by Kyle Doty

Kyle's daugher, Sariye, was born December 2, 2007 at the birth center

The contractions had been getting steadily stronger all day long and I noticed that my wife had been acting dissimilar all day; she had taken on a more pale appearance and was very tired, quiet. It was 10:00 P.M. when we decided that we would begin to time the contractions. I took her phone and placed the setting on the "stopwatch" setting and started timing. One contraction would start and the clock would start running. That contraction would end, lasting one minute or more and I'd type it into the excel spreadsheet that I had going. I had already named it appropriately, "Contractions" and dated it. I had four columns: Start Time, End Time, Time Between Contractions and Notes. At first they were nine minutes apart, nothing to get too excited about, but still enough to time them.

It was around 11:45 when I noticed that for a while they had been about five minutes apart and showing somewhat of a pattern. I called Samantha, feeling badly about the time of night, but also knowing that this is exactly what she lives for everyday. Samantha kindly told me that once the contractions are steadily under five minutes apart to call her back. My wife and I, for the next several hours sat in our condo getting ready for the big moment when we could call Samantha back so we could go to Baby Love. I timed contractions while my wife labored in the shower sitting on a kitchen chair. I read to her from the bible, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I massaged her back and kissed her forehead holding her close telling her, "You can do this. Are you alright?"

Finally, at 2:00 in the morning the contractions took a more calculated turn more towards the four minute thirty second route and getting shorter, I made the call. Samantha answered the phone as though she had been expecting my call and said, "Cool, come on in and I'll be waiting."

The drive to Baby Love was short as we live about fifteen minutes away, but it's an odd thing driving at 2:45 in the morning to go somewhere knowing that on the trip back home your life is going to be forever changed. There are few times in life when that happens. For me, which those feelings only swept across me twice before, when I traveled around Central America, North America and the Middle East in search for the true "me" and when I got married. We came to Baby Love and everything was perfect for my wife. The lights were low and the water was running; everything was adequately prepared for the birth of our daughter. There was something enchanting about all of it.

I helped my wife wherever I could be of service. I found that there was nothing that I could do in order to "fix" this particular situation. In most cases when there is a problem or a pain I can help, but this wasn't anything ordinary and I couldn't offer any tangible, true help that would take the pain away and I felt the overwhelming feeling of helplessness. The contractions got stronger and the pain my wife was feeling was growing more and more. I was tired, but wasn't about to complain, nothing compared to what was in front of me. Hours had passed and our daughter was almost here. My wife had been pushing for a while and I could see that soon we would have another little girl. I was excited, but still felt weak. My wife was there in the tub feeling all of this pain, though she said it was manageable and she was in good spirits I still felt like she and I should be sharing this pain. Together in passion and love we made this little life and together we should share in this birth. I felt like all I could offer was my hand to hold even though I knew that my words and my being there was bigger than I saw it.

The moment finally came where my daughter's head was all the way out and someone said, "I can feel her face." I remember thinking, "she has a face...oh wow....this is my little baby!" Her shoulders came next and then the rest of her tiny body and then she cried and there she was, after all of these months of preparation and waiting there she was in the flesh!

I loved her instantly. I was dazed for a while and sat watching the flood of people come in and out and answered the same questions of "are you excited?" and "how do you two feel" with the same answers, not giving anyone the real, true answers. I was just trying to wrap my mind around what had happened. It's almost like a car accident you just keep playing it over and over in your mind. I didn't mean to correlate birth to a car accident, but it's the only thing that shocking that I could think of at the moment.

Everything was faded gray that day, a blur but a day I'll never forget and even now as I write little moments flood my mind in living color. Sounds and words spoken make me remember the Birthing Center that day. It is something I'd not trade for any sum of money or any experience of a lifetime. I guess to sum things up I need to say that birth really does emphasize the power women have and the amazing things the female body can do.