest and damn near ruined the birth of my daughter. But by the time all was said and done it was a distant bad memory.

Once in postpartum we had no more difficulty. They accepted our choice not to vaccinate without a question. They were fine with not giving Vitamin K and the lotion in the eyes. We didn’t argue about the PKU test because it is mandated by law and while we would technically be exempt if we chose to do so it is best to pick your battles and it is a test not a medication. So we allowed that.

The only hiccup was a nurse of some sort wanting to take the baby about 0300 and weigh her. I explained it wasn’t happening. She tried all the usual excuses including telling us the scales couldn’t be taken out of the nursery. Of course they can and of course they were.

The day was relaxing as much as being in the hospital can be. They told us we could go home at 1430. At 1530 we found out they hadn’t even contacted the doctor to discharge Michelle. He was in surgery and I was annoyed. At 1630 I took everything to the car. The over-cheerful nurse told me it was “almost” time. I told her that it frankly didn’t matter that when I got back we were going home. Oddly enough they found someone to discharge Michelle by the time I got back and there was no more grief. We walked out, denying the wheelchair, and headed home.

And that my dear friends is the mostly non-eventful story of the birth of Aisling Renee Potter.