The Birth of Wesley

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Fifteen years ago today, Wesley George Geil was born.

From my perspective, Wesley seemed to be Amy’s easiest pregnancy, labor, and delivery.

On December 6^th Amy got a sitter and we went to a movie.  It was “Star Trek: First Contact.” Amy and I were Next Generation Trekkies.

In the 90’s our local Fox Affiliate didn’t have a news room, so at 9:00 every evening, Monday through Friday it was Captain Picard, Data, and Worf.  It ended up being the perfect timing for us.  Eric & Jaron would go to bed at that time and we would plop down on the couch together for an hour.

Amy didn’t tell me at the time, but she was already having some contractions and thought Wesley would come that night or the next day.  So we watched the movie at the Shadybrook Cinema in Columbia, TN.

In the morning Amy woke me and informed me it was time to go to the Hospital.  I asked the question any concerned father-to-be would ask, “Do I have time to take a shower?” She assured me we had time so I lathered-up and put on fresh clothes.  We talked to our elderly neighbors, Annie and Dewey who would watch the boys. Then we drove over to the Maury Regional Hospital.

Eric’s birth was not typical (I’ll give you the narrative next week on his birthday.) Jaron’s had been quasi-traumatic (I’ll probably have to write a two-parter next May for his birthday.) So even though we weren’t rookies, things hadn’t turned out like the birthing classes we took for the first two.  Wesley’s birth, however, was pretty text-book.

We arrived at the hospital early in the morning.  We got settled in the birthing room.  Amy’s primary doctor from the women’s group was already involved in another birth so we had one of the partners (which was fine, actually, because it was the doctor she had originally preferred.)  We were all set. Then we met the attending nurse.

Three out of our four births were natural (Jaron was a C-section.)  We utilized the “Bradley Method” of natural child birth.  The center of the Bradley Method is relaxation.  Between contractions Amy would try to totally devoid herself of “energy” and relax.  Then, during the contraction, Amy would focus on allocating all of her physical energy to her uterus and cervix to “work.”  My job was to eliminate distractions during the process and to help her focus all her energy on the contraction.  I would remind her to relax her hands from gripping the sheets and to loosen her shoulders and help her visualize all that physical energy flowing to the birthing process.  I had the lights low in the room and it was warm and she was comfortable and it was quiet.  That was until the chatty attending nurse came in.

I learned a lot about our attending nurse. I learned she was tired of working at the hospital.  I learned this was her last week to work.  I learned about her new job, and how her own birthing experiences went, and what she liked to eat.  How did I learn all this you ask? because she wouldn’t stop talking.  She did not have the refined Southern accent.  Her accent was more of the grating, hillbilly, raised out in the holler’ nasally, backwoods, “America’s Most Wanted: Trailer Park Edition” type of accent.   Now I’m patient and I worked closely with her demographic, but even I was getting irritated.  Amy, on the other hand, in the midst of those birth-pangs, looked like she was ready to jump up out of those stirrups and throw down!  I thought to myself, “If we birth 10 more babies here at this hospital, I’m going to specifically ask for this nurse for every one!”  All the aggression and hate usually leveled at me during the births was shot directly at Nurse Clampett.  It was awesome (although eventually I had to flat ask her to just quit talking.)

A couple of hours later, we were holding Wesley.

By the mid afternoon, we were ready to go home (one of the many advantages to Natural Child birth, no epidural recovery time.)  However, the hospital would not dismiss Amy or Wesley for 24 hours.  So we stayed over night and brought him home the next day.

That’s the story of Wesley’s birth.

Tomorrow a synopsis of Wesley’s entire life so far…

chris