Action!

The night sky was inky and the air was apple crisp on my checks. I was pacing. There was student midwife with me and she joined in. The room was ready, I had hastily gotten all the tasks done. So, now I was outside on the breezeway, pacing in the night. It was her second baby and I didn't know if they were gonna make it in. They had said the drive was about 10 minutes, by now it had been 20. I anxiously watched the street for car headlights turning my way. Finally, I saw them, and I took a nice long breath, they had made it.

The car door opened and I heard the Mama...the unmistakable sounds that mean a baby is just about to crown. She stepped out of the car and grabbed onto the gate, fell down to her knees and groaned. I quickly and gently felt between her legs...we had a few minutes, maybe. "Your baby is very close. We can have her here or we can go inside. Do you want to try and walk inside?" She says that she would like to walk inside, the next moment, she is sprinting across the breezeway with myself, the student midwife, and her husband trying to catch up.

Once inside, she returned to her hands and knees, groaning and full of power. We must have been quite the sight, she was crawling down the hallway, we were trying to get her clothes off, the baby was working her way down and out. I told her that she could stop crawling and have her baby where she was, however, she was determined to have her daughter in the room that she had loved during her prenatal care and classes. The instant she crawled into the bed, her sweet little girl arrived and all were well. A few minutes later, the nurse arrived and came in the room laughing. She said that the hallway looked like a movie scene...with clothes strewn about, socks, pants, underwear, etc. leading to the bedroom. We all laughed together. These moments are so special and sweet, I am honored to be a part of them.