Our Birth Story

Nella and I really wanted to do a natural birth. We attended bradley-lamaze classes in the Philippines with one of the leading childbirth classes instructor, Chiqui Brosas. I even cancelled my scheduled training in St. Charles, Il because I did not want to miss a class. Anyway, the class taught us a number of things, from daily exercises, breathing techniques and massages during labor, etc. But the most important thing we learned from the classes was the determination to go for it. We read materials on the subject. And from the time Nella was 7 months pregnant, everyday after work we would always walk atleast 3 Km = 1.9 mi (3 rounds in the

Here comes our last visit to Nella's obstetrician, Dra. Menefrida Reyes. She suggested that Nella be induced since she was already a few days delayed aside from some scientific reason which is hard for me to explain here. We decided to schedule the induction on Dec. 7th so that the baby would (we hoped) come out on December 8 which is Immaculate Conception Day. (Note: labor averages 12-16 hrs. for primies (first babies) and labor is usually triggered 12 hrs. after induction.)

All bags packed, off we went to the hospital on December 7th. Nella was then induced. Hours passed and still no progress. In between waiting, I answered pages from work (wasn't that pathetic?). The next morning on December 8th, Dra. Reyes advised that Nella be induced again. After that, Nella's BOW (bag of water) leaked. You can just imagine my feelings of excitement and worry all at the same time. Nella started having tiny contractions and then by 1 PM she reached 2cm.   At 6PM, we were transfered to the Lamaze Room (we were only allowed to transfer there after she reached 4 cm).   Don't forget that all this time, Nella was having contractions and here I was 'coaching' her. I could tell how much pain she was experiencing each time contractions occured. I actually thought that we were doing pretty well that time. To give you a little background, I thought (and Nella's mom asserted also from past experience) that Nella had a low threshhold for pain. I was surprised at how Nella was able to cope with the pain. Two hours passed and Nella was still at 4 cm (10 cm is the final stage, for those who don't know). Nella's progress was about 1 cm for every 3 hours which was slow.

December 9th 6am (after 9 hours):   Nella was at 8cm. At that time, it was only perseverance and prayer that kept us from saying , "alright, we're quitting". But we hung on. I was already very exhausted (I could just imagine my wife's). We would fall asleep in between contractions, me in the bean bag and Nella on the delivery bed. Then the contractions started appearing at longer intervals which was not good. Nella's BOW also broke around this period. By 9am, Nella was already at 9cm and I whispered to Nella that this was it - that her hardwork, courage and perseverance will finally lead us to seeing our baby. If you think about it, a centimeter is a very small unit of measurement but you will not believe how each one of this inspired us to come this far. There was no improvement after a few hours but the contractions were the strongest this time.

Dra. Reyes, who has been very supportive all this time and is a real advocate of natural birth method finally gave us a deadline. She said that if by 2:30pm, there is still no progress, they will have to open up Nella to avoid fetal distress (Nella's BOW already leaked the day before and finally broke on this day). We had no choice... This was the last thing we wanted to happen but our priority was the safety of both my wife and the baby's. This was the lowest point of my life.   It seemed to me that all those sacrifices did not do anything for us.

We continued trying to no avail but 2:30 came fast so they brought Nella to the operating room. Dra. Reyes allowed me to go inside the operating room. I watched Nella's operation with worry for my wife's safety. The operation took about 30 minutes then at 3:36pm, I heard our baby's first cry. I could not help but smile. Even Nella who was slightly sedated managed to smile. My exhaustion for participating in Nella's 28 hours of labor suddenly disappeared. Danielle came out very healthy and cute and Nella recovered well from her operation.