Introducing Wyatt

Wyatt Duncan

Born on August 29th at 5:57 AM in Exeter, New Hampshire

7 lbs, 19 inches long.

When we decided to head to NH to get out of Irene's way, I never actually thought that Wyatt would be born there, but it turns out that things work out the way they are supposed to.  

My contractions woke me up at 2AM that night and I waited about 45 minutes to wake up Rob once I was sure that it wasn't just the Braxton hicks that I'd been having for weeks. They were about 4 to 5 minutes apart at that point and completely manageable but since they were regular, I knew they were the real deal. I took a shower and called my doctor who said we should get to the hospital so they could check me and let me know if there was time to drive back to RI. Kara heard us puttering around and was up when we left at 4:30. We were so lucky that she and Paul could take care of Jack once he woke up. We let her know where Jack's diapers were and what he should have for breakfast. I gave her a big hug and thanked her for everything.  I remember feeling a little pang of guilt at the realization that Jack wasn't going to be our only baby anymore. I wished that I had spent a little extra time and had given him extra cuddles at bedtime that night. We got in the car and drove the 5 minutes to the hospital...we parked and walked into the ER where they asked if we were pre-registered. We laughed and explained our situation to the nurses while we filled out all of the paperwork. They offered me a wheelchair, but I was feeling well enough to walk. We were in our room just before 5 AM and I was hooked up to the monitor...we could hear Wyatt's little heart pounding away.  The nurse checked me and I was shocked when she said that I was 4 cm and 90% effaced.  There was no way we were going to make the 2 hour drive back to RI that morning.


I remember looking out the window and seeing the sun coming up over the trees. It's funny how extra gorgeous a day can seem after a big, scary storm. 

The contractions got stronger and closer together FAST. I had one that just didn't seem to end and for some reason I had it in my head that I had to go to the bathroom. The nurse looked at me and said, whatever you do, don't push. She later told us she wasn't sure why she said that, and why she decided to stick around considering she just checked me and I was only 4 cm, but she did and because she did, Wyatt was NOT born in the toilet. I somehow made it back to the bed, and Wyatt was born about a minute later. As Rob told me, the nurse yelled, I need a cart! and then there was sterile packaging flying all around the room. The nurse delivered him and the doctor arrived a few minutes later. Wyatt was perfect, with a full head of dark hair (just like Jack) and a pink complexion that I could have stared at all day.

When Rob and I started to process what just happened, we realized that we were so glad we made the decision to stay in NH. If we were home, we would have waited a while to call Bonnie and Brandon to come over to be with Jack, since I didn't feel like I was even close to having a baby. By the time they would have gotten to our house and we could have left for the hospital, Rob would have delivered Wyatt on the side of the highway since it went so fast!