The arrival of our newest bundle of joy is a story that
could be taken from a movie, and I don’t want to forget the details, so here it
is.
On February 17th, at 3:00 in the afternoon, I was
at work and started to feel some contractions. They lasted about an hour, and I
told my husband, who was in Charlotte for his every other week business trip,
to be on standby. But after an hour, the contractions stopped, and I continued
to work. I finished up some things and went home early (by the request of my
boss). I was tired but with no contractions for several hours, I had an
uneventful night with my kids.
At 1:00 am, I woke up in active labor. I wasn’t sure at
first, but the contractions were strong and after I started timing them and
realized they were coming every 3 minutes, I knew this was the real thing. I called
my mom, who was at work, and she told me to call the doctor, which I did, and I
was told to come to the hospital. I tried Kevin but got his voicemail. I tried
not to panic as I called his mom to come be with my kids and took a shower. At this
point, I still hadn’t reached Kevin, now it was snowing, and my contractions
were getting worse, and I tried to hold back the tears. I called the hotel, and
they said that their computers were down and told me to call back in 10-15
minutes. Sure, no rush. My mom left the hospital and was at my house within 30
minutes. She then called Kevin’s hotel and insisted they go to wake him. When they
finally did, he called and asked if the baby was coming and if I could wait
until he could get home. I knew this baby was coming whether or not we were
ready, so I told him to do what he could.
The ride to the hospital was scary as the snow was really
coming down, and I was having strong contractions as we slid down every road. My
mom took me into the ER to be taken upstairs, as she parked the car. They made
3 calls before the slowest woman in the world came to get me. (Another person
in no rush.) Upstairs, I was hooked up to the monitors and checked, and it was
confirmed that I was definitely in labor and would have the baby some time that
day. I was happy that my doctor was on call but getting increasingly nervous
that my husband wasn’t going to make it.
Meanwhile, in Charlotte, Kevin booked the first flight home
which was scheduled for 7:25. He got to the airport so early that security wasn’t
even open yet. We talked via Facetime at 5am, and it was the only time I’ve
ever heard an airport so quiet. Seeing his face sent me into tears (again) as
he sat helpless at the terminal, wanting to be with me as much as I wanted him
there.
My labor was progressing slowly (coming in at 4 cm and only
getting to 5-6 in the first few hours), but I was thankful for the time as I awaited
Kevin’s arrival. The story of the husband stuck in Charlotte spread quickly to
the staff, and although everyone tried to be supportive by telling me I could
do it on my own, I was sad and nervous and praying that we could hold out long
enough. As I lay in bed and listened to the monitors, I noticed that the baby’s
heart rate sounded slow whenever I had a contraction. After checking on me, the
resident doctor decided that the cord was wrapped or caught somewhere, and they
performed an amnio infusion to correct the problem. Talk of a c-section worried
me, and I hoped that we wouldn’t get to that point.
My doctor was scheduled to be off at 8am, and we were
approaching that point, but after the relationship that she and I have built
over the past 5 years, she decided to stay and see me through this delivery. I will
always be grateful to her for that. She had a conference call scheduled for
8:30, but I knew that Kevin was going to land around 9 and could be at the
hospital by 9:30, so she pushed back her call, and said we would make it work. The
infusion helped, and the baby was doing great, so my doctor checked me around
8am and found that I was completely dilated. I begged to wait as long as possible
for Kevin. However, looking at my mom’s face, I knew something was wrong. Kevin’s
flight hadn’t taken off and he didn’t know when it would. I was devastated. It
didn’t look like he would make it in time, and there was nothing we could do. I
called him, and we cried together over the phone. I told him that the baby and I
couldn’t wait any longer. Both of our hearts were hurting. He told me that he
bought a WiFi plan and if they made it to 10,000 feet by the time, he would be
able to FaceTime us during the birth. Everyone on the plane, like everyone at
the hospital, knew our story, after Kevin cried to the flight attendant, and
told the crew that if they didn’t take off soon, they would have to open the
doors and let him off the plane.
Since we knew Kevin wasn’t going to make it, my sister
arranged for a neighbor to watch her kids, so she could be with me. As she
raced to the hospital in the snow, and ran from the parking garage into the
hospital and up to my room, she kept my mom posted. It was nearing 9am, and I
knew we couldn’t wait much longer for her. She came into the room at 8:55, and I
started pushing at 8:56. Our son was born 8 minutes later, at 9:04 am. Kevin’s
flight had finally taken off, but the connection was bad and all we saw were
frozen pictures of each other. When I held my son for the first time, I cried
tears of happiness over meeting him, but also sad tears from missing his
father.
It was important to have Kevin meet his son before sharing
any details. I didn’t tell my mom or sister the baby’s name, and no one outside
of that hospital room even knew the baby was born. Kevin landed about half an
hour after the birth, sprinted through the airport and didn’t even go to get
his car, opting to take a taxi from the airport. He told me later that the
driver got out to clean off his windshield and another driver shouted at him to
get this man, whose wife is in labor, to the hospital. I can only imagine that
scene.
Around 10:15, we heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall,
and Kevin burst into the room. His face was red and he was drenched in sweat,
and we both started crying again at the sight of each other. I told him to go
meet his son, but he kissed me first, and then went to get the baby from the
nurse. The room cleared, and I watched as my husband fell in love for the 3rd
time with one of our children.
Kevin asked me if the baby would hold it against him that he
wasn’t there. I laughed at the thought, because I knew that this incredible
father was the only one who would hold himself accountable for what happened. I
told him that the only thing that mattered was that he would be our son’s
father for the rest of his life. And I thought about what a crazy but wonderful
birth story our baby would now have.
It wasn’t until my mom and sister returned to the room that
we finally called our son by his name for the first time- Chase Michael Tinsley. A perfect little
miracle that was somehow meant to be, and we are now forever changed.
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