Mother Amanda holds Caleb up so that Aunt Jonica can smile on his sleepy face. Jonica was Amanda and Caleb's support people along with Papa Gabe. As I remember it, Amanda became aware of steady contractions at around 1:00AM, which were coming at about 4 minutes apart. They got to the hospital at between 2:30 and 3:00AM. Jonica got to the hospital around 6:00AM, the contractions were still coming every 4 or 5 minutes apart by 7:30-8:00AM, and Amanda decided to request an epidural, and then around 10:30 AM after the administration of petosin the baby came on into the H2O atmosphere at 10:44, more-or-less just as I arrived at the hospital. Jonica took the actual "birthing" pictures, and has some on her film camera awaiting development too. The birth was quite different from Amanda's birth, which was at home in the bed her mother and father slept in every night. I thought the hospital birth set-up was a good comprise and that it seemed right for Amanda. I thought the baby was a bit affected by the drugs in the hours after birth because he was very quiet. Amanda also seemed to have a bit of a roller coaster for the first hours untill she got some rest. The biggest thing I notices was that the nurses took away Caleb for about an hour or two when they moved into the Newborn section of the hospital. The bothered Amanda, and it was somewhat shocking to all of us. There is a lot to be said for well organized and supported home births, but he key thing is the mother and baby come out of the experience in a healthy mode of liife. Gabe seemed to riding on cloud nine. A cd mix put together by Amber played throughout the birthing, which I really felt good about.
Rhona McMahan