This is Boris Solis interviewing Amy Dooley at 12:13 on June 20, 2015 for
the Creative Push project. Alright, so go ahead and get started, um.
So you have 2 children, so you can decide which one, which story you want
to tell first, or how you want to organize it. Um, but whichever one you
want to talk about first, could you maybe take us back to around that time
of the pregnancy or the labor and delivery, if there was anything um
memorable, you know, temperature or, you know, events happening or
something that could kind of situate us. OK, um, well, I probably want to
talk about Austin's delivery mostly, but I can compare it to Bennett's
because Bennett is my first son who's 4, and Austin is now 15 months old.
So I had him. Uh, April, April, I'm sorry, March 6th of, um, 2014. And My
first son, everything went really well and I really enjoyed the experience
so I kind of expected the same with Austin and it and it was very
different. So this story is, I think a little bit more interesting, but I
, when I, I can really compare it to Bennett and kind of the emotions I
felt having Austin expecting to have like a really good experience like I
had with Bennett. So anyways, um, both pregnancies though were really good.
I was always a really. Good pregnant person. I didn't get sick. I. Um,
slept pretty well. I didn't, you know, lose my hair afterwards or anything
, so I enjoyed being pregnant. I enjoyed, um. All of that. And I also got
pregnant really quickly with both of them, but with Austin, everything
happened extra fast. So with Austin, once we decided to get pregnant with
him, I was immediately pregnant. So one try and we're done, and which kind
of upset my husband because he really liked trying to get pregnant. So
once I'm pregnant, I was like, all right, we don't have to try anymore.
And that was kind of a bummer for him, but. That happened quickly then the
whole pregnancy went by really quickly because I was busy with work and,
and Bennett and, um, before I knew it it was time to basically have Austin.
So I was due with Austin on, um, the 7th and the 5th came around in the
middle of the night I woke up and just like with Bennett, I started to
feel some contractions and they're mainly in my back, but. I kind of like
expected. I knew what to feel at this point because I felt that with
Bennett and I was like, all right, so I'm probably gonna wake up in a
couple of hours and be ready to go to the hospital and it's all gonna kind
of go smoothly like it did with Bennett. So in the morning I got up and I
called the doctor and he said to come into the office and so I came into
the office and, and they, I had been having contractions in just in my
back for about every 7 minutes and 5 to 7 minutes. So they put me on the
machine and hooked me up for about 20 minutes and they came back and
they're like, no, you're not, nothing's happening. You're, this is
probably just pre-labor. Which kind of surprised me because it really felt
like everything with Bennett. I just felt like I was just gonna be going
to the hospital after this, but they sent me home. So I went back home and
throughout the day I kept having these back contractions. The only thing
that started to worry me is that I, I never felt anything in the front and
with Bennett, I always had felt the um contractions really strong in the
front and then in the back, it was just like super painful and I couldn't
wait to get an epidural. Um, but with Austin, it just never happened in
the front. It was always in the back. So we, I went through my day. I kind
of worked from home for half the day. I didn't go into work because I just
figured it was happening and I wasn't gonna take any risks. My mom was
there and she and I went to the, um, we went, we went to Target, went and
got our nails done. The whole time I'm, I, so I downloaded an app and I
started timing my contractions because I just. Nothing was happening and,
and before I had left the doctor's office that morning, he said, well,
just call me when something happens. And I was like, well, I kind of
thought that's what I did. I Uh, that's why I'm here, but OK, what, what
else is gonna happen, cause this is what happened last time and, and now
he's just sending me home. Oh. So Um,
OK, so I'm we're then we do, so we're all getting our nails done. We're
kind of just doing whatever, trying to figure out what's going on. My dad
is a nurse practitioner and he's not practicing anymore, but he used to be
an ER doc so he kind of knows he's given birth. He gave birth to my little
sister and he's done births and, and, um, when he worked as an emergency
room. Uh, nurse practitioner, so he's looking online in his little apps
about, you know, how long these back contractions can last. He's like,
this could last for like 2 weeks. So we're all like, OK, jeez, this is
because they were really uncomfortable. It hurt really bad in my back, but
nothing, nothing else was happening. I think, I think this maybe 8 to 10
hours have gone by. So I went to the doctor in the morning at about 10 and
now it's like 6 o'clock at night. And mom and dad make me this huge like
pork chop and mashed potato dinner and so we're all sitting down to eat
and. And still the back contractions, nothing else. We're all having, I
mean, I stuffed myself. I had a huge dinner. And um.
