I wonder if we still have to pay for using the birth center?
July 20, 2015 7:49 AM Subscribe
Husband films wife giving birth in the front seat of the (moving) car. "Should I stop or should I keep going?
Apparently they had been stuck in Houston traffic for quite a while.
Apparently they had been stuck in Houston traffic for quite a while.
Well this is a nice change, usually it the beginning of a pregnancy that gets filmed.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:05 AM on July 20, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:05 AM on July 20, 2015 [10 favorites]
This is why you always keep some morphine in your glove box.
posted by delfin at 8:05 AM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by delfin at 8:05 AM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
It was her third baby. He weighed 10 pounds. Yikes!
posted by CrazyLemonade at 8:21 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by CrazyLemonade at 8:21 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
This video has been hitting my facebook and I am terrified to watch it. Mrs. gauche is 36 weeks pregnant, and we just bought a house out in the woods, putting our midwife and birthing center a solid hour's drive away (not well planned, in retrospect). This is exactly what I have started to have nightmares about.
posted by gauche at 8:24 AM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by gauche at 8:24 AM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
It's kinda terrifying to see him still driving before and after she gives birth, what with her out of the seatbelt and holding a newborn. But her tears of joy are really beautiful and a wonder to behold.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:25 AM on July 20, 2015
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:25 AM on July 20, 2015
This is exactly what I have started to have nightmares about
I thought it looked so much easier than my hospital c-section birth after hours of painful labor. YMMV.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 8:26 AM on July 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
I thought it looked so much easier than my hospital c-section birth after hours of painful labor. YMMV.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 8:26 AM on July 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
Be right back; I'm off to set up a tubal ligation consultation. This video tipped me over the edge.
posted by theraflu at 8:32 AM on July 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by theraflu at 8:32 AM on July 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
Once you've delivered two, I can see how they ended up with the third in the car. Delays in getting on the road (two other kids to make sure are cared for), stuck in traffic...sounds about right.
As for the calmness - again, once you've been through it a couple of times before, things are much less scary. Plus, he sounds like he's trying to do his best in what has developed into a less than ideal situation.
I wish I could have a third, but financially it's unwise for our family. I'm kinda jealous of her.
posted by EinAtlanta at 8:55 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
As for the calmness - again, once you've been through it a couple of times before, things are much less scary. Plus, he sounds like he's trying to do his best in what has developed into a less than ideal situation.
I wish I could have a third, but financially it's unwise for our family. I'm kinda jealous of her.
posted by EinAtlanta at 8:55 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can already picture the awkward family moments to come.
"I was born in a car!"
"I was so happy to hear you cry!"
"Aww, thanks, Mom!"
"I filmed it while driving."
"Fuck you, Ted."
"But..."
"I hate you, Daddy."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:55 AM on July 20, 2015 [8 favorites]
"I was born in a car!"
"I was so happy to hear you cry!"
"Aww, thanks, Mom!"
"I filmed it while driving."
"Fuck you, Ted."
"But..."
"I hate you, Daddy."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:55 AM on July 20, 2015 [8 favorites]
What a fast and neat birth. Nice to see it going so smoothly in such unlucky circumstances. Both kept it so well together that one could guess from the calmness and the speed that it happened that this wasn't the first one. Heart-warming family.
posted by Arkki at 9:01 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Arkki at 9:01 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Gauche: could be worse. Could be Norway.
I was in Geiranger recently, where the nearest hospital is in Alesund, a two hour plus drive that includes a ferry. I was told a pretty substantial number of babies are born in taxis or on the ferry.
Feel free to zoom in on that course and consider some of the switchbacks. Now consider the number of enormous tour buses on the road...
posted by Naberius at 9:03 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was in Geiranger recently, where the nearest hospital is in Alesund, a two hour plus drive that includes a ferry. I was told a pretty substantial number of babies are born in taxis or on the ferry.
Feel free to zoom in on that course and consider some of the switchbacks. Now consider the number of enormous tour buses on the road...
posted by Naberius at 9:03 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
"And that's how I got the name Prius."
posted by Splunge at 9:49 AM on July 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 9:49 AM on July 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
For those afraid to watch, the angle of the camera is such that you can't see any of the graphic details at all, then finally a mucky baby just appears and lets out a cry. Man, they are quite a couple. She kept it together and every word that came out of his mouth was exactly what she needed to hear in that moment. Yowsa.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 10:10 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 10:10 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
This post, when viewed from the front page:
Should I stop or should I keep going? [more inside]
A thought-provoking conjunction.
posted by penguin pie at 10:10 AM on July 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
Should I stop or should I keep going? [more inside]
A thought-provoking conjunction.
posted by penguin pie at 10:10 AM on July 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
I don't know about paying for the birth center but I know that when my wife had our daughter in a birth cottage but was also referred to the local hospital for some non-life threatening but non-negligible placenta detachment issues we admitted her but not the newborn so that for the time the wife was there she was permitted to keep the kiddo by her side the entire time instead of the usual crap hospitals in general try to pull.
