Cunningham And Wiser Newborn 'A Wild Ride!'

Hannah Caitlyn Sloane Cunningham

ALL ACCESS congratulates JACOBS MEDIA Alternative/Rock Consultant KEITH CUNNINGHAM and his wife MARCI WISER, middays at SIMMONS MEDIA Alternative KXRK (X96)/SALT LAKE CITY, on the birth of their second child, HANNAH CAITLYN SLOANE CUNNINGHAM on FEBRUARY 4th.

While WISER and HANNAH are home and healthy, CUNNINGHAM shared with ALL ACCESS his account of the "wild ride" this birth experience turned out to be.

"We welcomed our baby to the world on FEBRUARY 4th, but there's quite a story to it. Here's an accurate account of a story and crisis-turned-miracle that MARCI and I will never forget:

· Baby Due Date:  FEBRUARY 17th:

· SUNDAY evening, FEBRUARY 3rd:  MARCI's contractions increase, but her body wasn't telling her it was time to go to the hospital yet (thank God, we were watching the SUPER BOWL).

· SUNDAY overnight:  MARCI's contractions continue, some are more intense than others.

· MONDAY morning. FEBRUARY 4th at 6a:  We decide once we get the kids out the door, we're going to go see our doctor, unannounced, to get checked (we just had an ultrasound three days prior and the doc predicted another week or two  before she'd be ready to deliver).

· 6:30a:  I go to the store to get Infant's Advil for PRESLEY (our 16 month-old); she had come down with a slight fever.

· 7:05a:  I walk into the house from WAL-MART and MARCI tells me her water just broke -- I can see it, it's all over the place.  We're shocked.  We quickly began gathering our things to go to the hospital.

· 7:06a:  I call MARCI's mom and tell her it's 'go time,' and ask her to come over to watch MYA and PRESLEY.

· 7:07a:  I run upstairs, wake up MYA and tell her she has to watch PRESLEY until Grandma gets here.

· 7:08am:  I put PRESLEY in her high-chair with some treats to tide her over for a minute until MYA gets downstairs.

· 7:08:30a:  I hear this coming from the bedroom:  "Honey, call 911 right now, the umbilical cord is coming out."

· 7:09a - I jump on the phone with 911 and walk into the bedroom and find MARCI laying on the floor with the cord coming out.  Wow!  Sorry for the graphic details, but …

· 7:10a:  The 911 operator is now telling me how to be an OBGYN.  I'm checking the baby's pulse through the umbilical cord, which is literally coming out of MARCI’s body … then I have to get up in there and keep the baby's head from squishing the cord, etc.    

· 7:10-15a:  The 911 operator keeps telling me what to do and gives me instructions to relay to MARCI (DON’T PUSH!!!!  If she pushes and the baby comes out any more, it'll pinch-off the cord and cut off oxygen and blood flow to the baby and it’ll be game over).

· 7:16a:  MARCI is in a relatively safe position, as long as she doesn't push, and I now have to take a 15-second break to put my 180-lb. dog BOOMER in the bathroom so we don't have a problem on our hands when cops and EMTs come rushing through the door any minute.  Meanwhile, PRESLEY is in her high-chair in the kitchen saying, "Momma, Momma." She knows something very bad is happening.  

· 7:16:30a:  Back on the phone with 911 and attending to MARCI … a police officer arrives and starts moving things around so the EMTs will have room to get a gurney into the room.  He also checks on PRESLEY. BOOMER is barking like a maniac in the bathroom and the dog we're fostering is howling in the front room (she's old and senile, but still knows something isn't right).

· 7:17a:  EMTs arrive, they relieve me and take over – helping MARCI, getting her on her side, etc., etc.

· 7:23a:  EMTs (and MARCI) finally leave our house after figuring out how to get the gurney outside (we had a ton of snow outside, so they had to maneuver the gurney around our staircase in the garage (not easy!).  They tell me to follow the ambulance, but not to run any lights.  Yeah, right.

· 7:23-39a:  Everyone is driving fast and furious to the hospital … come to find out one of the EMT's was literally keeping the baby alive by holding her head off the cord.

· 7:42a:  MARCI is rushed into the OR and there's a team of doctors and nurses already scrubbed and in position. It was like DEFCON 4 in there … they don't know if the baby was alive and they won't let me go into the OR – I have to wait outside. I hear MARCI saying to the nurse, 'Don’t let my baby die.'   

· 7:43a:  A nurse feels a pulse on the baby, so an emergency C-section will begin as soon as MARCI is put under.

· 7:53a:  I hear our baby girl crying.  She made it. Healthy. After numerous tests, we learn there wasn't any brain or cellular damage, despite some likely oxygen and blood-flow deprivation for a few minutes. I have no idea how MARCI didn’t 'push,' when every part of her being wanted to push.  She showed amazing strength and determination to keep our baby alive by resisting  what her body wanted to naturally do.

· Our baby girl's name is HANNAH CAITLYN SLOANE CUNNINGHAM."

CUNNINGHAM also told ALL ACCESS "The next time there's ever a measure on one of your ballots asking for more money to pay cops, firefighters and EMTs; don't ask questions, just vote yes. They do save lives. In case you're wondering – what MARCI endured is called a 'prolapsed cord.' It's very rare and only happens in .62% of all pregnancies and every nurse and doctor we crossed paths with said it was a miracle HANNAH made it.  BTW – the EMT that had to get all up in there in the ambulance and hold the baby's head to keep it from cutting off all blood and oxygen flow … MARCI dated him in high school.  Ha."  

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