Rachel's Labor

On the morning of May 10, 2005 the hospital staff began to induce labor after spending the night in the hospital while they softened me up. I was fine and dandy until about 7 cm dilated. Then I wasn’t too much of a happy girl anymore. Fortunately it only took one hour until I felt like pushing. Unfortunately, the doctor said I wasn’t ready, so I couldn’t push.

Five minutes later I said that I couldn’t wait anymore, I had to push. So the nurse checked, and sure enough I was ready. My doctor (Dr. Suzanne Shipman) had gone back to her office across the street and had to run back over to the hospital. A midwife stayed with me until she arrived, just in case.

The first thing the doctor said was “Look at all that dark hair!”

Well, that made me extremely curious and anxious to see that baby, because I was expecting a little blondie mirror of Elizabeth. So I pushed harder and was thrilled with the results.

One of the nurses was kind enough to grab my camera and take a few photos. I am so glad she did because the result was some photos of Elizabeth watching the birth and the first few minutes of my new baby’s life that I will treasure forever.

After 7 hours of labor and 15 minutes of pushing I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Her hair almost black, her eyes dark blue, her weight 10 pounds, her length 22 inches, and her name yet to be decided.





















ScrapGirls: paper from earthen vessel; journaling bits and numbers from art journal.
Jen Wilson: numbered paper used as overlay, green cardstock.
Gina Miller: computer paper.
Miss Mint: hello tag, staples.
Fonts: Times New Roman, 1942 report.