Special at home delivery

Tue, Feb 28th 2012, 10:50 AM

Lamarque Drew gave his wife, Lynieka, an extra special and completely unexpected Valentine's Day gift this year - he delivered their baby girl.
Not due until March 6, baby Lamiea had plans of her own and surprised the couple by arriving early and fast in their bathroom at home.
Lynieka woke up around 3 a.m. on February 14 in pain. The couple immediately went into Lamaze class training mode and started timing the contractions.
"We weren't nervous or panicking yet because with her first pregnancy, it took about seven hours before the baby came," said Lamarque.
Thirty minutes into the pains, Lynieka decided to take a shower to prepare herself to go to the hospital. Her husband called his mother to get their eldest son, 11-year-old Lamarque Jr. Ready to go, Lynieka decided she had to use the bathroom before they left the house. As she walked towards the bathroom, her water broke. Lamarque remembers making a joke telling her that at least they knew what it looked like now. With the couple's first child, the sac that held the amniotic fluid was broken by doctors.
It was at that point that Lamarque decided to call the ambulance to ask whether it was best if they came to their house to pick up his wife, or if he could still transport her to the hospital. He was advised that it was best if the ambulance came to pick her up, and that they would be at their house in 10 minutes. He then telephoned Doctors Hospital to let them know they'd be coming in a few weeks early.
As fate would have it, the person who answered the phone was the midwife they'd taken Lamaze classes with during the pregnancy.
"She told us to remain calm and to keep her breathing," said Lamarque. At that point, he wasn't panicked. He was used to labor taking seven to eight hours as it had with their first child.
The Doctors Hospital midwife decided to stay on the phone with the Drews until the ambulance arrived, to keep him calm. She had no idea she would end up playing a much bigger role in the baby's birth.
While her husband spoke to the nurse, Lynieka told him she felt the baby's head. Lamarque bent over to check things out.
"I was like 'whoa, I see her head'. Something told me to stick my hand out, and she shot right out into my hand. I was like 'my baby [is] in my hand'. And the nurse was like 'what!'"
It was at that point that Lamarque panicked, when he realized the baby wasn't breathing.
"When you watch TV, you hear the baby crying; so the nurse was like 'get towels and wipe off her mouth'." He used the towels to wipe the mucus out of the newborn's mouth and nose. It was then he said that she took a deep breath and started screaming." It's a moment he can recall and laugh at, but in the moment, he said he didn't find it at all funny.
The nurse encouraged him to get his wife who had been standing up the entire time to lie down and lay the baby on top of her, with its head tilted to the side so she would be able to breathe. She then instructed Lamarque to clean off the baby with a clean towel and swaddle her in another clean towel to keep her warm. The ambulance staff arrived at the couple's home shortly afterwards.
It was at the hospital that the baby's umbilical cord was cut.
As the drama unfolded, Lynieka said the only thing going through her mind was that she wanted the baby to be okay. She said things happened so fast she didn't have time to be scared about what was happening.
"I wasn't doing anything really. He did all the work," she said of her husband whose friends, upon learning of his role in his daughter's birth, started calling him 'Dr. Drew'.
Looking back, he said it had to be God, or at least God's angels that told him to stick out his hand.
"I don't want to sound corny or anything, but my wife was standing up, and at that moment, if I hadn't stuck out my hand, she would have just slid out of my wife and hit her head. So I thank God for the opportunity to catch my baby."
He described it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"A lot of guys get to watch their baby being born - I got to deliver my baby. At the time when the head was coming out, I was scared because I wasn't ready to deliver a baby and I'm not a doctor, but at that moment, instinct took over. And I had someone on the phone who helped me and who knew what she was doing because I'd done Lamaze classes with her. It was scary at first, but amazing as well."
His advice to guys who may find themselves in the same situation and having to deliver their baby is to just let their instincts take over.
"There's no need to panic even though I did panic when I saw the head, but the nurse on the phone kept me calm and talked me through what I needed to do. They told me to cut the navel string, but I said that's out of my profession. I let the professionals take over," said Lamarque, a relationship officer at a bank.
"It was so important to have someone on the phone at Doctors Hospital keep me calm and talk me through everything," said Lamarque. "They don't teach you how to deliver a baby in Lamaze class. When you think about all that could have happened or gone wrong, it really seems surreal. If she had come out a split second earlier, before I put my hands there, she could have fallen on the floor or if I hadn't gotten someone on the phone at Doctors to walk me through it, I just wonder," he added.
Lamarque does not want to have to deliver another baby, but said if he had to, he'd do it again. Actually, he would like to have at least another two children - it's a discussion he has yet to have with Lynieka.
Knowing that his wife and new baby are fine, he can now joke that Lamiea was born early and in a hurry because she heard his voice and couldn't wait to meet him.
There is another theory at play, though. Lynieka believes baby Lamiea just wanted to add to a family tradition. She was born on Valentine's Day at 4:45 a.m. at seven pounds, four ounces. Her older brother's birthday is Christmas Day.
"The next two would maybe be born on New Year's Day and Easter," Lamarque joked.
Doctors Hospital's Vice President of Patient Care Services Dorcena Nixon was proud of her team's ability to provide top quality healthcare regardless of the circumstances.
"At Doctors Hospital, we pride ourselves on being a leader in healthcare, but it's extremely rewarding to see how our associates are able to step up to the plate and help patients and their families even when they find themselves in such unusual circumstances," she said.

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