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It was Friday the 13th. I was hoping for the baby to be born on this day but something told me I had to wait just a little while longer.

At 11 pm that evening I began having some rushes but since I have had cramping and rushes for over a month I decided not to get too excited about it. The rushes were no longer then 10 minutes apart and so intense that I couldn't sleep. I decided to wait until 2 am to make a decision as to whether or not I was in labor.

At 1:37 am I had a rush so intense that I felt hot and lightheaded. I woke Fred up and told him that I thought the baby was coming. He was skeptical, I could tell, we had waited so long. Something felt different though and I knew this was it.

I called Kaye, the midwife, and told her what was going on. She told me to take a long soak in the tub and call her back in 45 minutes. After the soak the rushes were coming every 3-7 minutes, but because they weren't lasting long, we were all reluctant to believe that it was going to come anytime soon. Within an hour the rushes felt back to back. I could sometimes not manage to get my breath.

Kaye was at another birth so she sent another midwife named Jill over to check on me. Jill proclaimed me to be 3 cm dilated, which depressed me a little. The most important thing for me to do was get some sleep but I couldn't because the rushes were so close together. Kaye concurred with Jill that I needed to relax as much as possible, letting my body go limp during the rushes so that my natural instincts could take over and let the labor even out a bit. Kaye suggested to Jill that I have a glass of wine to calm myself and try to sleep. We didn't have any wine in the house so I had a little beer. It didn't work however because by this point the rushes were causing me to throw up. Jill told me to settle in and rest as much as possible, and she left.

As the sun came up I had Fred call Kaye again because the rushes were increasingly intense and closer and closer, I knew something was going to happen soon but still the rushes weren't lasting very long so everyone else thought I had some waiting to do and that I would probably have the baby that late afternoon or early evening. Kaye told Fred to have me come to the office. She said it would be good for me to get up and out. I knew I couldn't do it. I could barely stand, so I called Kaye back and told her myself exactly how I was feeling. She told me she would come over after her first prenatal that morning. She checked me when she arrived and I was about 5 cm. I felt terrible because I knew I still had a long way to go. I was so tired and all I wanted to do was get a little sleep.

Soon after Kaye's arrival however I began to feel the urge to push with the contractions, then it went from an urge to an involuntary action of pushing. I told Kaye and she set up the birthing chair. I was only in the chair a short while when things really started to rip. I felt like a puppet, some unknown force was pulling the strings, I had no control. My body was pushing and pushing, it was all happening so fast. The quickness of it began to stress the baby and Kaye became concerned. She had me lie on the floor so she could closely monitor the baby's heartbeat. It wasn't doing well during the intensity of the rushes. Kaye had a judgment call to make. This is where having a midwife proves itself to be the best way to go. She knew me, and she knew my body. She knew that the best thing I could do was to push out the baby and quick. Pushing felt a lot better but I couldn't feel myself making any progress so it was a little discouraging.

I pushed hard as Kaye coached me and Fred held my hand. I had never worked so hard in my life and I was so tired. The baby was coming and coming quickly and soon I could feel the head at the end of the birth canal. This was the hardest part. As the head pushed against me to come out I was terrified of tearing. I didn't want to rip myself apart and it felt like that's what would happen if I pushed any harder.

The water still hadn't broken so in an effort to speed things up Kaye broke my water at this point. Kaye told me I had to get the baby out and fast and that I had to push through it. I reached down deep to a place inside myself that I didn't know existed. I found the strength somewhere and I pushed. It felt like a really intense Indian burn and then "pop" out the head came. I took a brief break and some deep breaths. I could no longer feel the baby as he rested half in and half out of my body. Kaye suctioned him out and told me she wanted me to get the body out in one push. The body wasn't actually hard to get out. I pushed and then "slip, slip, bump". He was here. I felt so selfishly great at that moment. It was over, the labor had ended and I felt like I could get up and dance!

Soon enough Kaye placed him on my chest. He didn't look at all like I had pictured. He had big brown eyes but his hair was so light it was almost blond! Blond hair, where on earth did he get that? He wasn't quite as chubby as we expected but boy was he long. I knew he had to be from the way he had laid in my womb. He had large feet and hands and we knew we had a future tall, skinny man. I was so glad he was here. I felt this sudden rush of energy. Again I felt as though I could get up and dance. Compared to labor the minor discomforts of the present moment seemed like nothing. I couldn't believe how great I felt.

The time that River "Nykki" Nykeiekkiwakan Serenemoon joined our world was 11 am on June 14th, 2003

Blessings,
Ayla Serenemoon