Honestly it wasn't that bad in our case but it was great to be able to tell the people that came in to remove our daughter from our room (after we had politely insisted that we were fine and that we appreciated the offer that we'd rather keep her with us unless there was a medical reason for her to be removed) "No, she's staying here because you've given no reason otherwise AND she's not even your patient."
I mean, we're not the anti-vac/anti-medicine types by a long shot but it was very sad (but not unexpected /smallblessing) to come up against the "You will do this thing not because it has any reasoning behind it but because it's protocol and by the way because we said so" mindset in a hospital after one of the most intense periods of our lives.
So, yea, I hope they at least got a discount at the birth center I guess, but mostly I hope it meant that, as long as the kid was healthy of course, they got to spend every second of their first hours and days together if they wanted to. I know we did.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:12 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Honestly it wasn't that bad in our case but it was great to be able to tell the people that came in to remove our daughter from our room (after we had politely insisted that we were fine and that we appreciated the offer that we'd rather keep her with us unless there was a medical reason for her to be removed) "No, she's staying here because you've given no reason otherwise AND she's not even your patient."
I mean, we're not the anti-vac/anti-medicine types by a long shot but it was very sad (but not unexpected /smallblessing) to come up against the "You will do this thing not because it has any reasoning behind it but because it's protocol and by the way because we said so" mindset in a hospital after one of the most intense periods of our lives.
So, yea, I hope they at least got a discount at the birth center I guess, but mostly I hope it meant that, as long as the kid was healthy of course, they got to spend every second of their first hours and days together if they wanted to. I know we did.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:12 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wow, that's incredibly dangerous, for the mother, the child, and anyone who was on the road with these folks.
In a society where a pregnant mother would be shamed for riding a bike, it's totally acceptable to speed down the freeway while someone is giving birth in the car!
There's a point where you should pull over and call 911, that's probably about the point when you are pulling your camera out while you are driving to make a video of your passenger having a baby.
Glad their safe, but this drives me crazy.
posted by twjordan at 10:12 AM on July 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
In a society where a pregnant mother would be shamed for riding a bike, it's totally acceptable to speed down the freeway while someone is giving birth in the car!
There's a point where you should pull over and call 911, that's probably about the point when you are pulling your camera out while you are driving to make a video of your passenger having a baby.
Glad their safe, but this drives me crazy.
posted by twjordan at 10:12 AM on July 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
It's the viral marketing pilot for Seinfeld's new spinoff series, "Women in Cars, Giving Birth."
Next week: Twins!
posted by mosk at 10:28 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Next week: Twins!
posted by mosk at 10:28 AM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
"And that's how I got the name Prius."
"...Why do you ask, Ecomode?"
posted by The Tensor at 10:37 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
"...Why do you ask, Ecomode?"
posted by The Tensor at 10:37 AM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have a friend who had child number three not too long ago. Based on her experiences on her other two births, she pointedly decided not to go to the hospital after her labor pains started and by the time she decided it was time, the delivery took all of 12 minutes at the hospital. Throw in traffic, and that probably could have ended up similar to this situation.
posted by Atreides at 11:11 AM on July 20, 2015
posted by Atreides at 11:11 AM on July 20, 2015
There's a point where you should pull over and call 911, that's probably about the point when you are pulling your camera out while you are driving to make a video of your passenger having a baby.
If you are already driving, why would you pull over, call 911, and have them come to you? Least of all when they would likely tell you to drive to the nearest hospital. It's childbirth; not a liver transplant.
If it's any reassurance, the camera appears to be stationary, so it was likely affixed to something and not being held in one hand while he drove with the other. Would have made undoing that seatbelt tricky.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 11:17 AM on July 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
If you are already driving, why would you pull over, call 911, and have them come to you? Least of all when they would likely tell you to drive to the nearest hospital. It's childbirth; not a liver transplant.
If it's any reassurance, the camera appears to be stationary, so it was likely affixed to something and not being held in one hand while he drove with the other. Would have made undoing that seatbelt tricky.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 11:17 AM on July 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
My kid's kindergarten teacher, who has four of her own, warned me that with each successive birth it took less and less time.
