Eric James
Eric was the first baby my husband, David, and I had. My pregnancy and childbirth were incredible experiences I wanted to share. This is kind of lengthy, but is a great story with a happy ending.
David and I found out on Thanksgiving, 1995 that we were expecting our first child (how appropriate!) and couldn't have been more excited. The due date was July 25, 1996. This would be the first grandchild for David's parents, and the third for my parents. Everyone was so thrilled with the news!
The doctor's office that I chose had two male doctors; one doctor, Dr. Crawford, owned the practice and Dr. McNamara worked with him.
Like many excited pregnant women, I bought just about every book on pregnancy including "What to Expect When You're Expecting". I had read about Braxton Hicks contractions and during my seventh month, I began having them. Since this was my first child, I wanted to have a physician tell me that was what they were. I went in to see Dr. McNamara and he made some joke about it. When I told him what I had been experiencing, I asked him if that is what a Braxton Hicks contraction felt like. He said that since he had never been pregnant that he wouldn't know. Now, normally I have an incredible sense of humor. However, not in this case! I told him that since he had gone to school for 8 years to deliver babies that he should at least be able to describe it.
So, with just a couple of months to go, I was starting to have nightmares that Dr. McNamara would be the doctor on duty the night that I went into labor.
July 25th, 1996 came along. And, consistent with my personality of always being punctual, I thought that I may be going into labor. I was at work and having contractions for a couple of hours that were irregular but strong. I probably wouldn't have called the doctor if it weren't for the fact that when I would walk, it felt like gravity was working double time. I felt the strongest pulling sensation, like something was hanging between my legs. (nice description, huh?) I called the doctor's office and they said I should come in to get checked.
In the ninth month, David had rented a pager that we agreed not to use unless it was "time". I decided to just go in and get checked and tell him about it when I got home. But, I never went home...
Dr. Crawford was there and he checked me. He said that I was only dialated 1 cm but was almost 100% effaced. He said that he was going to send me across the street to the hospital just to get monitored for a couple of hours. I decided that I should page David for this. I used the nurse's phone and was waiting for David to call back. While waiting, Dr. Crawford's nurse asked me why I was just waiting around. I told her that I had paged my husband and that he would be calling. She said she would tell him where I was when he called and that Dr. Crawford sent me to the hospital.
I didn't think much of it and went over to the hospital like a good little patient. I was pre-registered with the hospital, so I was just brought up and checked into a labor/delivery room. I was all hooked up and barely settled in when David comes rushing in with suitcase in hand. He said that he got the page when he was in a meeting, stood up and declared that his wife was in labor and had to go. What should have taken 35-40 minutes, stopping at the house, getting the bag and driving to the hospital, took him 20 minutes.
