awesome

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to the hospital and watch my sister, Tyra, give birth to a beautiful (7lb. 4oz. & 20 in.) baby boy: Adric Ty Williamson.

A few weeks ago, I was over at her house and sort of half-jokingly mentioned that I wanted to be in the delivery room to witness this whole process. Tyra told me that if I really wanted to, she would let me come in. I instantly decided that it was something I couldn't pass up, so when they checked into the hospital yesterday, I was right there with them.

For awhile, nothing too exciting was going on so Brock & I started in on the Season 3 DVD of The Office to keep us entertained while she started on her Pitocin (the stuff they give you through an IV to start you after they've broken your water). Ty started getting a little uncomfortable so she stood up for awhile and knelt on a chair and then back to the bed. Her IV was leaking a little, so when the nurse came in, she also checked her and said she was at a 3.5. At this point, she opted out of the epidural because it didn't work in time (and then only numbed 1/2 of her body) last time. Nurse Kathy told her that she had "plenty" of time if she wanted to change her mind. Her contractions started to become more intense and 30 minutes later, the nurse came back in to check her again just before she left for the day. She was at a 7 by this point so the nurse assured her that she would alert the Dr. and the nurse who would be coming in to take her place. But she didn't really take Tyra too seriously when she was told that the baby was dropping and insisted that she had lots more time. So off she went on her merry way.

15 minutes later the new nurse, Tina, came in and Tyra immediately asked to be checked again. She was having a hard time breathing and her extremities were going numb. Because of this, Tina gave her some oxygen and when she checked her, her eyes got enormous and she pushed the call button and told the receptionist that they "needed a setup in 518 NOW!!" When Tyra told her that the baby was coming and she couldn't stop it, Tina pushed the button again and said, "We also need to get Kim (the lead nurse) in here RIGHT NOW!

Not even a minute later, in comes the setup crew--unfolding towels and laying out tools. Kim came in with the warmer/blankets for the baby and immediately tried to get Tyra to slow down her breathing so that the Dr. would make it in time to deliver the baby instead of just to congratulate the parents. Kim was so calm and succeeded for a whole two minutes to get Tyra to slow herself down and to resist the urge to push. While she was getting Tyra to breathe, she told the assistant who was setting up the tools that she needed to get gloved up and get something to cut the chord with. (Are you serious? This was when I knew that there was no more messing around. And I just prayed that these nurses knew how to deliver the baby.) Tyra started demanding that they put her feet in the stirrups because there was nothing more she could do to stop the baby from coming. And all the while Brock was trying to get Tyra to be more rational, "Honey, we have to wait for the Dr." To which Tyra was trying to get Brock to be realistic, "He's coming NOW!"

In waltzed her doctor (in her Chuck Taylor double tongue converse tennis shoes) in just enough time to glove up and catch the baby. Seriously, Dr. Julia was in the room for a maximum of 5 minutes from the time she put her gloves on til the time she walked out the door. Brock said it was the fastest $2K anyone ever made.

And all I did was cry.

It was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. It was comical, happy, scary, amazing, intense, spiritual, and awesome all at once.

I'm so happy that I got to be a part of this. Thank you, Tyra and Brock, for being willing to let me invade your privacy and to witness the greatest miracle ever. I will never forget this.