Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. We had planned only a simple celebration. We were going to attend church with our daughter Jessica and her family and then all meet at our house for a Sunday dinner. Larry is also a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, so he planned to watch Dallas play the New York Giants later in the afternoon.

I woke up early Sunday morning, and I had just put a roast in the oven when my apprentice Mercy called me with the news that her client Susan was in labor. We had made a trip to the valley just the day before for a false alarm with this same client. Usually when we get called out for false labor, we don’t get called back for at least a couple of days. So, I had figured that this meant Larry’s birthday celebration would not be interrupted this year. Larry had told me that he thought it would. I told him he was just being pessimistic, but he said he was just being realistic. As it turned out, Larry was right after all. I’m thankful that my husband takes these kinds of interruptions in stride. He is always flexible about when we celebrate family events. And that’s a good thing, since a midwife’s life is subject to such interruptions almost all the time. So when Larry heard what was going on, he just smiled and said, “I told you so.”

Susan lives in the Rio Grande Valley. That’s a little over two hours away. Her contractions were already 2 to 3 minutes apart, so we needed to hurry. My car was already packed, so I just put on my scrubs, gave Larry some quick instructions about how to finish cooking the roast, and then headed out the door.

Mercy left around the same time, but she had a bit longer drive than I did. Mercy and I talked by phone several times on the way down to the Valley. She was in contact with Susan and keeping me up to speed on her labor progress. It definitely sounded like things were moving along quickly.

I kept my cruise control just over the speed limit. I wanted to go as fast as I dare without being dangerous to myself or anyone else. But I also wanted to avoid getting stopped for a ticket. I had to make one bathroom stop, and I also missed a turn. That slowed me up some. So instead of beating Mercy there by about half an hour, it looked like we would be arriving close to the same time.

When I arrived at Susan’s home, I rushed right in. It was about 10:55. The baby was about to be born and I didn’t want to leave her to go back to my car to unload my gear. So I just gloved up to be ready to catch the baby. I told Susan that she was doing great and that she could push if she wanted. With her next contraction, she pushed and her water broke. I looked at my watch and wrote down the time; it was 10:58. Everything was moving so fast I was afraid that Mercy wasn’t going to make the birth, but as it turned out Mercy got there right after the water broke. She was able to glove up and take my place, and since she was ready to catch the baby, I ran to the car to bring in some of our equipment. I made it back inside with the equipment (which we didn’t really need after all) and baby James arrived at 11:00 AM exactly.

He was absolutely beautiful and pink, and everyone was thrilled. Of course the parents were thrilled; they had their beautiful baby boy, and they were glad we made it in time. Mercy was especially glad she didn’t miss the catch. The baby’s father (also James) was the first to realize that his son was born on 11/11 at 11. Of course, November 11^th is also Veterans Day. How cool is that?

The birth and postpartum went so smoothly that I even made it back home in time to spend some time with Larry on his birthday. We watched a “war movie” together. Since Larry’s birthday is on Veterans Day, he grew up watching war movies on his birthday. He’s kind of sentimental about that. I don’t relate, but hey, it’s HIS birthday. He gets to do what HE wants, right? Who knows, maybe James will be just as sentimental about watching war movies on his birthday in about 20 years or so.

I realized this morning that this year I also delivered a baby girl on my birthday (September 10th) and I delivered a baby on Halloween. I missed delivering a baby on my anniversary by only one day and also my son’s birthday by only one day. Thanksgiving and Christmas are still ahead. We don’t have any babies due around Thanksgiving. But there is one that could arrive on Christmas this year. Delivering babies may not be the way I want to spend the holidays and birthdays every year. But you have to admit that babies make pretty sweet birthday or holiday gifts, and when they are born on such days, I'll always remember them as special.