On February 10th Alina called me around 3:30pm to let me know she had been having regular contractions for hours and was thinking about going to the hospital. At this time she was already past her due date and had been having regular contractions for days so I was pretty sure she was in full blown labor. I met her and her Husband at GW Hospital in Washington DC around 7pm. When I first saw her I immediately thought, there is no way she is in full blown labor she's smiling and walking into the hospital on her own. We were at GW for a few hours but they sent Alina home because while she was 3.5cm she was not in active labor yet. Around 5am the next morning I got a text message from Alina saying she was 110% sure she was in full blown labor and was heading to the hospital. I looked at the clock and immediately was concerned I was going to miss the birth because I was going to hit that famous rush hour DC traffic! I threw my clothes on and got on the road asap!! It took me a grueling 2.5 hours before I made it to Alina! Let’s just say rush hour traffic in DC is horrible!! Upon coming into the hospital room I could see that Alina was in a lot of pain and was absolutely in full blown labor. The medical team at GW was amazing and truly made me as her Doula feel welcomed!! This was a new experience for me as the other births I had been Doula at I was not meet with much enthusiasm from the medical staff. I jumped right in trying to help massage Alina's back as it seemed to help with the pain during contractions. I told her how proud I was of her and asked if she needed anything to drink. It was nice to be a part of a medical team that worked so well together; between the midwife, me, and the nurse we all just moved with each other and helped Alina in any way she needed. After spending some time on the hospital bed the midwife suggested we move to the bathroom to see if having some contractions while sitting on the toilet would help things progress. I have to say this was one of the moments I felt the most connected with Alina. With each contraction she would grab for me and hold onto me as tightly as she could. I loved being able to give her not only the physical but emotional support she needed in those moments. Alina said she wanted to switch positions so we helped her walk back to her bed where we transitioned her to sitting on the birthing ball while she held onto the bar across the bed. With each contraction I rubbed Alina's back and helped put pressure on her lower back to help baby girl come down the birth canal. As I witnessed Alina's strength with each more intense contraction I was in awe of the entire experience. While she was sitting on the birth ball she began to leak just a small amount of fluid, so we had her stand up holding onto her husband for the next few contractions. This helped baby Emma to move farther down the birth canal and for her water to break open completely. After Alina's water broke we helped her back to her bed where she began pushing. Watching Emma's head crown full of black hair was beautiful beyond words! At 10:36am beautiful Emma Rae came into this world! The moment after she was born I looked up at Daniel and he was crying tears of joy!! That is a moment I will never forget, to see the pure joy and love in a Daddy's eyes brings more joy to my heart then I could ever express in words! It reminded me of what Paul (my Husband) looked like at all three of our children's birth in the first moments he saw our babies. Emma Rae weighed in at 9lbs 5oz and was welcomed to the world by a very excited older brother Evan!! Thank you Alina and Daniel for allowing me to be a part of this amazing experience with you!! Alina is another rock star Mom who knew how to trust her body and relied on the support of those around her to achieve a non-medicated beautiful birth!!