With number three, they were still at the door, putting on their shoes, when the baby popped out.
posted by Omnomnom at 11:45 AM on July 20, 2015
With number three, they were still at the door, putting on their shoes, when the baby popped out.
posted by Omnomnom at 11:45 AM on July 20, 2015
Peanut #1 took about 24 hours to efface and dialate to 3 cm. When hubs made it back to the hospital and into the birthing room, I was already epiduraled up and feeling noooo pain.
Flash forward to Peanut #2 about 6 months ago, and the minute the ward OB walked out of the room after monitoring showed irregular contractions and BAM! 5 strong ones one after another. I text hubs to get upstairs to the birthing rooms, and woah nelly things are happening fast. In short, in the time it took to get the (much more difficult) epidural, I went to full dialation and ready to push. I was worried that Hubs wasn't going to make it when, in between contractions before the epidural kicked in, I hear him ask somebody incredulously "Is that *my wife* screaming?!"
All this to say that I watched that video and am now enlightened as to exactly why he asked that.
posted by romakimmy at 12:05 PM on July 20, 2015
Flash forward to Peanut #2 about 6 months ago, and the minute the ward OB walked out of the room after monitoring showed irregular contractions and BAM! 5 strong ones one after another. I text hubs to get upstairs to the birthing rooms, and woah nelly things are happening fast. In short, in the time it took to get the (much more difficult) epidural, I went to full dialation and ready to push. I was worried that Hubs wasn't going to make it when, in between contractions before the epidural kicked in, I hear him ask somebody incredulously "Is that *my wife* screaming?!"
All this to say that I watched that video and am now enlightened as to exactly why he asked that.
posted by romakimmy at 12:05 PM on July 20, 2015
In tv news interviews, the couple says they were trying to get to the closest facility, which was still an hour away, and they didn't have cell phone reception (or didn't have a working cell phone, it wasn't quire clear what was meant).
posted by King Sky Prawn at 12:24 PM on July 20, 2015
posted by King Sky Prawn at 12:24 PM on July 20, 2015
Mine decided to ratchet up the labor pains to Go To Hospital levels when I was right in the middle of The Life Aquatic. The best part, too! You know, the part with that Devo song. I was like COME ON and shot her my famous "oh no you di'nt" look, which she of course abided from within the womb. She patiently waited until the credits rolled, and then we went to the hospital. Wish more parents would use the same foresight when deciding when to birth their young.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:50 PM on July 20, 2015
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:50 PM on July 20, 2015
If you are already driving, why would you pull over, call 911, and have them come to you? Least of all when they would likely tell you to drive to the nearest hospital. It's childbirth; not a liver transplant.
yyyyyyyeah
Not going to comment on this situation in particular, but there's a lot of reasons not to keep driving, and to call 911. Nuchal cord, placental abruption, postpartum hemorrhage, all the way to meconium aspiration or neonate pneumothorax. Not to mention uh driving with a goddamn unsecured pregnant lady or brand new infant in the freaking car.
From one who knows, having a baby nearly die on her birthday is not something you ever want to experience, trust me.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:52 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
yyyyyyyeah
Not going to comment on this situation in particular, but there's a lot of reasons not to keep driving, and to call 911. Nuchal cord, placental abruption, postpartum hemorrhage, all the way to meconium aspiration or neonate pneumothorax. Not to mention uh driving with a goddamn unsecured pregnant lady or brand new infant in the freaking car.
From one who knows, having a baby nearly die on her birthday is not something you ever want to experience, trust me.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:52 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Certainly there's reasons to have medical people present for a childbirth, and I don't think anyone would dispute that. Hence going to the hospital. Pulling over, calling 911 and waiting for said medical people, though, might take a lot longer than just ... continuing to drive.
Also, the pregnant lady is "unsecured" for seconds, as they are coming to a stop. It's not like he's off-roading with this unbelted pregnant woman giving birth in the back.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:58 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, the pregnant lady is "unsecured" for seconds, as they are coming to a stop. It's not like he's off-roading with this unbelted pregnant woman giving birth in the back.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:58 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Although that would make for a much more entertaining video series. OFF ROAD CHILDBIRTHS: XTREEM BIRTHING
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:00 PM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:00 PM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
does no one else find the father's reaction, or lack thereof, bizarre? i mean, would you not pull over out of concern? or even emotion? i mean, i read above that it's their third child, but really, do you just kind of stop caring after the second kid?
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 1:22 PM on July 20, 2015
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 1:22 PM on July 20, 2015
does no one else find the father's reaction, or lack thereof, bizarre?
