Marshall is Here

Yes the due date is Febuary 16th but...

Marshall David Lieberman was born at 4:29 PM yesterday, Jan 31st, in front of the hospital, in front of the emergency room entrance, in front of several surprised onlookers, in the front seat of our B.U.V. (also in front of the hospital security cameras). I held his head and called for help. A nurse named Joanne came out and helped with the rest. Ginger and baby were wheeled into the emergency room. Weight: 7 pounds, 8 ounces. Length: 18 3/4 in.

Seriously.

I'm not making any of this up.

One day earlier: Our midwife, who had been caring for Ginger since September, told us to get medical help, that Ginger was at risk due to multiple and uncharacteristic panic attacks and a week of brutal insomnia. We were only able to make phone contact with a Dr. who was able to prescribe some meds to help Ginger. (I'm not making this up either) Now, you all know how we feel about meds. But we did it because we didn't know what else to do. Our good friend came and picked up the kids. Ginger slept for the first time in a week.

I wake up at 5 AM to Ginger saying she is in preliminary labor.

We go at 7AM to preregister at the hospital. Paid $2000.00 on the Mastercard. That covers all care for mother and child for two days. Good deal, I thought.

We go back to hospital at about 1 PM (ish). They check Ginger and say she is in labor, but it looks to us like she's got 6 to 10 more hours of labor ahead of her based on past experience. So at about 3:15 PM, we left the hospital for Ginger to go labor in the comfort of our own home..

Well the further we got from the hospital the more contractions Ginger started to get.

On the way home, after running around town a little bit, at about 3:52 PM we were stopped by the sheriff for speeding. (I told you I'm not making this up, but you're not believing me) I explained, he scolded and gave us a warning. While he was standing there handing back my DL, Ginger opened up the door and went into a strong moaning contraction in the poor officer's face. He asked if we needed an ambulance. At this point I'm still thinking Marshall is going to be born in February. I've thought several times since then that I should have taken him up on that ambulance. It would have kept the town safer and quieter.

We were at home for less than 10 minutes. I decided to go back to the hospital, 20 minutes drive under normal circumstances.

3 miles down the road, Ginger's water broke. Contraction on top of contraction. The rules for stop lights, stop signs, other cars all changed in an instant. The traffic at 4:23 PM in this town is surprisingly heavy. I really only almost wrecked the Dodge once. Between contractions in the van, Ginger's only complaint was that I was not honking the horn enough. We didn't need the horn; Ginger was making plenty loud without it.

Go back and read the top to fill in story here.

After the baby was born, we didn't see him again for 4 1/2 hours during which I was very worried. They gently put us off several times during those hours.

Ginger lost over a liter of blood during the delivery. She also had a placental abruption (sp?) which means the placenta detaches too soon and tears, causing loss of blood.

Marshall had a belly full of blood and had blood in his stool, so they decided to watch him for a long time.

Ginger's friend, attended during the afterbirth process as doula (a trained labor assistant). She was extremely helpful and helped us understand what was going on.

We spent the night at the hospital. Ginger and the baby were discharged in the 4 PM hour. I looked up at the car clock and realized that we were leaving exactly 24 hours to the minute after we arrived on the emergency room doorstep.

Our pastor and church family have been more than wonderful during this experience.
Our friends took care of kids for two nights.

I am grateful and humbled to be a member of the body of Christ today.

We are happy to be together as a family again.