I remember going back into my laundry room and I had slowly been packing
for the hospital all day just like preparing everything and. Um, went to
the laundry room and got some of my clothes, put it in the bag, still
expecting, you know, pretty soon stomach contraction will start and then
I'll call the doctor. So I, I walked out into the living room and I sat
down on my sofa and my son, who was 4, was sitting on the sofa watching TV
and everyone was kind of gathered in the living room, except for my mom in
the kitchen doing the dishes and all of a sudden I felt a stomach
contraction. So I was like, oh yes, finally something's happening. And
like maybe 10 seconds later I felt a really strong stomach contraction and
I jumped off the couch onto my knees so I'm on my hands and knees on the
floor and my water just breaks everywhere and nobody understands what's
happening. I said, oh my God, he's coming. And my dad's like, what? What's
, what's going on? And I said, get, get in the car or we're gonna go to
the hospital or I started just screaming, I have this all on camera
actually because I had my, um, I bought this drop cam for the baby's room
and I'd set it up in the living room so all of this I have recorded.
But I can't watch it cause it makes me too nervous.
So I, so luckily I jumped on the couch, there's no water on the couch,
which was nice because I really love my couch, um.
Uh, so they grab a towel. I had like a skirt on and I can't even walk at
this point. It feels like the baby's coming out. Like it feels like as
soon as my water broke, it feels like there's a head coming out. So. So
the whole plan had been for me and my mom and Shawn to go to the hospital
together and Dad and Bennett to stay home together so that my mom could be
there for the birth and and videotape it and everything. But at this point
, I thought like the baby was coming out and I'm freaking out, so I,
because my dad was, had delivered babies before, I had him get in the car
with us and this also wasn't part of the plan, but I have like a small
two-door car and we usually drive the kids around in Shaw's truck. But
because now we're leaving mom with Bennett, and this is like also rushed,
we all just jumped in my little car. So my dad's in the backseat of a
two-door car. I'm in the front seat and Shawn's driving, um, Sean, my
husband. So, We finally we get on the road. It probably took us 45 seconds.
We get on the road and we're driving towards the hospital, which is 20
minutes away, so we have to get through downtown Scottsdale up the highway
and over to the hospital, but downtown Scottsdale is full of traffic
because, uh, the spring training games have gotten out. So spring training
is in full effect, tons of cars on the road. It's probably 7:15 at night.
My, we were ate dinner at 6. My water broke at 7:10.