I sort of do this "emotions auto-shut-off" in emergency situations. If this guy's anything like me, it's not lack of emotions, it's that if you let the emotions-valve open, then they render you completely useless. Better to keep them away for a while why you keep doing whatever is keeping everyone alive.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:31 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
I sort of do this "emotions auto-shut-off" in emergency situations. If this guy's anything like me, it's not lack of emotions, it's that if you let the emotions-valve open, then they render you completely useless. Better to keep them away for a while why you keep doing whatever is keeping everyone alive.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:31 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
(but yeah, looking at it from here, his "do you have to put your pants down?" voice was creepily calm)
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:32 PM on July 20, 2015
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:32 PM on July 20, 2015
does no one else find the father's reaction, or lack thereof, bizarre?
If I wanted to, I could find all sorts of things that bizarre or just plain wrong.
But no one was hurt in t his very odd situation that I don't have the full details of, so just gonna say "yay, baby" and call it a day on this one.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:35 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
If I wanted to, I could find all sorts of things that bizarre or just plain wrong.
But no one was hurt in t his very odd situation that I don't have the full details of, so just gonna say "yay, baby" and call it a day on this one.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:35 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
does no one else find the father's reaction, or lack thereof, bizarre?I don't think it's that unusual for people to act uncannily calm in high-stress situations, especially when someone else is already taking care of externalizing all the stress.
posted by dfan at 1:38 PM on July 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
does no one else find the father's reaction, or lack thereof, bizarre?
I mean... I reacted the same way when birthing stress was high and we were under-medical care, ditto for when wife's academic adviser screwed her big time regarding her dissertation... everyone's reactions to stress and situations like this are not your reactions, that's ok. I promise we care and want the best.
posted by RolandOfEld at 2:13 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
I mean... I reacted the same way when birthing stress was high and we were under-medical care, ditto for when wife's academic adviser screwed her big time regarding her dissertation... everyone's reactions to stress and situations like this are not your reactions, that's ok. I promise we care and want the best.
posted by RolandOfEld at 2:13 PM on July 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Just chiming in as another person who is overcome with extreme calm in times of stress. It feels like a coping mechanism and the only other option is catatonia.
posted by Carbolic at 2:59 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Carbolic at 2:59 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have no direct experience but I would guess the same sort of thing has to happen in war else everyone involved would just pass out.
posted by Carbolic at 3:04 PM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Carbolic at 3:04 PM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
He seemed like he was driving awfully slow for someone whose wife was about to have a baby, but I guess he stayed safe and calm. A while back I had to drive someone to the hospital who was going into anaphylactic shock and I certainly drove faster than it appeared he was.
Did they continue on to the hospital or return home? The only people I have personally known who had a car birth actually did just turn around and return home, which I found a bit surprising but the baby was healthy and happy and it all ended well.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:07 PM on July 20, 2015
Did they continue on to the hospital or return home? The only people I have personally known who had a car birth actually did just turn around and return home, which I found a bit surprising but the baby was healthy and happy and it all ended well.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:07 PM on July 20, 2015
Dip Flash, they were stuck in traffic, which is what precipitated the in-car birthing, so...I assume they couldn't go any faster.
posted by Ragini at 8:56 PM on July 20, 2015
posted by Ragini at 8:56 PM on July 20, 2015
Best laid plans etc.
We were planning the delivery for months; had rehearsed plans, went to birthing classes, had realms of research/ spreadsheets, were counting down to the scheduled date, when Lil Miss C decided to pop out a full three weeks in advance. It cut so close it was unbelievable; I was in a job-interview, the missus was in an *exit* interview herself, we rushed to the hospital with barely minutes to spare. The actual delivery happened within 15 minutes of us reaching the ward. So we could easily have been this couple hadn't the roads been relatively traffic-free.
I was still in shock 10 minutes after the daughter was born, because it was *then* that I asked my wife if we should ask for an epidural.
posted by the cydonian at 12:07 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
We were planning the delivery for months; had rehearsed plans, went to birthing classes, had realms of research/ spreadsheets, were counting down to the scheduled date, when Lil Miss C decided to pop out a full three weeks in advance. It cut so close it was unbelievable; I was in a job-interview, the missus was in an *exit* interview herself, we rushed to the hospital with barely minutes to spare. The actual delivery happened within 15 minutes of us reaching the ward. So we could easily have been this couple hadn't the roads been relatively traffic-free.
I was still in shock 10 minutes after the daughter was born, because it was *then* that I asked my wife if we should ask for an epidural.
posted by the cydonian at 12:07 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
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p.s. USA Network, I would totally watch the shit out of that show.
posted by phunniemee at 7:54 AM on July 20, 2015 [5 favorites]