The "14th" Club

The Illustrious "14th Club" gained a new member December 14th, 2007. Bethany Nicole Moore was born with gusto, and joined sister Audrey Marie Moore (born April 14th, 2006) and Dad (born February 14th, 1978) in the exclusive club. Bethany certainly took an abnormal approach to joining the club. As you will see, she clearly did not want to be born too late.

Heather started having contractions around 5:00 a.m. We began to prepare for the big day by making sure that bags were packed and loaded into the car and that Audrey had people to watch her (Doug's mom in the morning and Heather's mom in the afternoon). Things progressed slowly. Heather's contractions were coming regularly but they were quite far apart and not too strong. As the day progressed, rather than getting stronger, they became weaker and further apart. At one point Heather thought about sending Doug back to work because she thought that she was having false labor.

Finally, things began to start moving. Heather had about 5 contractions in a row that were stronger and during these contractions, final preparations were made to go to the Hospital. Suddenly Heather's water broke. It was time to get going. Heather asked Doug to go get her some flip-flops to wear while she went to the bathroom and then we would go to the hopsital. By the time Doug got the flip-flops and got to the bathroom door, Heather shouted out "I think I am having the baby!" To this Doug asked "Can you feel it?" Heather Responded "Yes, Get In Here!" Doug immediately opened the door and found Heather holding the baby below her. Bethany was here! Doug ran in and grabbed her from Heather, checked to see if she was breathing (She was crying...ah, relief) and then checked to see if she really was "Bethany," and not "unkown male"(A Girl! Good work ultrasound lady).

Heather's mother was out in the hall with Audrey during all of this. Audrey looked a little surprised by all that was going on, but quickly found her toys more interesting than "the miracle of birth." As Doug gave the baby to Heather to breastfeed, Heather's Mom called 911. We were instructed to wrap her in a towel and wipe her mouth and nose clean. This was the easy part. The next instruction was to tie off the umbilical chord 6 inches from the baby. Doug went in search of a string, and soon remembered that his friend James Krause had a similar experience a couple of years ago, and used his shoelace. Doug whipped off a shoe lace, tied an overhand knot, and then after careful consideration determined to finish it off with a square knot.

About this time, the EMT's showed up. Dad was given the honors of cutting the umbilical chord (the EMT even let him keep the scissors). Heather was still in the bathroom, so we moved down the hall to the front door, and Heather and baby were loaded onto a gurney. As Heather was being wheeled out of the door, she looked up at Audrey, put on a big smile and said "I love you, Audrey." At this one of the EMT's said "Oh, that's it, this is the ultimate Mom." Dad had to agree.

Mom and baby arrived at the hospital in excellent health. Heather felt much better than she had during the previous delivery (She had only experienced about 5 hard contractions to deliver Bethany, and isn't really sure if she pushed or not, it happened so fast). Bethany was 6 lbs 15 oz. and 19.5 inches long, making her they exact measurements of Audrey.

Since delivery, both Mom and Baby are doing excellent. Baby has already gained about 2/3 lbs, and eats like a horse. This is a welcome change from a challenging feeding experience for the first few months with Audrey.

It has been an excellent Christmas. We are enjoying our new family member, and are so grateful that everything went so well. Below are several pictures of baby Bethany that Heather took. Enjoy.