1/2 a baby...

i have delivered one and a half babies in the field (so far). this is the story of my 1/2 baby. i think i was with JH at the time and we got sent to a 24D, baby on the way. we pull up on scene at like 3 am and walk into a back bedroom and there is a lady with a newborn baby on her belly, umbilical cord still attached. we missed it by seconds. the lady's 18 year old sister delivered it and tied off the cord with shoelace per EMD (EMD are the people you talk to on the phone if you call 911). the baby was great, a little tiny naked little baby. mom was fine and sister did a great job. the baby had its first crap and my partner was helping mom clean up some of that oily messy stuff while i clamped the cord closer to the belly button. i noticed him at first but now i had the time to take it in. the mom's 5 year old son was on the bed with her and by the shock-and-awed look on his face he was there for EVERY THING. he had these wide eyes and was just silent and taking every thing in. i finished clamping off the cord and took out the scalpel and looked up at the boy and said "come around here". he jumped down and ran around to me and i put the scalpel in his little hands with the blade up and told him to hold tight. i slid the cord in a sawing motion across the blade and he got to cut his little sibling's cord. as i got the last of it over the scalpel a burst of blood spurted onto his hand and he looked at it, looked at me and threw down the scalpel and ran into the bathroom and i could here him washing his hands. he came back out and we cleaned up mom and the baby, mom hadn't passed the placenta yet, and we loaded them both onto the stretcher and into the ambulance and off to the hospital we went. the lady had gone to L and D earlier in the night with labor pains but they sent her home at midnight with some percocets...oops. the mom was joking with us in the ambulance and was in a good mood right up until we walked into L and D and she got the greatest pissed-off-black-lady face i ever saw. the nurse saw her and said "did we just see..." she trailed off as she looked down at the baby. that was a funny site.