We had the baby! In the kitchen!

Yes. I really did. And no, not on purpose!!
Here's the whole story...
On thursday I noticed my 'braxton-hicks' contractions were more painful then usual, but I didn't think much of it. I had an OB appt at 4 pm that day and was dialated to 3 cm, but, again, I was 3 cm for 3 weeks before I had Sophia so didn't think much of that either. After my appointment my contractions became even stronger, but not at all regular. I might have 1 an hour or 4 an hour. It wasn't until about 1 am that they became stong enough and regular enough (which was still only about every 3-10 minutes) that I thought maybe I'm in labor. I kept praying to know what to do, and wasn't getting any answer, except 'just relax'. So I took that to mean that I wasn't having the baby any time soon. Wrong. At 1:45 I decided to call the doctor and see what he said. He was already at the hospital with someone else in labor, so I spoke with an L&D nurse who told me that since my contractions weren't regular yet, to give it another hour and see. I told her that my first labor was 3 hours and my second was 2 hours so I was nervous and she said I could come in if I wanted to and they'd check me out. I decided to do that. But since it was the middle of the night, Travis and I thought of who we knew here that might be able to come over and stay with the girls who didn't have to work or take care of their own kids. There's a family in our branch, the Webbers, and we thought she didn't work, but we knew their son, JR, who's 19 and getting ready to leave on a mission only works in the afternoons and the kids love him, they're a great family, so we called them and by 2:30 both Sis. Webber and JR were going to come over (because she did have to work the next day, so he'd stay when she left). They live about 30 minutes from us, and to be fair, I don't think I warned her about my extremely speedy labors. Plus, I really believed at that time I had at least 2 or 3 hours. (I had been induced in the hospital with both my first 2 labors, so I didn't know what it felt like for me to go into labor on my own!) So I was sitting on the couch breathing through the contractions, waiting for the Webbers while Travis cleaned (I think he just didn't know what to do.) By 2:45 my contractions became regular (finally), every 2-3 minutes apart. And of course they were getting increasingly painful. I remember telling Travis and I was REALLY ready for my epidural now, and he said they don't make take home epidural kits, but he'd give me one the second we got to the hospital. At about 3:10 I felt like I had to pee, but I knew I couldn't get off the couch by myself and walk to our little bathroom off the kitchen, so I told Travis he had to come help me to the bathroom. This is when things got a little scary, but mostly for Travis, I think, because being a nurse anesthetist he knows everything that can go wrong. So he said, "Laura, women in labor don't have to pee. If you stand up you'll have the baby!" and I said "Just help me to the bathroom!!" (at this point my breathing was more like hyperventilating, and my upper lip had broken a sweat, which I've heard from people since means, yes, it's time to push!) So we walked through the kitchen to the bathroom and I'm in so much pain with this next contraction I can't sit down and then I can suddenly feel the baby's head! I told Travis "I have to push!" And he looked like a deer in headlights and said, "no! Get in the car!" And I said "I'M HAVING - THE BABY!" in my most strict mom voice. I said "get a blanket and pillow and put it on the floor!" He grabbed some and I crawled over a few feet and laid down while he went upstairs to get the bulb suction, towels, and a hemostat clamp (for the cord, why we have one I don't know). My water broke and her little head came out while I yelled like crazy (the girls slept through all of this somehow!) Travis came back downstairs and suctioned her mouth and then I squeezed out the rest of her. He rubbed her with towels to keep her warm and try to get her to cry. She was breathing, but not crying, so we were a little nervous. That took about 10 minutes. I just laid there shaking while Travis worked on her in a towel on my stomach. When we knew she was ok (she was just in shock, the same thing had happened with Holly) He clamped the cord with the hemostat and called EMS to come pick us up. Right after that Sis. Webber got there. I'm sure we gave her quite a shock! Luckily JR didn't come inside with her! I'm sure we'd have traumatized him! She got a few blankets to cover me up with. We didn't want me to deliver the placenta because that's when a woman can bleed to death. And Travis didn't cut the cord until EMS came and gave him a second clamp (you should only cut when both sides are closed off, apparently) They loaded Lucy and I into the ambulance and started her on some oxygen (it was just a little low) and kept a watch on her heart rate and such on the drive to the hospital. Adrenaline kept me pretty much pain free for a while, I just had those post labor shakes. At the hospital the OB delivered the placenta without problem and gave me 2 little stitches. And that's pretty much it. Travis stayed at the hospital with us for a few hours while we got settled, then about 6 am went back home to be with the girls when they got up since the Webbers had to leave. Crazy.
And apparently since she wasn't born in the hospital, we had to go around and get all these things signed to prove that I really was pregnant, and that she wasn't a stillbirth, and all of that. Travis will have to sign the actual birth certificate as the 'deliverer'. He's really proud of that fact. :) Her birth certificate will list the place of birth as "residence" and delivering health care professional as "Travis Chabo, father". Pretty exciting. Though I don't think I want to do it again. I did learn that natural labor is a lot less painful then being induced! And I really do want a working epidural sometime! I guess we'll have to see what happens next time. Hope this story didn't scare too many of you. I must also say that if your spouse isn't a health care worker, don't bother with much other then the calling 911 the second you know you won't make it to the hospital. I think a lot of husbands would faint and not make it to suctioning the mouth, etc... Thank goodness for my husband!