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| Grandma and Grandson |
Autumn was a week overdue with her first baby, and obviously things were finally starting to progress. Her dad didn’t want to see his darling daughter in any distress, so he headed out to the fire pit as well. Seth and I spent the next thirty minutes trying to make Autumn comfortable and figure out if she was ready to go to the birthing center. As we timed her contractions, she didn’t appear to meet the criteria the midwife gave, so we didn’t call. Then Autumn said she had to go to the bathroom, so we slowly and tediously walked her through the family room, through the kitchen, down the hall and finally into the bathroom. Once there, Autumn said she wanted to go to the birth center, so Seth went to load their bags into the van and bring it closer. I started to run upstairs to get stuff ready to spend the night to support my daughter through her long, arduous labor until I realized we had left Autumn alone by herself and decided to go back to her. As soon as she saw me re-enter the bathroom, she breathed “He’s coming!” as she stood bracing herself against the counter. In complete denial, I argued, “No, he’s not!” but I still ran to tell Seth, who was on the phone with the midwife. As I quickly returned to the bathroom, Autumn said, “Mom, you have to catch him!” and I squatted down next to her as his head popped out.
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| Ezra William Parkinson, 5 minutes old |
Now, each of my own six children had been born screaming and wriggling, so when I saw this baby, my grandson, completely still and quiet, I was filled with dread. This dread turned to horror as I saw something wrapped around his neck. Oh, no!
In seemingly slow-motion, I made myself reach out and touch it… Then I slowly lifted it up and it turned out to be a scrawny, little arm. The baby startled, took a gulp and started crying. And before I could blink, the rest of his body whooshed out and instinctively my arms shot out and caught him. Oh, the relief! He was alive!! As I crouched there holding a tiny, bony bottom in one hand and a screaming, round head in the other, I was overjoyed that he was alive and apparently healthy. Finally, I heard Seth coming down the hall and I exclaimed, “Look what I have!” As he stood there, in shock, I shouted, “Go call the midwife!” He ran back down the hall as I continued to squat there with my hands full, unable to do anything else. Autumn continued to stand, holding onto the counter.
Soon Seth came in and shoved his phone between my shoulder and ear and asked me to talk to the midwife. She told me to call 911 as they would get there sooner than she would, though she would stay on the phone until they arrived. So, I thrust the still-screaming-baby into Seth’s arms so I could pull out my phone.
As I had a phone to each ear, Hannah came in from the fire pit to use the bathroom to get ready for bed. She heard and saw the baby and turned around to go tell the others outside, but barely opened the door to yell “baby” when Autumn called her, saying “Hannah, I need you!” So she ran back to the bathroom to help out. We had to maneuver the still-connected-to-the-umbilical-cord-baby around so she could sit down and get off her trembling legs. As this was happening, the group around the fire pit sat there, wondering what Hannah had yelled so quickly from the house. They made Ruth, another of Autumn’s sisters, go in and find out what was happening. When Ruth walked up to the bathroom, she didn’t see or hear the now-quiet-baby, but only saw blood all over the floor. She ran back outside and threw up in front of the fire pit crowd, yelling ”Blood everywhere! Worst crime scene ever!” and threw up again. This sent the whole group into a frenzy of fear, which increased to complete pandemonium when they saw an aid car and fire truck pull up to our house.They thought something serious had gone wrong!
After much confusion, tears, prayer, and attempts to comfort one another outside, the fire pit crowd learned of the joyous, albeit, astonishing news: that mother and baby were perfectly healthy and happy.
In seemingly slow-motion, I made myself reach out and touch it… Then I slowly lifted it up and it turned out to be a scrawny, little arm. The baby startled, took a gulp and started crying. And before I could blink, the rest of his body whooshed out and instinctively my arms shot out and caught him. Oh, the relief! He was alive!! As I crouched there holding a tiny, bony bottom in one hand and a screaming, round head in the other, I was overjoyed that he was alive and apparently healthy. Finally, I heard Seth coming down the hall and I exclaimed, “Look what I have!” As he stood there, in shock, I shouted, “Go call the midwife!” He ran back down the hall as I continued to squat there with my hands full, unable to do anything else. Autumn continued to stand, holding onto the counter.
Soon Seth came in and shoved his phone between my shoulder and ear and asked me to talk to the midwife. She told me to call 911 as they would get there sooner than she would, though she would stay on the phone until they arrived. So, I thrust the still-screaming-baby into Seth’s arms so I could pull out my phone.
As I had a phone to each ear, Hannah came in from the fire pit to use the bathroom to get ready for bed. She heard and saw the baby and turned around to go tell the others outside, but barely opened the door to yell “baby” when Autumn called her, saying “Hannah, I need you!” So she ran back to the bathroom to help out. We had to maneuver the still-connected-to-the-umbilical-cord-baby around so she could sit down and get off her trembling legs. As this was happening, the group around the fire pit sat there, wondering what Hannah had yelled so quickly from the house. They made Ruth, another of Autumn’s sisters, go in and find out what was happening. When Ruth walked up to the bathroom, she didn’t see or hear the now-quiet-baby, but only saw blood all over the floor. She ran back outside and threw up in front of the fire pit crowd, yelling ”Blood everywhere! Worst crime scene ever!” and threw up again. This sent the whole group into a frenzy of fear, which increased to complete pandemonium when they saw an aid car and fire truck pull up to our house.They thought something serious had gone wrong!
After much confusion, tears, prayer, and attempts to comfort one another outside, the fire pit crowd learned of the joyous, albeit, astonishing news: that mother and baby were perfectly healthy and happy.
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| Ezra, several hours old |
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