Uh, we're in the car at 7:15 and I can't even sit on my butt because
there's feels like a head's coming out, so I'm leaning over. I, I'm like
leaning on my butt one butt cheek. I got my hand against the door and my
other hand's holding on to my emergency brake, but I didn't know it. So
I'm screaming and my dad, my dad the whole time is like, OK, so tell me
what, what, how far apart of the contractions? And I can't talk and he
keeps asking me and Shawn's like, I don't, I don't think you should be
asking her that. and Shawn's calling the doctors and he's like, we're on
the way to the hospital. And Dad won't stop asking me how far apart my
contractions are. I'm like, there, there are no contractions. It's like
one big long contraction. There's no time in between. And the whole time
I'm screaming, Daddy, Daddy, the baby's coming. I do
And Sean's like trying to get through, we're we're going through all these
stoplights. We can't get, it probably took us. I don't know, 1520 minutes
to get to the highway and I'm panicked. I thought, I thought for sure I
was gonna have the baby in the car. So we get to the highway and by this
point I realized I had had, I was pulling up on the emergency brake cause
I I was just grabbing whatever I could. So I, I let go of the emergency
brake. I grab on to Sean and he's getting on the highway and he's like,
hey, I think he's up to 90 on the highway and I'm got a death grip on his
arm and I'm biting his shoulder and screaming Daddy, Daddy, the baby's
coming. Uh, and so I think he's going 90 down the highway, you know,
finally we're actually like getting somewhere, so I feel a little bit
better, but every bump is like radiating through my body and I'm yelling
at Shaw now because we're going 90 down the highway in my little car and
so I'm saying. You better not get in an accident. Do a story. Please don't
get in that accident. So we finally then get to the Shea Boulevard exit
and within a few minutes we're, we're to the hospital gate and Sean runs
out, grabs a, um, Wheelchair and at this point too I'm in so much pain I
can't I'm like I can't get out. I don't know. I can't move. I can't get
out of the car. I'm still stuck in that sideways position and so he
somehow him and my dad get me out of the car into the wheelchair, but I'm
still like in these, these positions where I can't move and my flip flop
is like somehow wedged between the wheel of the of the chair and I can't
move my leg and at this point now I'm not no longer screaming daddy, now
I'm screaming. F words all the way through the hospital so you have to go
into the doors over to the elevator, up the elevator up floor, and then
over to like the maternity ward. So Sean starts running through over to
the elevators and there's all these people coming out and they all have
smiles on their faces and I, I, I just remember their faces because I look
I'm screaming F-bombs and, and grunting and sweating and. And I look at
them and they're all smiling and all of a sudden all their faces kind of
freeze and they just jump out of the way and everyone jumps out of the
elevator and so Sean gets me on the elevator, we get upstairs and he
starts running and my flip flops caught in the wheel, so it's like going
flap, flap, flap, flap, flap, flap all the way to the, all the way to
where the maternity ward is and Shawn's yelling. It's go time. All these
people in the waiting area and so I'm here, I can hear all these people
laughing, but I'm still in the middle of screaming the F word cause it
hurts so bad. I, I can't even describe the pain, but. It just went from
like my back to my whole body and it feels like I, I felt the whole time I
was just so terrified because it felt like there was a head coming out and
I didn't want to look and I didn't want to put my hands down there because
I knew like I'd feel the head and I have no idea really what was down
there because I just didn't wanna look. I was too terrified. So Shawn's
yelling, it's go time. At the guy at the front gate or at the front desk
and he said, Who are you? And John yells, Dooley. And so the guy just
opens the doors and they go flying open. He goes, Take your first right
and your first left. And there's these two nurses standing there waiting
for us. So everything went really fast once we got there. It was like
they're totally prepared. We, they wheel me into the room, which is kind
of like your check-in room. And, um, they somehow get me on the bed. I
don't even remember how that happened, but everything's really painful. So
it's so hard to move and it's so hard to talk or anything. And um the
nurse takes one look and she says she's +2. We gotta get her into a room
and I'm like, what does that mean? And so I look at one of the nurses and
I say, well, can I get my epidural? because that's what I remember I loved
so much about giving birth to Bennet. It's like once you got an epidural,
it was a party. Like everything was awesome. We were making jokes with the
doctor. Like that was fun and I really enjoyed that and the nurse looks at
me and she's like, oh no, honey, you're not getting an epidural. And I
just remember the look on Sean's face because I looked at him like, what?
And he was like, I'm so sorry, Amy. You've got to be kidding me. I can't
do this. I can't do this without an epidural because that's how I had
Bennett and that all went fine, but now I'm not getting an epidural, and
I'm totally freaked out because I'm so that girl that tells everyone, you
just get an epidural, it'll be all fine.
