Zachary Michael arrives!

At 11:45 pm September 22 Leah was awakened by an unfamiliar but recognizable sensation - her water had broken and was slowly leaking. Luckily she had the instinct to place a towel under her before bed that night. Fifteen minutes later contractions started and were separated by 12 - 15 minute intervals. She lay quietly for a few hours until they grew more intense and then let Bob in on the secret. By 5 am, the contractions were regular and 4-5 minutes apart. As a first time mom-to-be, Leah grew anxious and thought maybe they should soon head over to the hospital. Bob rushed around gathering items and tripped over a box in the baby's room, startling the sleeping Joe and Millie. Soon the house was wide awake and a nervous tension and excitement filled the rooms as the coffee brewed.

By 6 am Bob and Leah quietly drove in the dark to the Brockton Hospital, now a familiar route. They checked in and confirmed that Leah's water had indeed broken and would need to stay in the hospital even though she was only 3 cm dilated. And so the waiting game began.

In between monitoring of the baby's heartrate and uterine contractions, Leah walked the hallways hoping to stimulate labor. Several times she ran into some of her c0-interns.

We spent a little time in the intern call room watching the newborn channel, honing our diaper changing and bath giving skills.

Twelve hours later, Leah was still only 4 cm dilated. The nurses recommended trying to sit on the ball to stretch the pelvic region.

After 24 hours, Bob was getting tired too.

At 35 1/2 hours it was finally time to push.

Fifteen minutes later, at 11:21 AM on September 24, Zachary Michael Palifka was born!

For Melissa...

From my wonderful co-interns and Dr. Ellenberg, our program director...Thank you!

Home at last!

Auntie Sara visited and got to know her nephew "Zack-Jack"

Green bean, anyone?