Courtland's Story

I delivered Courtland (Christopher is his middle name) on May 28, 1996. My ecc was June 4, 1996, so no big deal there. Here is how our day went May 28 of 1996. I went to a regular OB visit that morning. Everything was fine. Scheduled an appointment for one week later. Left the doctor's office. It had been raining that morning (I might need to mention that). My husband was driving---I was probably too big to drive :0). On our way to the onramp of the interstate (it was the next light), only about one mile from the doctor's office, we were in a car accident. We were going straight and a driver failed to yield when turning left in the oncoming side of traffic. My husband could not stop in time and we hit them. There was no arrow for them to turn; she just turned anyway. She had no license, no insurance and it wasn't even her car. It was "her baby's daddy's car" as she told my husband. Our car was totaled completely. My husband nor I was wearing a seat belt. Immediately after the wreck, I started having labor pains in my back. I had glass in my chin, the top of head and plastic from the dashboard in my hand. My pants were ripped and the eyeglasses were knocked completely off my face. A large portion of the dashboard found it's way into my husband's leg. I won't go into details for any woozy readers. The ambulance came. I had to have a neck brace before I could even get on the stretcher. We had a compact car and boy, you should have seen them getting me out of it and onto a stretcher! I had gained too much weight during my pregnancy and those EMT's definitely earned their money that day. They checked the baby's heartbeat and said it sounded fine---he just sounded mad!!!! I was taken by ambulance to the ER (adjacent to the OB clinic where I was going). My husband rode up front, blood streaming down his leg. The ride is a blur, and the wheeling into the ER is a blur. I do remember my doctor coming down when he got the news. I was attached to fetal monitors. They attached me to monitors and I was also hooked up to an ultrasound. I had to be placed on my side, which was very uncomfortable. The pain was pretty bad. I had not seen my husband (they were patching him up). My doctor told me the baby was breech and I would have to have a c-section. He also told me I might have had a possible placenta abruption. He did say that by not wearing a seat belt, I helped myself and the baby out. (I always wear a seatbelt now anyway, and I am not saying anyone should not wear one.) To make a long story shorter, the nurses shaved me (including my stomach). I was ready for surgery long before my husband was. He was with me the entire time, though, after his leg was stitched up. (minus the recovery room). I remember being given the epidural, I remember feeling a slight pulling on my stomach, and I remember the best thing of all----seeing my son. He was so white. I cried a few tears when I heard him cry because I thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world. I was told later that the nurse in the OR cried a little too because it was her first time in a delivery. My husband was so proud! I did not even hold Courtland until after recovery. My husband took him to the nursery after the nurses took his APGARs and etc. After seeing my son, I remember the anesthesiologist asking me if I wanted something to make me sleep. Then I was taken to recovery, woken up every once in a while and had to talk to the nurse. That is the gist of my story. My appointment that morning was at 10 I think and I had Courtland at 1:26pm. I am expecting our second child now and don't know what to expect with this one either. My last u/s showed the baby is breech. There is still time for it to turn. Which reminds me of something. At the OB appt that morning, Courtland was not breech. After the wreck, he turned breech. I guess that just goes to show anything can happen.