Enza Katharine Horenstein has quite a story to tell about her first trip to Martha’s Vineyard. She arrived on the Island Friday by way of the Steamship Authority’s Island Home ferry and the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital after her mother went into labor just before the boat was scheduled to arrive at the Vineyard Haven terminal.
Fortunately, her parents were fully capable of dealing with the untimely labor. Enza’s dad is Dr. Jeffrey Horenstein, an emergency room physician at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Her mom is Dr. Katharine Barnes Horenstein, an obstetrics and gynecology doctor at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.
Enza, a healthy 5-pound, 13-ounce girl, was born at 12:15 pm Friday after a quick scramble and a lot of communication and cooperation among ferry employees, Tisbury police, and the hospital.
The couple are spending the summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Dr. Horenstein works in the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital emergency department, as well as with the Lifeguard Medical Group, a private concierge medical practice headed by Dr. Jeffrey Zack, hospital emergency medical department director.
Dr. Barnes, a mother for the second time, knew the drill. Dr. Horenstein, a father for the first time, did not.
“We had gone off-Island for 24 hours so I could work at Beth Israel, and when I got home from my overnight shift, [Katharine] said she was starting to feel some pressure, but no contractions,” Dr. Horenstein said. “So we got in the car and started driving away from Boston, and we said, ‘Is this a good idea?'”
At 8:30 am, Dr. Barnes, who was not due for another two weeks, started having contractions every five minutes. Still, they were not unduly concerned.
“You know, with labor you’re never really sure if it’s real, even if you’re an ob/gyn,” Dr. Horenstein told The Times in a telephone call.
‘What could go wrong?’
Teri Culletto, Dr. Horenstein’s administrative assistant on Martha’s Vineyard, received a text from him at 8:43 am: “Contractions are every six minutes, not rushing but could be labor. What could go wrong?”
At that point, the couple were in Brockton and on their way to the Vineyard.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh. Really? Seriously?’” Ms. Culletto told The Times. “I’ve been there, done that — four kids. I texted him back jokingly: ‘I just checked with an Islander and technically if the baby is born on the boat, she is still considered an Islander because you’re on your way over.'”
Dr. Horenstein continued to text Ms. Culletto. He said the contractions were four minutes apart, but that they still weren’t convinced it was labor. The couple was in Wareham, just before the Bourne Bridge.
From East Falmouth they asked Ms. Culletto to book a spot on the ferry. Originally, they had planned to leave their car on the mainland and walk on, but that plan had changed, under the circumstances.
“So I got online, and there was one space, I’m not kidding, there was one space available to come over, and it was on the 10:45,” Ms. Culletto said. “Can you believe that? That doesn’t happen.”
At Woods Hole, boatline employees expressed some doubt about the wisdom of the couple boarding.
“It was funny, each step of the way, like when we checked in, the ticket lady was like, ‘Are you sure this is a good idea?'” Dr. Horenstein said. “We were like, ‘Stop trying to talk us out of this.’ But when we got onto the boat, they were like, ‘Are you sure this is a good idea?'”
At 10:11 am, Dr. Horenstein texted Ms. Culletto and requested the number for the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital ob/gyn on call. At 10:27 am, they drove onto the ferry. The boatline employees, aware of the situation, positioned the car at the front of the boat.
Once on board, Dr. Barnes did breathing exercises while Dr. Horenstein tried to figure out what to do with their 150-pound Irish wolfhound, Tabitha, sitting in the back seat of the car. The next text Ms. Culletto received from Dr. Horenstein revealed a disconnect with the actual situation.
“Here’s a first-time father,” Ms. Culletto said. “He said, ‘OK, I’ll have to drop her off, run the dog back and provide her with some food, and then I’ll run back to the hospital.’ So he’s thinking he’s going to be able to drop his wife off here. This is him being calm.”
But then, the calm texts got a little more urgent.
“She just had a very strong contraction and felt the need to start pushing,” Dr. Horenstein said in a text to Ms. Culletto. “Why do people do this?”
It was 10:58 am. The ferry was in the middle of Vineyard Sound, 30 minutes away from docking, and his wife was in labor in a car on the freight deck of the Island Home.
At 11:15 am, Ms. Culletto received a request for a police escort to the hospital.
Baby on board, almost
Ms. Culletto called the Tisbury police.
“Look, there’s a car on the boat ready to dock in Vineyard Haven and there’s an active labor patient in that car that needs to be escorted to the hospital,” Ms. Culletto told police.
Patti Mark, Tisbury Police administrative assistant, told her, “Well, this is the first time we’ve ever had this call!”
Traffic Officer Eloise Boales coordinated traffic as the couple drove off the ferry in their silver BMW. Officer Bill Johnson led the way to the hospital while Chief Dan Hanavan assisted with traffic control at Five Corners.
Dr. Horenstein said the only drama was a slight delay when workers at the Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard moved a sailboat out into the road.
“We slowed down and started honking because the police had already gone by them,” he said. “We didn’t want to be delayed for 10 minutes or so while they launched a boat, although that’s fitting for the Vineyard.”
Once past, it was clear sailing to the hospital. Ms. Culletto was waiting at the hospital front door when the couple pulled up in their car, happy and smiling.
“She looked fine for being in active labor,” she said. “And she got up there and, I’m not kidding, 40 minutes later a little girl was born. It was amazing. I cannot believe she didn’t have that kid on the boat. She has good control.”
Dr. Horenstein said that they were fortunate that Enza, who was two weeks early, was born at 36 weeks and 1 day. If it was less than 36 weeks, she would have had to go back to Children’s Hospital on the mainland.
“We got to the hospital at 11:45 am and delivered at 12:15,” Dr. Horenstein said. “We wouldn’t do it any other way, truly, which is easy to say in retrospect when everyone is doing well. But no, it was perfect. We’re at home, and surrounded by the nurses and doctors that we know and trust.”
He said they felt reassured throughout the process due to their experience as doctors.
“I think we were both reassured because as doctors we downplay everything for ourselves, but there were moments for both of us when we weren’t sure we were doing the right thing,” he said. “But once you’re on the boat, you just have to make that decision. I think we used our medical knowledge that things go well most of the time to reassure us.”
Dr. Barnes had only two contractions with pushing before baby Enza became an official Islander.
“During the birth, seeing the birth, it was completely separate from being a doctor,” Dr. Horenstein said.
Ms. Culletto and Dr. Horenstein thanked the Tisbury and Oak Bluffs police officers for their help getting Dr. Barnes to the hospital safely.
“They were so good,” Ms. Culletto said. “So quick.”
She said a handwritten note on a big green piece of paper SSA employees had put on the windshield of the car was still under the car wiper to alert deckhands. It said: “First off.”
“It should’ve said ‘first born,’” Ms. Culletto said. “Oh, first-time fathers, they’re so funny.”