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Linda & Andrew Terranova are the proud parents of Anna Mae, born Feb 2 @ 5:45 PM, rather quicker than expected on our bathroom floor. 6 lbs 11 oz, 19 3/4 in.
At 2:30pm she called me, her doula, to give me a heads up. She knew that labor wasn't yet active but wasn't sure how quickly it would transition. I thanked her for the call and asked her to contact me when they became more regular, otherwise I would speak to her later. She was in very good spirits and said baby wasn't coming too soon as she was still working on the nursery.
Thankfully her sister was over to care for William while Andrew was getting some work done. Linda found great relief in the shower but soon found it hard to stand and so she retreated to the comfort of her bed. At this time, her sister left with William while Andrew hopped into the shower. Meanwhile, Linda lay curled in bed, her back to the clock, breathing through her contractions.
At 5:30pm, just as I was reaching for the phone to call Linda, Andrew called. He said that labor had been steadily progressing and that contractions were now mostly ten minutes apart. Linda was having some difficulty relaxing and felt that the last few contractions had gotten ahead of her. They were getting ready to leave for the hospital. I commented that ten minutes was still a pretty big gap even with a second baby and he said he couldn't be sure, they might be closer now. Knowing how strongly they felt about not getting to the hospital too soon, I asked him to time the next few contractions while they were getting ready to leave. I'd be calling back in ten minutes.
I gathered my birth ball, birth bag and camera and loaded them into the car. A curtain of icy rain fell heavy from the sky. I rushed back into the house to call them back. It was now 5:40pm. Andrew answered on the first ring. Linda had had three contractions since we had spoken! I heard a low groan in the background. Linda. "Go," I said. A telltale sound of a woman at the very end of her labor, a woman feeling the pressure of her decending baby. He said they were on their way out the door.
Minutes later I was in my car sitting on 287... on a Friday night... during rush hour... in bad weather... and I knew this baby would be born before I could possibly get there. What I didn't expect was the phone call I received shortly after 6:00pm. Andrew was calling to tell me that...
Baby Anna had been born at 5:50pm in the bathroom received by him. Linda had felt pressure and the need to use the bathroom, she tried to remove her pants but the force of her baby's emerging head made it very difficult to lower them. Andrew nudged them down as Linda moved away from the toilet, assumed a squatting position and several pushes later 6 lb 11 oz Anna Mae slid out and into her father's arms.
So much for getting to the hospital too soon; baby Anna chose to make her enterance in the privacy of her own home, trusting those who mattered most to guide her gently into this world. From what I have been told and what I have seen, they were the epitome of grace under pressure, these warm and loving parents. she is a lucky girl indeed.
~Jessica Koester
Plans change. Not long after I woke up and found I had some bloody show. That means I was now on 24 hour notice of Anna coming into the world. I told Andrew but felt no symptoms yet so wandered upstairs to glare at the mural. Who the hell decided to include a tree house with a winding, rickety staircase? Oh, right; me. Actually, the plan was to project the picture and trace it but the resolution was so poor that what I traced really was worthy of Salvador Dali. Surreal was not the look I was going for in the nursery (the poor girl already has to look at storm clouds on her ceiling instead of fluffy, friendly clouds). A couple of days ago I scratched off my drafting skills from high school and drew most of the stairs but I didn't like them so I walked away from it. Now I realized what it was that bugged me. They were nicely in proportion to each other but from the perspective of walking on the stairs not looking at them from the ground. I acknowledged that I was being anal but I erased them and started over. My goal for the day was merely to redraw the stupid steps.
Because, you see, I thought I had time. I had an eleven hour labor with William and that was after I had been induced with Cervadil (sp?) which we figured shaved four hours off. I did not consider the fact that I was already dilated enough at my doc appointment the previous Tuesday that they would not give me Cervadil (1.5 cm). Add to that, the fact that I honestly had no clue what early labor felt like. I skipped that last time. I had visions of Andrew finishing his work for the day and watching a movie together or taking goofy pictures of my big belly (I really wanted a bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen photo). Well, I got to learn the difference between delivering an eight pound, two ounce baby with a 90 percentile head in the posterior position and delivering a six pound, eleven ounce baby who is positioned correctly. But I get ahead of myself.
