By Helena Oliviero
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA — A very pregnant Dana Borda wakes up one morning at 4 a.m., feeling nauseous.
It’s only May 24 — still three weeks from her due date — so she doesn’t think much of it. She is just about ready for this one, her second baby. The nursery is already coated in baby blue; she just needs to fill the freezer with pre-made casseroles for busy days ahead.
Borda, 35, who lives in the Decatur area, sips some water and waits for the queasiness to pass. But instead, the stomach-churning sensation lingers, and she suddenly feels a wave of heat sweep over her. She is so warm, in fact, that she instinctively gets down on her hands and knees by an air-conditioning vent to cool off.
But there is blood, and she suddenly realizes the baby is coming — now.
She’s terrified — of the pain, the blood, of the idea of giving birth without the benefits of modern medicine. Five years ago, while pregnant with her first child, Gabriel, she got so woozy from watching a video of a live birth, she nearly passed out.
The Ivy League-educated lawyer rushes into her bedroom to wake up her husband. She yelps: “Something might be wrong!”
Gerard Borda grabs his cellphone. It takes several attempts to dial 911 because his fingers shake so much they tap the wrong numbers.
‘The baby is coming out’
DeKalb County Emergency 911 operator Donna Germand picks up. “DeKalb Emergency 911, what is the exact location of the . . .”
“My wife is having a baby. The baby is coming out,” interrupts Gerard. “I have the baby’s head in my hands.”
Gerard and his wife are standing in their bathroom. “The head is right there. I don’t know what to do,” he says.
In 12 years, this is only the third time she has coached a home delivery.
But there’s no time for her instructions. Baby Desmond pushes his way into this world.
Dana, still standing, panics. She doesn’t hear the baby make any noise."He’s not crying. He’s not crying,” she whimpers.
And then, a loud, healthy cry from a 7-pound, 7-ounce baby boy with his daddy’s dark hair. “Oh! Oh! He’s fine, honey!” exalts Gerard. “It’s OK, honey! He’s fine. He’s beautiful. You did so good!”
The operator gives instructions: gently wipe off the baby’s mouth and nose; dry the baby off with a clean towel and wrap the baby up with a towel to keep him warm. She tells Gerard to put the baby in his mother’s arms.
Germand tears up. It’s a joyful moment.
The Bordas’ 4-year-old son, Gabriel, opens the door.
“I heard a ruckus,” he says. Stunned, and unsure what to say, Dana says: “Look, Gabriel, it’s your baby brother.”
It’s still a raw scene. How is Gabriel going to react?
“Oh,” says Gabriel proudly. “He’s so cute.”
The paramedics arrive and take the Bordas to the hospital.
Moments later, Germand takes another 911 call. She doesn’t remember anything about that one.
Upon their return from the hospital, the Bordas tied a blue “It’s a Boy” balloon to their mailbox. Word quickly spread in their neighborhood about the new baby’s dramatic entrance. Neighbors visited with food, but Dana Borda knew it was just a cover. They wanted to hear her story.
Suzannah Heimel, a stay-at-home mom who lives on the same street and was about seven months pregnant at the time, also came by to hear the tale. Borda assured Heimel how rare unplanned home deliveries are and urged her to not worry about it happening to her.
Heimel didn’t dwell on the possibility. And this is where the unusual story turns extraordinary.
Just like their neighbors
Just a little over two months later, Aug. 3, Heimel woke up feeling intense contractions. Already two days past her due date, and with the contractions coming slowly, she braced herself for another labor marathon --- just like she had with Hap, 8, and Owen, 2. She woke her husband, William, and suggested they get ready to go to the hospital. With no great sense of urgency, they called her parents --- who live about 30 minutes away --- and told them to head over to sit with the kids.
As her husband showered and made coffee, Suzannah, 37, picked out an outfit to wear to the hospital: A khaki maternity skirt with matching shirt.
After getting dressed, Suzannah was gripped in pain. She hunched over the kitchen counter, reeling.
The baby was coming. William dialed 911. “My wife’s going into labor and I don’t think she’s going to make it to the hospital,” William said to the 911 operator. His heart was racing. On the recording of his emergency call, he sounded out of breath.
“How many minutes apart are the contractions?” 911 operator Chandra Lewis asked.
“They are coming one after the other right now,” he said.
Suzannah gritted through the pain as quietly as possible. The kids were still sleeping.
The 911 operator told Suzannah to get on the floor, and directed William to get some dry towels to wrap the baby in, along with a shoelace to wrap around the umbilical cord. The operator asked William to check to see if he can see the baby. He put the phone down to take a look. His wife was lying on the floor in the family den.
“Yes, I can see its head!”
The operator walked William through delivering his baby, telling him to apply gentle pressure as the baby pushes through.
“And remember, the baby is going to be slippery. Don’t drop it,” the operator cautioned.
With only the baby’s head peeking out, William fights the instinct to yank the baby out. He waited for one more contraction.
“Please God, let the shoulders come out with the next contraction,” William thought.
And the shoulders do emerge and baby Britton, a girl, arrived with a loud cry, heard even by the operator. “OK, congratulations!” she cheered.
Dr. Jennifer Lyman, an OB-Gyn at Atlanta Gynecology and Obstetrics, said her practice delivers about 800 babies a year at DeKalb Medical Hospital. She said it’s extremely rare that full-term mothers with no plans for a home birth don’t make it to the hospital. In fact, she said years will go by between such events.
“This is a notable event. And two on the same street? That is quite startling,” Lyman said. “In some ways, I think how lucky you are if you are in labor and you are not aware of it. For most women, labor is longer and very unpleasant and they have plenty of warning the baby is coming.”
Lyman said labor often progresses much faster with the second and third baby. And while common labor signs include close contractions and the water breaking, active labor signs can be more subtle, including nausea, lower-back pain or even flu-like symptoms. Expectant women wondering if they should prepare for a home delivery, should relax, Lyman advises. “I would say this just doesn’t happen very often and it’s quite shocking and impressive.”
Epilogue
A self-proclaimed “planner” who had the most unplanned birth, Borda believes her baby has already taught her life lessons. “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” says Borda, who has decided to take a break from practicing law to be a stay-at-home mom. “But I do believe things like this happen for a reason. One thing kids teach you in life is you are not in control of the universe and things happen and you have to react to it.”
Borda recently spotted her to-do list (before the baby arrives). Her dad scrawled at the bottom: Deliver baby in the bathroom.”
Both Borda and Heimel say the experience has strengthened their marriages. “This has solidified our relationship like super glue,” Heimel said. “How many men get to deliver their own babies? And he was a champ.”
Copyright 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution