Tanner Dean McRoberts

Kari set a new record this morning. After a very short 8 minute labor, Tanner was born at 5:32 AM. The only thing I did this morning was prove that regardless of speed, there is no way to get from my house to any local hospital within 8 mintutes. As a result: Tanner was born in the car; Kari delivered the baby herself; and all the kids in the car thought it was pretty fun.

Looking back, it was quite a fun experience. Those 8 minutes were pretty stressful, but the fact that everything ended fine leaves us with feelings of gratitude, relief, and some pretty humerous moments.

Here is some additional information for a more detailed timeline:

• 2-3 AM: Kari distinctly felt the baby drop, but didn't feel any contractions, pressure, or pain.
  
• 5:oo AM: Brayden randomly wakes up and sets up a bed in our room


• 5:24 AM: Kari awakes, uses the restroom, feels a lot of pressure, and waits 1 minute to see if it continues or not.


• 5:25 AM: Kari wakes me and indicates it's time to leave. Thankfully Brayden was upstairs and already awake. He was really helpful in hurrying and getting Natalie up and ready.


• On a side note: getting in the car was somethat humerous. While I loked the house, the kids and Kari got into the car. The ice had sealed the two side doors shut, and as I approached the car, Kari had her legs on the dashboard and all the kids were scrambling over her to get into the back of the car.


• 5:26 AM: We are on the road and call the doctor.


• 5:27 AM: We call Nate Nelson and coordinate having Emily meet us at the hospital to pick up the kids.


• 5:29 AM: Kari feels another heavy contraction and the baby's head pops out.


• 5:30 AM: Dr Draznik calls back, we update him regarding Kari's status, and decide we will head to St. Elizabeth hospital (10 minutes total trip) rather than Christ hospital (25 minute total trip).


• 5:30AM: Nate calls back and we confirm Emily should meet us at St. Elizabeth


• 5:32 AM: On Kari's next contraction, the entire baby is delivered. Kari did a great job catching him and ensuring everything was fine. The umbilical cord was torn during the delivery and came out detached. Kari instinctively pinched it shut with her fingers and held it until we arrived at the ER. Withing 15-20 seconds, the baby started crying and we all felt a great sense of relief. Leah sat in the seat behind mine, and probably had the best view. Once Tanner was born, Leah kept saying "A baby, a baby; ... Daddy there's a baby". She was quite taken by surprise that a baby suddenly appeared in the front seat with Mom.


• 5:35 AM: We arrive at the ER. I ran inside and told the nurse that my wife just delivered our son in the car. I wish I had a camera to catch the look on her face. After repeating, she registered what I said, and called for help. It was amusing watching the ER personnel act out of their element. They were scrambling not having towels, blankets, gloves, clamps, or any of their other normal tools accessible. At one point when the resident physician asked for some clamps, an aid ran inside and came back with at least 20 different clamps, and tripped spilling them all over the driveway.


• After that, they took Kari and Tanner inside. I waited with the kids, cleaned up the car, and headed in to catch up with Kari.

Reflecting on, and retelling, the events of this morning, I feel very grateful. We are first and formost blessed to have a Heavenly Father who knows us and is distinctly aware of the challenges we face. Throughout all of this, and the tense moments of the last week, we have felt the comfort of our Heavenly Father, and have felt reassured that everything, would work out fine.

Secondly, we are truly blessed to have great friends here in Kentucky. Our friends here have become our family and we love and cherish them. Nate and Emily willingly watched our kids last week during Kari's false alarm (all 5 hours in the middle of the night). Again this morning, they were so willing to come at a moment's notice to help us out. Thank you guys!

Thirdly, having been through one home birth, I am all too aware of the kind of mess that gets left behind. Today, I am grateful that 1) I put a towel on the passenger seat last week, 2) we have leather seats, and 3) we had those deep winter floormats. The combination of the three made cleanup much better than last time.

Here are the baby's stats:

Tanner Dean McRoberts

Born: 5:32 AM (I got to call the time)

Weight: 7 LBS, 11 OZ (Kari was shootin' craps)

Length: 19 3/4 inches

Now - what you all have really been waiting for ... here are some pictures:

Well - the upload process was pretty slow from the hospital, and the kids are getting wrestless. I will upload some more pics tonight after I get the kids to bed.

Love you all and thanks for your support!