As I type this story, my daughter, Anna Lee is almost six weeks old. She is sleeping peacefully beside the computer. When I look at her delicate little face, round belly and tiny hands and feet, I am once again amazed to have played a role in bringing her into this world. As my eighty year old grandfather said when he saw her for the first time, “Well, ain’t she a wonder.”

Here is our story…

On December 23, 2004, I packed up my things and started out the office door. It had been raining all day and the storm had gotten worse that afternoon. As I walked down the stairs with a few co-workers, I mentioned I was headed to Pennsylvania for a Christmas party. “You’re crazy,” they told me. “The weather is horrible and you’re 36-weeks pregnant, driving alone.” One friend told me to pack food, a flashlight and a blanket. I laughed off their concern, but I did stop by our home to pick up a snack and a flashlight. Before I kissed my husband, Radek, good-bye, I got the number at the pub where he would be working that night.

Once on the road, I had second thoughts. I had been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions all day, and they worsened until I could barely breathe as I drove. I called my mother to complain. “Emily,” she told me, “That baby isn’t going to come until after your due date on January 15th, when I’ve finished giving my exams.” I believed her, but I was still unexplainably grumpy.

When I arrived at the party, my spirits lifted. I enjoyed visiting with my college friends, eating and drinking fruit juice spritzers. A few minutes before ten, I felt tired and told my friend Evan I’d like to sit down in a minute. Almost as soon as those words left my mouth, I felt a shift in my abdomen and a release of the pressure I’d been feeling all day. My pants flooded with water and I rushed to the bathroom. A line of friends and curious partygoers followed.

From the bathroom, I called the midwives’ answering service and the pub where Radek worked. Once they put him on the phone, I told him that my water had broken. He replied, “Okay, good. I’m here if you need me, someone will answer the phone.”

I said, “No, Radek, this is it. You are having a baby now. Get someone to cover your tables and go home and pack some things for me. We’re waiting for one of the midwives to call back now.”

Later the restaurant’s manager told Radek that he’d said, “No, not now,” when he first heard me speak. His co-workers said he ran out of the pub so quickly once he realized what was happening.

In the meantime, Cindy called me back and gave me instructions about getting to the hospital. I had just met Cindy for the second time four days earlier. During my appointment, she had asked me if I had my bag packed because the baby could come any day. Unfortunately, I hadn’t packed my bag since we’d spoken. But at the moment, I was more concerned about getting the Strep-B antibiotic I needed in time and meeting up with Radek.

It didn’t help matters when a doctor at the party (the son-in-law of the party-givers) said that he didn’t think I had time to make it back to the Hackettstown hospital. He thought I should get to the hospital within the hour, and everyone at the party wanted to take me to the nearby Lee High Valley hospital. The fact that it was the night before Christmas Eve and the party was being held in Bethlehem, PA, stirred their emotions. They thought I should have the baby in Bethlehem, and they should all go to the hospital with me!

When I mentioned going to a Pennsylvania hospital to Cindy, she said, “No. You’re having your baby in the Hackettstown hospital with your midwives. Don’t worry. You have plenty of time to get there.” I must have sounded frightened on the phone because she asked me, “Why are you scared? You’re having your baby, that’s all.”

Two friends volunteered to take me to Hackettstown, and once we got into the car, I relaxed. After my water had broken, I felt as if I had much more space in my belly. I could breathe better than I had in weeks. The drive to the hospital took a little over an hour. I drank water and tried to rest. I had worn myself out during the week trying to finish up Christmas shopping and prepare food for our out-of-town company who were arriving the next morning to spend the holiday with us.

I was a little nervous about being too tired to labor effectively, especially when Cindy mentioned that she recommended sleeping pills to sleep through the night. I had done everything naturally up to that point and I really didn’t like the idea of taking sleeping pills. I called Cindy back to ask her if I had to take them. “Of course you don’t,” she replied. “Just as long as you get some sleep. You’re going to need your strength for labor in the morning.”

When I met Radek at the Emergency room doors, he was grinning. Once I saw his smiling face, I knew everything would be fine. Cindy was right. We were just a normal couple having a baby.

A nurse came down with a wheel chair to take us to our room, but I wanted to walk. I felt fine, except that I was shaking all over. I had on borrowed pajama pants with my fancy party sweater and dressy jacket. I had stuck a washcloth in my underwear to stop the flow, and I had an overnight bag packed for Bethlehem with nothing that I would need in the hospital. We put my bags in the wheel chair and headed up.

