It was in the wee hours when my wife's labour really began. We had gone to bed early because she knew it was coming and we wanted to get as much rest as possible. We laid in the dark and I let her crush my hand while I tried to help her through the contractions. I did my best to try things we learned in the prenatal class but I felt a little helpless. I timed the contractions and when I thought it was time called the midwife. We drove to the hospital and it was windy and pouring and dark. It felt like a crazy exciting dream. My wife's contractions were coming quite fast and secretly I worried that we might end up having a baby in the car. But I kept as calm as possible and kept reassuring her that we were "almost there". We finally did arrive and 15 minutes later we had a 9 pound 1.5 ounce baby girl. Afterwards when my wife and I were laughing about how surreal it all was she toldlme that she loved lying in the dark with me working through the contractions together. She said it so peaceful with the wind and the rain outside and us under our big down blanket. My wife isn't usually a very emotionally expressive person so that meant a lot to me. We chose not to find out what we were having ahead of time but I was hoping for a girl. What a happy day.