Monday, February 26, 2007

I Thought This Shit Only Happens in Elevators in Sitcoms

Former Met Ty Wigginton and his wife had their second child a few days before Christmas. In their house. In the walk-in closet. Ty delivered the child.

His wife, Angela, went into intense labor two weeks early so he had no choice but to deliver the baby himself.
“He was out in less than a minute,” Wigginton said. “One or two pushes, and he was ready to see the world.”
The baby was healthy. The delivery, given the circumstances, was smooth. But it was not without drama. And some chaos.
Angela lying on the floor of the walk-in closet. Their 3-year-old son, Chase, sick and scared, locked in the adjacent bedroom, screaming “Is Mommy o-tay?” Ty getting step-by-step instructions from a 911 operator, then giving Angela the phone so he could have both hands free to tie the umbilical cord with a lace he took out of his shoe.
“I think adrenaline took over. It’s kind of all a blur,” Ty said. “It was unbelievable.”
The unforgettable episode started around 3:45 the morning of Dec. 20, when Angela woke with contractions about seven minutes apart. “I asked her, 'Do we need to go?’ and she says, 'We’re all right,’ ’’ Wigginton said.
A couple of hours of more intense contractions later, Angela — who went through a 14-hour labor with Chase — changed her mind. She began getting ready for a trip to the hospital, though expecting the doctors would simply send them home. Ty was already up with Chase preparing to drop him off at Angela’s parents’ house.
“About 6 o’clock she’s in the closet trying to get dressed, and I’m getting our son ready to go out the door and she yells, 'We’re having this baby now,’ ’’ Wigginton said.
“I think she’s kidding. Then I come around the corner and, sure enough. … I called 911 and told them to get somebody over there. And like a minute later, I’m holding the baby in my arms.”
It took about 10 more minutes for the paramedics to get there, though Wigginton said it seemed like an hour.
“The baby came out and he looked great,” Ty said. “The scary part was that he never really cried until the EMTs got there, but he was breathing. His tongue was moving in and out of his mouth. I could feel his heart beating. They just told me to keep wiping his nose and mouth and keep him wrapped in a towel.”
The baby weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces, measured 18 inches and seemed a perfect fit for the name they had already picked out: Cannon.
“He dropped just like a cannonball,” Ty said.
Wigginton has had no medical training, unless you include watching TV. “I love Untold Stories of the ER,” he said. “So maybe now we can have Untold Stories of the Closet.”
“Next time, if she even sneezes or coughs, we’re going to the hospital,” Wigginton said. “I don’t care if she is only two weeks pregnant.”

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