After I got settled in the birthing room and got the antibiotic started, the nurse checked me and said I was 2 cm dilated. She tried to give me sleeping pills so that I would rest through the night. I refused them for awhile.

I had suffered all my life from horrible menstrual cramps caused by endometriosis, and I knew after all those years of pain, I didn’t want to miss a second of this labor. In the weeks leading up to that point, I had visualized going into labor. I imagined Radek rubbing my back and talking me through the pain. Even though friends and my work colleagues told me I was crazy for not wanting pain relief, I could not imagine tarnishing the experience by taking anything, even sleeping pills. I figured I was so tired, I would fall asleep naturally.

But the contractions persisted, and I stayed awake. The nurse came back with the pills. Finally, I gave in once she assured me that if I started active labor, the pills would be totally ineffective.

Soon after I swallowed the pills, I felt the first strong contractions. After a few minutes, the nurse came in. “You’re not going to sleep through the night, are you?”

“No,” I replied. “What can we do now?”

She checked me again. I was dilated to 4 cm so she filled up the birthing tub and gave Lisa a call. (Cindy went off call at midnight.) I had had most of my prenatal appointments with Lisa, and I admired her vivacious spirit.

When Lisa arrived around 3:30 am, I was already in the tub. I don’t remember how long I was there. I just remember Radek rubbing my back and me trying to breathe calmly and slowly.

At one point, when the contractions were intense, we filled up the tub more. Originally, I had wanted Radek in the tub with me, but once I got in I hung over the edge leaning toward him. From this angle, he could rub my back and we could easily see each other.

I talked out loud to myself throughout the labor. I had read somewhere that if you kept your lips relaxed like blowing a raspberry then you would be relaxed in your vaginal area too. So I tried that. I also tried to imagine making myself big like a grapefruit.

Lisa and the nurse came into the tub room frequently to check the baby’s heartbeat and to check on me. I gained confidence and security from Lisa’s presence, but I also felt as if Radek and I were working through the labor on our own, which was nice.

At some point, the pain began to get intense. I thought I would vomit, and then I needed to use the bathroom. After sitting for a minute on the toilet, Lisa and Radek helped me onto the bed. I began to push. I pushed for a bit sitting up, and then Lisa suggested that I change positions so that gravity could work for me.

Lisa and Radek helped me get on all fours, and I leaned forward against a huge birthing ball. At first, I didn’t realize I was supposed to push only with the contraction, but after a bit, I got into the groove. Soon, Lisa said the baby’s head was coming. I reached back to feel the head, then I pushed again with all my might.

It felt like no time at all before I gave a giant push and the baby’s body seemed to slide out from me. I felt a sharp burning, but the sensation of giving birth was so incredible I cannot say that I was in pain.

Radek helped Lisa catch the baby. As the baby came out, they swung her between my spread legs so that I could see her. The umbilical cord was short. Radek cut it. I just remember looking at the little perfect body in front of me and knowing that I would never be the same again.

While Radek watched, the nurses took the baby’s vital signs and gave her an injection for blood clotting. Lisa delivered the placenta and stitched up a small tear. I lay back on the hospital bed, exhausted but happy.

Our daughter, Anna Lee was born on Christmas Eve at 6:15 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 inches long.

We called my parents right away. They were elated to be first-time grandparents and made plans to drive from Virginia to be with us on Christmas day.

Right after, we called Radek’s mother in the Czech Republic. It was past noon there and his mother was with her parents celebrating Christmas. She told us that Anna Lee’s birth was the best Christmas present she had ever gotten and that she was happier than she’d been since Radek was born.

Spending our first Christmas together as a family in the hospital wasn’t exactly as we’d planned it, but the midwives and the hospital staff did everything they could to make us comfortable. Lisa helped us switch rooms on Christmas Eve when the nurses were busy with a sick baby. She made a “Shh, I’m sleeping,” sign so that I could rest undisturbed. Cindy checked on us on Christmas Day, and we had a long talk about motherhood and breastfeeding on the 26th before leaving the hospital.

Although Anna Lee’s early arrival caught us off guard and threw our plans for the holiday into disarray, we could never have asked for it to happen a better way. As Radek told me afterward, “I guess she just got tired of being in your belly and figured there was a better way to spend her first Christmas.” I’ll say.

Thank you to Lisa, Cindy and Roxann for guiding us through eight-plus months of pregnancy and a holiday labor. Each of you patiently answered my questions about pregnancy, motherhood and breastfeeding and showed me through your words and actions how to lovingly bring a baby into the world.

We are forever grateful to you all for helping us to appreciate the wonder of the natural birth process.