This is the story of Friday the 8th of December 2006

As we are walking down the alley to sign up in the hospital we can hear some rustling in the leaves, then some squealing…feathers are flying all over the place! Alexis (My brother-in–law)and I then notice a Hawk, it is holding in its claws a helpless Robin, it then flies off bringing the little Robin to its death as we are looking forward to a new life…

It is now 10.55AM, Fiona (My sister) is in her room signing a million forms, she is calm, all wired up, Gerard’s heart is beating vividly, it sounds great! Jen, the nurse is really sweet, she is a Christian which made Fiona really happy. Alexis and I are watching TV. Lexi looks a bit nervous; it was a difficult morning; the house woke up at 7am, Fiona who had been having regular contractions since 5am took a shower. We where running a little late to drop Stephen off at Lindy Roux (one of Fiona and Lexi’s friends in Atlanta) before going to see Diane their Midwife. So, once everyone was ready, we all piled into the car. My sister was in control, she was stacking the bags in and wanted no help, she just wanted to go! As we all sat strapped into the car, Alexis suddenly noticed the tire was flat!! And just to make it worse, Stephen, their 2 year old, started going crazy, he wouldn’t stop crying. Poor Lexi was fixing the tire in the freezing cold weather ( -5C) knowing that a few hours later he would be delivering his second son. Michael Johnston, the neighbour came to help and soon we where on our way, we finally made it to the hospital and where only just under half an hour late. The lovely Lindy came to meet us at the hospital so we could save some time. Stephen was sorted with a play date for a few days, Lindy and her three daughters where going to have a wale of a time so mummy Fiona could now fully concentrate on giving birth to her next wonder.

Its 11.49am, as we watch the TLC channel: A perfect proposal, Jen has just walked in with a bag of transparent liquid, as it hangs over Fiona’s head the Oxytocin starts drizzling down, Jen carefully pricks a vein in Fiona’s right arm, then the birth inducing product makes its way into her blood stream, it looks quite painful.
My big sister is well, its 1.25pm, Lexi and I have just come back from lunch, the mum to be isn’t aloud to eat anything. Diane and Sandy, our other nurse have come in to pierce the water… OK, now bring on the stronger contractions!
Alexis and I are sitting on the bed-like sofa on the side of the room, Fiona is sitting in the rocking chair, she needs to keep on moving to make sure all the water gets out. Sandy, the nurse, told Fiona she would give her a little break before increasing the Petocin (Oxytocin) but my hard as nails sister told her she was ready now and she didn’t need a break! The nurse was amazed, Fiona is truly incredible, the way she just sits through her contractions and just pulls a silly face when they are big then just says:”Oh that was a good one!” And this, may I, ad is without any drugs!

1:52pm Jen is taking Fiona’s blood pressure, she is a little freaked out as Fiona seems to be able to take the pain from the contractions better then the squeeze of the blood pressure measurer (whatever its called). As the pain and frequency of the contractions goes up, Fi looks increasingly focussed.
Its now 3:20pm, Alexis is fast asleep, Jen and Sandy, the nurses, walk in to say goodbye, it’s the end of their shift, sadly they won’t get to meet Gerard L

The next few hours are all a bit of a blur… The midwife came in and checked my sisters status, there where a few complications, the cervics was in the wrong place so very painfully (and still without any drugs) they had to “place it” in the wright place… no details needed. My sister had to push for the head to slip into the right place, then Diane gave her a little break.
And suddely, a few minutes later, when we where all tryiing to rest, Fiona grabbed the bars on the side of the bed and, well, sounds from the unknown came out, it sounded like an alien was coming out of her, she sounded like she could be the singer of a death metal band, basically, the baby was coming and she was pushing! I hated seeing my big sis in so much pain, but she was amazing. Everyone got called into the room and Alexis, the future father of two got in position to deliver his son. The nurses yet again where impressed at Fionas strength and courrage. We where all involved, I had My sis’s foot on my left sholder so I could help her push, a nurse was on the other side in the same position… Diane was guiding Lexi’s hands, all was going well till we saw Gerards head going from red, to blue, to black, the cord was around his neck and he was suffocating, Diane had to ask Alexis to move away and told Fiona to stop pushing, she managed to get the new born out and did all sorts of things that resulted in him being fine! Praise the Lord! The first thing the tired mother said when they placed him on her chest was: “ Oh my baby, I almost suffocated you didn’t I?” Gerard was born on the 8th of December at 6.10pm, he weigd 7pound 18 (3.5kg)
I managed to control my emotions during the whole delivery, when Fiona called me over, she ook my hand and said:” Are you OK Scarlett, its OK, you can cry now” and then I just bursed into tears, I could hardly breathe, I was filled with a million emotions; I was tired, in love with my new nephew, so excited to have been aloud to be there, I had had to stop myself from crying when I could see my sister going through the most pain a woman will ever have to indure and I was filled with pride and admiration for my big sister Fiona!

It’s now almost 10pm on the 9th of December 2006, Alexis, Fiona and Gerard have just come home. They are exhausted. Mana takes a moment to feed her son before going for a nice relaxing shower. When she returns, she fixes herself some food (she wanted to) and settles down in the sofa to eat and feed Gerard once again.
It is so beautiful to watch how Fiona is mesmorized by her newborn. You can see how her eyes are running across his face clocking every single detail as the proud father is falling assleep in the armchair holding a cup of tea…
They know a few weeks of restless night awaits them, but how worth it will it be to see this boy who looks so much like his father grow up!