It's great. I don't, I don't understand why people don't get an epidural.
So I'm not getting an epidural at this point. And I think so time-wise.
It took us about 25 minutes to get to the hospital and I don't know if I'm
adding it up right, but I know, um, I got into the hospital room, the
delivery room at 8:07,
and somehow, so they, they wheel me in on the one bed and they tell me I
have to get onto the other bed. And at this point, my voice, I'm like
crying. I, I'm like panicked. I can't get on that bed. How do I get on
that bed? And, and I don't even know. I did it. Nobody touched me. I like
crab walked onto the other bed and it hurt so bad. That's all I remember.
I was in so much pain and so they, they take another look at me and
they're like, don't push yet. The doctor's coming in. But there was no
like I had been trying not to push since my water broke. So I had been
trying the whole time in the car not to push. And I'm in the hospital bed
and I just have to push because at this point I've, I've been like this
for 35, 40 minutes now. So the, the another doctor comes running in my
doctor's not there yet. Another doctor comes running in and all I can
remember remember seeing is she's hurriedly trying to put on her gloves
and I got this one crazy. Uh, strong contraction and I started to let out
this whale and like my whole body just like let loose like this whale, it
sounded like it started really. It started really loud and it got so loud
that it hurt my ears, it hurt my husband's ears, it sounded like a jet
engine taking off, it was like so primal and weird, like I was embarrassed
by myself while I was doing it, but at the same time I couldn't stop.
So During that whole yell, the baby just like came out like that was just
it. It just flew out. Like I felt like the doctor barely got her gloves on.
I had to like catch Austin. So.
So the baby's out and all of a sudden like my body is, it's like a total
180 like it felt amazing all of a sudden I, it was all gone, all the pain
was gone. They have the baby now over at the washing station or whatever
they do, they're weighing them or checking them and I also I remember
hearing is a nurse say, Hey, we've got a ginger baby. So I have this
little boy with bright red hair already. He had a full head of red hair
and the other nurses are like congratulating me and telling me how awesome
I did and what a, a great job and, and next thing I know, my dad comes
walking in and he's like, all right. We're ready to go? And the nurses are
like, no, the baby's out already. So my dad in the time that they dropped
me off at the front door, parked the car and came up and I'd already had
the baby, so it was 8:12. So I got into the delivery room about 80807, 808
and had the baby by 8:12. This was really fast. Everything Austin's ever
done was fast ever since then, but. Um, and then probably about 2 minutes
after my dad walked in, my doctor walked in looking like just in his
t-shirt like he had just gotten there. And my dad like looked at him and
laughed and says, we beat you. And so that was pretty much it. The next
day I remember my doctor coming back to visit me and he said something
about how smoothly I went and I was like so aghast because it was so
dramatic for me. I didn't feel like anything went smoothly, but when you
look back on it, it went really smoothly. Like the baby just came out.
There was no complications. I was barely in labor for 35 minutes, but it
just felt like a lot of drama and a lot of craziness and like I almost had
a baby on the highway, so for me it wasn't smooth, but. I guess in
hindsight it was. Yeah. So you actually had back. Only back labor until my
water broke. Most people have back and then they go in and they get their
epidural.
Yeah. Yeah. It's weird that they sent me home and because with Bennett, I
had him and um I only pushed for 40 minutes. So it wasn't like he was long
and my doctor knew me, so he, I would have thought. Would have been more
careful, and he kept telling me how this one was gonna happen much quicker
, but he sent me home.
And so I'm waiting the whole time I'm like, what? And I'm such like a good
, like I just follow the rules and like I just wanna like impress my
doctor so I didn't want to like call him with anything else until
something else happened. And that's the only thing my dad said to the
doctor. He's like, well, something happened, we called you.