My contractions started at 1:00. They were minor and erratic (from 10 to 20 minutes). I called our douala and my doctor to let them know that I had started early labor. I ate a nice lunch and went back to glaring at the mural. By 2:00, I had to pause for contractions but was pain free between so I continued to draw. I was on a mission from God and would not be distracted. By 3:00, I couldn't concentrate so I went to take a shower. I figured it would feel really good and that I wouldn't see a shower again for days. Things changed in the shower [queue foreboding music].
Looking backwards, I now realize why the Bradley Method is husband coached... because laboring woman can not be trusted to think straight. When I got out of the shower, the contractions were a lot more intense. A thinking person would have called her husband and the douala and timed contractions. I curled up in a fetal position on the bed and since I couldn't see the clock from my position I forgot about timing the contractions. I didn't even have the energy to comb my hair. I immediately assumed that since I had done no preparation for labor that I had forgotten my ability to manage my pain and thought I just needed to concentrate better. After all, it had only been two and half hours, right? I was obviously still in early to middle labor. At no point did I clue into the fact that I was in transition. It was sooooo much worse with William, probably due to the back labor.
Andrew finishes up work and finds me in the bedroom. He times the contractions and they are something like 15 minutes apart. He calls the douala. He can see my struggling with the contractions but takes my comments that I just need to relax better at face value. He decides that my taking a shower was a good idea and does the same. When he gets out of the shower, he notices that my contractions have jumped to 10 minutes. He put the bag in the car and looks up directions to the hospital. When he gets back, they have jumped to 7 minutes or less (to me they felt right on top of each other but I don't think I said that out loud). He calls the douala and tells her to go to the hospital instead. She is stuck on I287 in rush hour traffic. He walks over to me. "We have to go to the hospital - right - now!" I actually argued a bit. I wanted to stay in my cocoon. It was a nice cocoon.
When I stood up, I felt like had to go to the bathroom. I went through last labor with a full bladder and did not want to repeat that so I went into the bathroom. When I sat down I had an overwhelming urge to push. I called out to Andrew and he came running, screaming, "don't push; don't push; don't push!!!!" I reached down and felt her head was out to the shoulder. I told him, "I can't stop." "What do you mean? Just don't push." "You don't understand, she's here." Blank look. "Her head is out." His eyes go wide. I squat and I swear with only four pushes she was out and Andrew had placed her on my knee.
I freeze in terror. What the hell would we do if something was wrong with her? She cries before Andrew can put her on my lap. One weight off of my shoulders. Then I watch her pink up in front of me. Relief. Meanwhile, Andrew turns on the heat, calls 911 and gets the aspirator for her nose. My after birth conveniently slips into the toilet and I realize I'm not bleeding so no major tear. We're golden.
The first responder to the 911 call was a cop. He said he was in training to be an EMT but that he didn't have a birthing kit. He looked as scared as I felt. Andrew calls my doctor who describes to the cop what to do. The cop grabs a sneaker of mine and pulls off the shoe string (which he doesn't sterilize with alcohol much to my consternation), cuts the string, and ties off the cord in two places. We wait for the EMT responder to actually cut the cord and fuss at us for not wrapping her tightly. We put a towel around her and Andrew goes for the warmest receiving blanket. He jokes that not everyone actually receives their child in their receiving blanket.
I guess I should say the first EMT responder. Six people responded. A friend of ours used to be an EMT and she says as the soon as they get the word that it is a birth at home, that every available person comes running. There is sort of a competition on who gets their stork pin for birthing a baby.
It is now 4:55. Four hour labor, one hour of hard labor and four pushes later we have our bundle of joy. Forty five minutes later they wheel me out of the house (I still have no clue what took so long). I get outside and see it is snowing. Somehow that adds to the unrealness of the moment. Andrew still swears that he did not deliver the baby as much as kept her from hitting the floor. I think it is remarkable that we kept our heads but Andrew figures we didn't really have time to panic, we were too busy just reacting.
A Hillcrest Road woman gave birth to a girl in her master bathroom, police said. Police responded to the Terranova home at 5:57 p.m. Feb. 2 on a report of woman who gave birth at home. When Officer Keven Lamey arrived, Linda Terranova was holding the newborn girl. The baby was crying and seemed to be healthy, according to the report. The baby's father, Andrew, called his wife's doctor, police said. The doctor gave Lamey instructions over the phone about how to tie off the umbilical cord with a shoelace. Lamey allowed the father to cut the umbilical card. The Martinsville Rescue Squad arrived and took over the medical care of the mother and baby, who was later named Anna. They were both taken to Somerset Medical Center, where both mother and baby were last reported to be doing well.