Mindful Birth with Distance Doula Care support; welcome baby Brooks Hunter, born in a big hurry!

"Two weeks ahead of my due date I thought I was experiencing the beginning of labor. Our first son was nine days early so we were expecting this baby to arrive early as well. A few hours of escalating contractions during errands and appointments all but stopped when I made it home and was able to move and stretch. 

The following day, my husband Karl and I took our son Teddy to dinner at our favorite ever restaurant on Sanibel to celebrate one of our last evenings as a family of three. It felt a bit risky driving an hour from our Naples home but I figured we could just head home if labor picked up again. And it it did! The timing was beautiful if not a bit scary. We enjoyed a memorable dinner and I felt contractions begin again as we waited for dessert. Hesitant to read too much into it I thought we should stop on the causeway so I could walk around and listen to my body. Unlike the day before, these contractions didn’t ease up as I moved. And they were already five minutes apart! We took a few beach family photos and decided to head straight home. 

Within minutes I had to get out of the car to lean on all fours in the backseat of our Prius. Teddy was thrilled to have a seat mate and drove his toy car on my arm as I labored. As Karl drove I started timing my contractions with an app and we called (our doula) Chris to check in. I was intensely thirsty, daydreaming about stopping at a drive-through or even pulling over to drink from a puddle, but I knew we didn’t have time to stop. My contractions quickly went from five minutes apart to three then two. I could no longer talk through them. Before we even made it back to Naples the app was telling me to “go to the hospital or call an ambulance!” We made another call to Chris to debate getting off at Immokalee and heading straight to NCH. We decided to drive farther south to leave Teddy at home with the babysitter. 

We were home for maybe 20 minutes before heading to the hospital. I had the sense to change out of my jumpsuit and put on a pair of Depends in case my water broke. And my water broke as we pulled into the hospital! Our arrival was pretty comedic as Karl yelled for a wheelchair and I struggled to put on my shoes, ultimately giving up. We skipped all of the arrival paperwork. The nurses later said I could have pushed him out within five minutes of arriving. But the doctor wasn’t there so they encouraged me to breathe through contractions. I somehow managed that for 30 minutes. 

Dr. Bevins arrived and I pushed him out in one contraction. Baby Brooks was born at 10:00 pm, 8.8 pounds and 21 inches long. My labor was 2 1/2 hours start to finish. We had thought that waiting to find out this baby’s gender would add some excitement to the labor process. It turns out this labor was exciting enough and we barely had time to think of it! We are so grateful to have another son and a new little brother to make us a family of four."

Birth story written by Nanette, June 28, 2019, mother of Teddy and Brooks