Hannah's Dramatic Arrival

Meghan has been pregnant awhile, and even though the due date was rapidly approaching (this Friday), the concept of having a baby was still a little foreign to us and almost seemed unreal.  Well today it suddenly became very real!  For the first time in her pregnancy, Meghan started having light contractions yesterday.  She didn't think much of them, as they weren't painful at all.  We were thinking "Hey, this baby might come by Friday after all."  At around 10:00 PM last night, they got worse.  Suddenly, things started happening very quickly.  The contractions worsened, and we wondered if we might be going to the hospital the next day.  Then her water broke at about 12:45 AM, and we knew we'd need to start heading there sometime in the middle of the night.  Then, without much warning, the baby started to arrive, and I knew there was now no time to even go to the hospital.  Meghan was lying on our bed, and I came to the realization that I was going to have to deliver our baby right then and there!  Like everything else in this process, it didn't take long, and at 1:22 AM little Hannah was in my arms.  I immediately called 911, and they dispatched assistance.  Two police were first to arrive, but soon thereafter EMTs and paramedics arrived.  They cut the umbilical cord (top-left photo) and tended to both Meghan and Hannah (top-right photo), checking their vital signs and providing standard aid to both.  Later our doula and my mom both arrived, resulting in about 10 people in the room.  Everything was good, and soon Meghan was able to hold Hannah (middle-left photo, with Heidi the doula nearby) while the responders finished their tasks.  Meghan and Hannah rode in the ambulance to the hospital while I followed in our car.  At the hospital, the nurses ran through their standard tests and procedures, and everyone still checked out great.  It was a crazy night, but we're so happy!  We wouldn't have planned it this way, but I love that the end result is that I can say I was the one who brought our little baby Hannah into this world.  We'll be here at Overland Park Regional for a few days, but we're excited to go home and join up with Joshua and Clara as our new family of five!