I'm just glad I didn't have him in my car because my dad couldn't have
even done anything about it. He's stuck in the back of the two-seater, so
unless we pulled over, there was nothing like anybody could have helped me
with at that point. So what was your experience from your first song? Um,
I think I was so. shooken up by everything that happened, like all the
adrenaline as soon as he came out and like about the time they put him on
me, the adrenaline like started kicking in and I was like totally
shivering and shaking and they had to cover me with a bunch of blankets
because I think my body was just in shock after all that, but I felt like
I could enjoy it a lot more when when they put him on me than with Bennett
because with Bennett, I was like so freaked out. About what that looked
like, what a brand new baby looked like, and it was like disgusting, but
with uh I was a little bit more ready for it. So it was really sweet and I
like immediately I could immediately breastfeed him and he like, he was
such an easy baby. Everything was easy. He immediately started
breastfeeding. He, you know, slept that night and so as much, it was funny
because with Bennett, the whole. Birth was really fun and exciting and
nice, but then, you know, once I had the baby, it was crazy and dramatic
and hard to do. But with Austin, it was like the opposite. Once I had the
baby, he was so easy and you know, uneventful and just easy to enjoy and
whereas his birth was crazy and out of control. So it was like total
opposites, those two.
That's intense.
That's interesting. Um, so you had had a birth plan. It was like to get
the Yeah, I was gonna go in a couple hours before, you know, the pain got
too bad because I would feel, you know, I would know what it felt like and
then I would get the epidural and then we'd hang out in the delivery room
for an hour and then I'd push him out in 40 minutes just like I did with
Bennett, but none of that happened so that totally. Freaks me out and and
I do the one thing I remember, um, right when the baby was coming out.
Thinking, I can't believe that I'm feeling this right now because you
could just feel it. I felt like your body was like dripping apart like
down there. Like it just felt awful. It felt everything like you thought
it was gonna feel like times 10 and I was so pissed that I had to feel it
because I just wanted the epidural so fast.
Uh, uh, it was awful, that pain, but it does, you know, it goes away right
away. And then you, you do kind of get the lady that comes in afterwards
and like pushes on your stomach to get all that crap out, and that was
pretty painful too, which I never knew because I had the epidural before.
So all that gross stuff, the epidural kind of helped me with on the first
one. So it was, it was actually really good that this all happened
obviously for the second child because I don't think I'll have another
child after that. I'd be afraid I'd have him in the shower on the toilet.
I realize how lucky you are though. I mean like that's amazing. I, I am
glad I experienced it now. Like I'm glad that it went down the way it did
and that I actually did have a baby without having an epidural because now
I know what it feels like and I think that's kind of cool. Yeah, not many
people have a story to tell, yeah. Mhm.
It's like being in a race car. Yeah, I was scary for Sean. Yeah, he was
pretty freaked out. He was terrified. Yeah, because he's probably worried
about your safety. Yeah, he was. He was worried like the baby was coming
because I'm yelling, baby's coming out. I can feel his head. I don't know
what to do. And he's like, just hold on, and my legs are literally crossed
and Yeah, I can't imagine fighting against that urge to push because women
talk about this like just so like intense. Yeah, that's that was the worst
part, and it wasn't, it wasn't. It wasn't like every 5 seconds. It was
just a constant pressure down there. This baby is just like trying to come
out the whole time. There was no contractions. It was just a constant like
one push. I probably could have had the baby right after my water broke.
But you wouldn't know if the cord would be tied around it, because the
cord was tied around with Bennett's neck too, so that kind of freaked me
out. I was thinking about that. I mean, it's not a big deal when you have
it in the hospital and it's tied around their neck and it just comes out
and they untie it. But if you're in a car, you don't know what's happening.
I just was doing everything in my power to keep the baby's head in.
And there's, it was a weird night because there were two other bursts that
night that actually didn't make it to the hospital. And one of them was my
doctor's patient too. She had on our porch. So it was a weird night
overall, like everyone was having these crazy. Another girl had had had
her baby down in the. I think it was down in the turnaround where I first
pulled in. So it was a weird night. I wasn't the worst story of the night.
