More Pictures of Aisha

Here are some more pictures of Aisha and her proud parents!

A little bit about our story: On Friday morning, Rachel told me at 7:30 am that she had been having contractions that hurt a little bit and seemed to be about 10 minutes apart. We talked about it for a few minutes and she decided to call her mom, who had been waiting in Kansas City for the big call, suitcase in hand. They talked for a while, and we concluded that it seemed like things may have been getting warmed up pretty seriously. Rach hung up the phone, and 30 seconds later, from the bathroom, I hear, "Jeremy!". One of the more obvious signs of labor had just occured, and Rach promptly called her mom back.

From that moment on, contractions began coming hard and fast. We put a call into the midwives to let them know, and they told us that there was still a long process ahead of us, but that we should start timing contractions. We did, and they had jumped from 10 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart! Rach was in so much pain now with each contraction, we knew the baby was coming sooner rather than later.

With our bags finally packed (it is really hard to think straight when you know you've got a baby coming, and every three minutes your wife has to hold on to you for dear life!) we headed out the door and arrived at the birthing center at 1:00 PM. Upon our arrival, we learned that Rachel was only at 1 - 2 cm, and were about to be told to return home until they realized how hard and fast contractions were coming. They were right on top of each other now. For an hour and a half we tried walking, but spent most of our time on a couch in a darkened room, trying to help Rach cope with the labor. Things became so intense she threw up several times. So much for the nice breakfast I cooked for her that morning...After that hour and a half, we learned that Rachel had progressed to 4 - 5 cm, and we were checked into our birthing room, and Rach got into the tub. The tub was very nice and brand new, with padded cushions lining the floor around it to save the knees of we who were attending to Rachel. Two hours later, Rach was at 10cm and pushing! I have to admit that I cried a few times just seeing the pain that Rachel was in. It was really hard to watch!

Not too long later we met our beautiful girl! She was very calm at birth. I hear that the water has a very soothing effect. The midwives were so gracious to give Rachel and I as much time as we wanted before they cleaned the baby. I cut the cord, and the nurses promptly cleaned up Aisha and attended to Rachel. Before the baby exams they gave her back to us to hold a while longer. About an hour, in fact. I got to hold her while they took care of Rachel's needs. Aisha was very healthy, scoring 8 and 9 on the Apgar. The three of us spent the night together there in the same birthing suite, just feet away from the tub where Aisha was born.

Proud Mommy!

Grandma to the rescue!