Here’s a fun story that I just read about, and think I will share in case you haven’t heard it:
January 30, 2007 brought an unexpected surprise to one Missouri woman, who ended up with the “dream delivery” of pregnant women everywhere. A mere four minutes after Christina Palczynksi’s water broke, her little Mary Ellen was born. Christina’s husband had called 911 and the operator walked him through the steps of helping to deliver his daughter – right on the kitchen floor! The family was amazed at such a quick delivery, especially since Christina’s last child took 19 hours to deliver. Mother and baby were then brought to a local hospital a few minutes after the delivery. They are said to be in good condition and doing well.
Could you imagine such a fast birth? When I first read about this, I thought it was a typo. When it was clear that it wasn’t, I almost didn’t want to believe it. It just doesn’t sound possible to have only a four-minute labor. You know what I think? I think the real truth is that she was in labor quite some time before her water broke.
My first bag of waters was ruptured for me because at eight centimeters my labor had stalled. My second bag of waters popped loudly under water and was immediately followed by a baby! For many women, their bag of waters may leak, or trickle, or gush, long before actual delivery. Well not me, and not Christina Palczynksi either.
So what I think I am trying to say is that she was most likely “in labor” for much more than four minutes. Somehow, however, she had very mild contractions. It appears that she was not aware that she was contracting, or maybe she thought they were just Braxton Hicks contractions. But it’s quite possible that she had been contracting for at least a good part of that day. Still, that’s definitely the type of contracting most of us only wish for!
So who else has had a super-fast delivery? And does faster often mean less painful, or the opposite?
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