He's Lucky the Baby Wasn't Born Right There in the Drive Thru
My sister was due to have her first baby in August. Last
Saturday, three weeks early, I received a text from my brother in law informing
me that my sister was at the hospital in labor.
Going into labor that early, especially with your first child is unheard of in my family. I was ten agonizing, swollen, days late with my first and had to be induced with my second. Couple that with a few false alarms and I just figured that my kids liked it better in the womb.
Therefore, I had to ask, “Real labor?”
“Yes, real labor.
She’s at 5 cm and just had the epidural.”
With that, my 14 year old daughter and I practically flew from Fauquier County, Virginia to Howard County, Maryland where we met them and my mother already in the labor and delivery room.
My sister was calm, cool and collected when we arrived however I soon learned that had not always been the case. She began having contractions the evening before but wasn’t positive she was in labor until early the next morning. My brother in law found her gripping the bathroom sink, groaning through intense contractions and they decided it was time to call their midwife. According to my brother in law, let’s just call him Jason, the midwife advised them to take their time getting to the hospital and to try and eat something beforehand because it would most likely be a long day.
After the call, Jason carefully helped my sister into the car, grabbed the bags and they started out for the Howard County General Hospital. By the time that they left the neighborhood, my sister’s contractions were so painful that she was panicking. They got so bad that she was passing out in between contractions only to be jolted back to awareness when another one began. It was at this point, the point where my sister passed out from pain and stress, that Jason remembered the midwife’s advice. Or possibly, his stomach reminded him.
My sister woke up once again to the shooting pain and became disoriented. And then she heard Jason say the words that will forever haunt him in our family, “Can I get an Egg McMuffin, please?” She quickly realized that they had not quite made it to the hospital yet. Instead, they were in a McDonald’s drive thru line where her beloved husband of just over a year was ordering a bit of breakfast to sustain him.
“Are you KIDDING me, Jason???”
No, he wasn’t kidding but he sure is lucky my nephew wasn’t born right there in the drive thru lane. Jason claims that he was only following the midwife’s advice about eating before they got to the hospital. A weak defense but one he stuck to throughout the entire day as my mother, each nurse that I informed, and I verbally abused him for his folly.
At 12:24 am, fourteen hours after arriving at the hospital, my sister gave birth to a perfect baby boy weighing 7.7 lbs. and measuring 21 inches long. My nephew took his sweet time coming out, probably knowing full well that his father needed the extra time to fortify himself with a snack…or two.
Kimberly Petro writes about her life in The Ding Dang Woods on her personal blog, Petroville. Come visit.
An original DC Metro Moms post.
