The Birth Story

I was asleep when I heard a whistle from the bathroom. Usually this means one of us wants the other to come to them. Since the time happened to be 1:00 am, I knew that chances were, the time had come. Michelle explained that she thought perhaps her water had broken, but we realized that it was actually her mucous plug. She also had 2 contractions that were slightly painful. We attempted to go to sleep thinking it would still be awhile before much more happened. Excitement and painful contractions kept us awake however, and we decided to start counting and timing them. For the next couple of hours we realized that they were about 2 to 5 minutes apart on average, and the pain and duration was steadily getting worse. Michelle was doing really well breathing through them but as the pain progressed we decided it would be good to go to the hospital and see what they thought. When we arrived there around 7:30 am, they checked to see how dilated she was. We had expected her to be a little dilated after about 6 hours of contractions, but we were disappointed to be told she was just 1 cm. They sent us home. We figured, with that news, that we would wait for awhile before going back. The contractions intensified at a stunning rate, and about 7 grueling hours later, the midwife and doula were calling us and asking us how we were doing. The doula heard Michelle and I working through her contraction and thought that we had better hurry to the hospital. We got ready and headed out to the hospital. The midwife checked Michelle’s dilation and everyone was shocked to hear that she had not progressed. According to the doula, the monitor was reading really hard contractions, and that normally, Michelle would be at least 4 to 5 cm dilated. She was shocked to hear how long these contractions were going on without progress. The midwife then gave us 2 choices, take morphine and go home (to which she also said “with these contractions I don't think it would even help too much.”) or, get an epidural. These would hopefully help to relax her in hopes of becoming more dilated. This was an emotional time for us because, on top of not wanting any intervention, Michelle’s labor thus far, seemed all for nothing. Michelle decided to take the epidural because the midwife said this would be the best option. She let Michelle try fentanol first, to see if that would do the trick. It made her pain more bearable, but an hour later the contractions were off the chart again. It took another hour still until they came in and gave her the epidural. At this point they checked her again,(still 1 cm) broke her water bag, put some internal monitors on her, and gave her an epidural. The midwife came in and said that if Michelle had not progressed significantly in the next 2 hours, we would be looking at a cesarean. This was more bad news, but it was easier to take now that Michelle was in little to no pain. We could finally relax and hope for the best. When the Midwife came in at 7:40 pm. Michelle had only progressed to 2 cm, and the midwife said that around 9:30 we would head in for a cesarean. When the time came, it was pretty heavy emotionally. We still felt disappointed, but we continued to remind each other that we did all that we could. Michelle never complained or cried about the pain (in fact the only time she cried was when they told her she needed an epidural and again when she was told they would be doing a cesarean). She was a such a warrior. While they were preparing for surgery I was not allowed in the room and it was hard to sit there alone, exhausted, and emotional. When I was finally allowed in the O.R. I talked to Michelle through the operation to keep her mind off of it. It seemed like just seconds until they were telling me to take a picture! And at 10:12 pm, after 22 hours of hard labor, we heard Emery Jade Trevino cry out, and it was the first time on this earth, that anyone would hear her voice. She was as beautiful as we could ever have imagined. Michelle got to see and kiss the baby for the first time after I cut the chord. It was another bittersweet moment as baby and I were taken to the recovery room, leaving mommy behind to finish the operation. As I was walking out with Emery in my arms, she gave me a big smile. I hung out with Emery while they did all the tests and measurements. She was 8lbs 2oz and 21 inches long! Soon after, they wheeled mommy in and we had a wonderful reunion. This is normally where I would say “The End,” but all of you parents out there know that this is just “The Beginning.”