Precipitous Delivery

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
a. Precipitate Delivery. This refers to a delivery which results after an unusually rapid labor (less than three hours) and culminates in the rapid, spontaneous expulsion of the infant. Delivery often occurs without the benefit of asepsis.
b. Emergency Delivery. This refers to an unplanned, non delivery room, non-hospital birth which occurs as a result of precipitous labor, geographical distance from the hospital, or other cause for the unexpected delivery.

This sums up our Easter Sunday. Saturday night I had one or two strong but irregular contractions. In the morning I had a few more but nothing that prevented me from going about my normal routine. After nap time the contractions were coming more frequently but were not getting stronger, and frequently being once every 10-20 minutes. Just before sitting down to dinner at my mom's house I felt like I wet myself. Having never had my water break on it's own I wasn't sure if that's what happened. Contractions were slightly stronger and so Eric said to be on the safe side we should start packing and heading to the hospital. We skipped on dinner, went downstairs to our house where I insisted that Eric shave before we left. He was scruffy and I wanted him looking less so for pictures. While he shaved I had two big contractions, the second one sent me to bed to lay down. On the third one I told Eric we wouldn't make it to our hospital in town (50 minutes away) so we decided to head to Kahuku hospital (15 minutes away). But on the fourth contraction I told Eric to call 911 and that I needed to push. He was on the phone with dispatch while in my head I'm thinking "no these are just strong contractions and we can make it to a hospital." Well on the very next push- number five if your counting- the baby's head was out, followed by the body with the next contraction.
Samuel Eric born 4-4-10 at 1642. Weight: 7.66 Length: 19 1/2"

Some other points that happened in that hour time frame:
- Called mom and asked her to call our pediatrician doctor whose car I saw next door. She came down on the phone, bringing William who looked confused. Dr also came to check on baby.
-EMS came 5 minutes after birth.
-The dispatch was telling to get something to tie to cord off with like a shoelace. Who in Hawaii wears shoes? And laces are dirty!! Eric improvised and used his earphones.
-Mom taking pics as we're leaving. While my mom is a nurse, she was more of a mom/ grandma in this situation.
-I ride in ambulance with Samuel while Eric drives to meet us at the hospital. I've never gotten to town so fast! Eric arrived about 20 minutes after us, just before they move us from the ER to maternity. Placenta delivered in ER. Settled into room about 1830pm. Left hospital just before 1800 next day.