I generally am in control and have a plan, but this situation caught me off guard. I called for a second opinion on the matter. Adam was sleeping with his phone at bedside these days. His years of EMS had been good training for a panicked phone call at 4am.
"My water just broke. What should I do?" The answer should have been obvious. Before he could respond, I was telling him to meet me in the call room. "No, no, just meet me in the birthing pavilion. No, actually, just meet me here." He told me to get a grip and call my attending, then head to the birthing pavilion. Of course, I had not packed a bag yet since I knew I would not deliver this early. He assured me that he would pack some belongings and food and be there in 30 minutes.
Next, I made the phone call no attending physician wants to get in the pre-dawn hours. "Um, hi, my membranes just ruptured and I'm heading to the birthing pavilion." My attending was very nice and offered to come in. We negotiated that I would take phone calls and he would come in if there was an emergency. It was only a few hours until my colleagues arrived.
Ryland was born at 5:16pm. He weighed 5lbs 2oz. He did well for the first hour or two, but then I noticed his hands and feet were cyanotic. His body temperature had dropped to 35C (95F). He was rushed to the NICU for warming. In the midst of this situation, I got more shocking news. My mother was en route to New Hampshire. I had spoken with her earlier and we decided it was best for her to wait two weeks to visit. She told me she respected that and understood. I got the phone call asking for directions, and telling me she would be at the hospital at 2am. I told her this was unacceptable and gave her directions to my house.