All of a sudden, Deb held Becca out to the crowd and shouted, "Somebody take this baby!" BamBam was coming.

Mary quickly took Becca from Deb and handed her to a nurse. Mary and Eileen followed the nurse as Becca was rushed to the nursery. The birth team had previously agreed that Eileen and Mary would stay with the first baby, while Keith and I stayed with Deb.

The OB examined Deb and said her cervix had reduced itself to seven centimeters after the first baby delivered. She now had to dilate quickly up to 10 centimeters for delivery. Unfortunately, BamBam was still high in the uterus and was not coming down as quickly as they wanted him to. A nurse then climbed up on a stool and began to apply pressure on Deb's abdomen to push BamBam down.

The monitor, pushed up against Deb's bed, began to register signs of fetal distress. The baby's heart rate was dropping and not coming back up after the contraction. Everyone's focus seemed to gravitate to the monitor and away from Deb. I started to get nervous as I watched the nurse look with distress toward the OB. The room was beginning to feel charged with the energy of people preparing to go into action at any moment. Suddenly a nurse said, "We have to get this baby out!" I looked down at the face of the OB and knew I had to do something quick if we were to avoid an emergency cesarean.

The OB sat next to me. We both faced Deb and the fetal monitor. Suddenly, I threw caution to the wind and decided it was time to risk looking foolish. I turned my back to the OB, rested my hand on Deb's knee, and softly asked her to look at me. I looked right in her eyes and said in a soft, but firm tone, "Deb, the heart rate is dropping. I want you to go inside and talk to the baby. Ask him to bring it back up."

I looked at the monitor and told her to bring the rate up to a value about five beats above the existing one. I continued giving her numbers about five increments above the registered level until the baby's heart rate was in a safe range.

Deb couldn't see the monitor, but she grasped the gravity of the situation. To everyone's surprise, she closed her eyes and quickly brought the baby's heart rate up into a stable and acceptable range. We repeated this twice with each successive contraction. I then humbly turned around toward the OB, shrugged my shoulders, and said, "I just find that it works." When the next contraction resulted in the same drop in heart rate, the OB surprised me by jumping in and saying, "Now, Deb, I want you to bring the baby's heart rate up to..." I turned the coaching over to her.

Within 20 minutes of Pebble's birth, BamBam was delivered safely and without intervention. In fact, after Pebbles cleared the way for him, BamBam popped out while the OB was distracted; Keith had to dive in and catch him. He had turned upside down (face up), but had no trouble getting out. Deb said it was the strangest sensation to have him inside of her one minute, and gone the next. His cord was so short that he couldn't be brought up to Deb's breast. As soon as I saw that BamBam was fine, I took off for the nursery and left Keith and Deb alone to get acquainted with their little boy.

I entered the nursery and told Mary that BamBam was born safely. She took a few more pictures before rushing back to the delivery room. I found Eileen standing next to the warmer. She had one hand over Pebbles head and one on her chest. I watched as Eileen tried unsuccessfully to calm her. Pebbles had been screaming ever since her removal from the delivery room. I finally told Eileen I would try and calm Pebbles and asked her to go back to the delivery room and help Deb.

Fortunately, the hospital staff was extremely cooperative and allowed us the freedom to float between the nursery and the delivery room as we continued our role as doulas.

I laid my hands on Pebbles and gave her permission to go ahead and cry all she wanted. I told her how much I understood her frustration at being separated from everyone and that it was okay to cry. I also assured her that she never had to do this again in this lifetime. This finally calmed her down.

Pebbles stared into my face and tried to blink away the thick, clear antibiotic a nurse had mistakenly placed on her eyes. Unfortunately, Deb and Keith's request to hold off on applying the eye cream or giving her a vitamin K shot during the first hour after birth had been overlooked.