Was there a full moon? There wasn't, and I thought, I, I asked, I
remember thinking, I wonder if it's a full moon tonight, but it was just
one of those crazy nights and you, I mean, you heard alarms all night in
the hospital, so. I don't know what happened, but it was crazy.
OK, well, I think that I think we're good unless you want to tell Bennets.
Think Bennets, it was just so. It was so much more boring than that. I
don't really think that any of them are boring though.
Trying to think of anything about his, I mean, his was just. The funniest
thing was with his was that I never went to any of the prenatal classes or
like even the introductory to the hospital. So when we got to the hospital
, we didn't know where to go so we ended up getting lost in the bowels of
the hospital and I ended up walking about 1.5 in the hospital before I
figured out where to go, which I think made his a lot easier. So once I
got into the, into the room, I think, you know, I was in the the initial
check-in room for 30 minutes and my water broke and I still didn't have an
epidural at that point and that started to really, the pain was really bad
then. I have a lot of back labor, so it's a lot of pain in the back and.
And I was waiting for someone to have twins so that I could get my
epidural because it was a Sunday and there was only one person working. So
then when she came in and gave me the epidural, which before you ever have
an epidural, you're really freaked out about those because you, it's like
a needle in the back. Um, So I was really freaked out about even getting
an epidural during that one. And when she gave it to me, it was like I was
floating on clouds and my doctor would come in and we'd joke and like make
and laugh about things and everyone was like having a party. My mom's
video taping it and so it's so much more. I don't know, enjoyable. It was
kind of like just hanging out and waiting for a baby to come. Once, um,
they he was finally like ready for me to push. I probably pushed a series
of 5 times total, and then the thing that was freaking me out most then
was I was worried I was gonna poop because everyone thought something poop
or pee on the doctor. And I really liked my doctor, so I didn't want to
poop or pee on him. So that that was like the biggest fear at that during
that delivery. And I, I was pushing and I remember I was making these
really weird noises when I was pushing so cause I can, I have a video of
it, so I can go back and listen, but it's kind of like a pig squealing.
Not anything near what I did with Austin, but so it's a very weird, it's
very strange having a baby, but I I was just pushing so hard. I wanted the
baby to come out. I wanted to do good and that's my whole personality is
like impressing other people and the doctor and having a really like fast
you know delivery because I pushed hard enough. So Bennett just came out
after 5 pushes and he was just once he came out he was all drama. Like
couldn't get him to eat. Couldn't get him to not cry, couldn't get him to
burp.
but that was probably also because it was my first baby and I didn't know
what to do with them, so I got a lot of help from all the nurses for two
days and they all had a different opinion, so it was stressful afterwards
, but. I really enjoyed his birth. It was a party. Remember the doctor
told us one story. Right before I started pushing, his wife is a
pediatrician at the Phoenix Children's Hospital, and she had just called
him with a birth story of a lady coming in. She had had her baby in a
hotel room. And she was high on drugs and when she got there, the nurses
asked her what she wanted to name her baby and she said hot dog. And the
nurses were all so appalled and like felt so bad for this little baby that
they all called him Oscar. And so then, um, you know, we go through the
birth and we have the birth and we hadn't told anyone the name. It was a
surprise. And so when we had the baby, uh, the, uh, my doctor says, well,
you know, hot dogs are already taken, but you could probably name them
corndog. So that was his job.
I know so bad.
Oh my goodness. OK, so we're separating these into themes. Do you have any
like word or it could it could be a descriptive word or a noun or whatever
that you think would encapsulate kind of your experience. Um, we call
Austin where we nicknamed him. We don't actually even call him that, but
his little camera now in his room, we call it Flash. And that's kind of
how we describe him like it's either flash or speed or everything is just
full bore, so. I guess that's how I would describe his and.
Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Do you have any questions? OK. I think we're
good. Yeah. Thank you.