Oct 26, 2006
2:39 a.m.
7 pounds, 8 ounces
St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Birthing Center
When Cobble Hill resident Gina Schmeling went into labor with her firstborn, Creeley, now 3, she inspired warfare (or a fare war, as the case may be) between two cabbies. “Both drivers showed up and fought on our street about who would take us,” said Ms. Schmeling, 38, a freelance fund-raising consultant married for seven years to Alani Golanski, 52, a lawyer. This time around, they bought a VW Beetle in preparation for the trip to the hospital, and after a 12-hour labor, Ms. Schmeling pulled out her second son … ye-ouch … herself! You go, sister girlfriend! “I slipped my hands right underneath his armpits,” she said. “At the end of a long night’s work, it felt really satisfying.” The birth was “the nice final chapter of 2006” for Ms. Schmeling, who began the year with a cancer scare and ended it mourning the death of her mother-in-law. “He’s really calm and hasn’t absorbed the chaos,” she said of the round, delicate-featured baby.
