This story is for my daughter, so that one day she can know some of the little details that took place on the day that she was born. I wrote it on March 30th 2009, but Quan and I spent some time going over the details and making sure we had everything in the correct order.
It was Monday, March 16th 2009, and I took Mommy for her weekly doctor's appointment to check on the progress of her pregnancy. Mommy had lost weight and also lost some size, so the doctor was concerned. She scheduled us to come back the next day to have an ultrasound exam. It would be the first ultrasound exam she would have since October.
The next day was Tuesday, March 17th 2009. I thought that Mommy should stay home from work and rest. She was quite tired and also upset about the upcoming exam and also because she was recovering from a cold. But the next morning she woke up and decided she would go to the office.
I worked in the same office as Mommy that day and sat at a desk next to her. Our appointment was at 11:40 at the Norwood office. The ultrasound tech was very nice. She told us that everything looked good for the baby. The reason for some of the size loss was because the baby's head had begun to drop into the birth canal. She also tried to show us the baby's face. I was amazed, briefly, at how much detail I could see in the baby's face. I also got the impression from the face that the baby was a boy. It was just a flash, but that is what I saw. The tech also printed one picture from the ultrasound for us to bring home.
We were both so happy that the baby was okay. We went back to the office and had lunch. I got a chicken salad sandwich and Mommy got a steak and cheese bomb sandwich. We worked the rest of the afternoon. Mommy felt better and more comfortable than she had done for a while. Mommy finally finished her work and signed out at 6:37pm.
Mommy asked me if we could go the the Hibachi Steak House for dinner. We drove to the restaurant and were seated at a hibachi table with two women and and three kids. It was good because we were the next table to get a chef, so the meal happened quickly. We both ordered the 'Fuji Special' which is steak and shrimp. We were served salad and soup, and before we could finish those, the chef came to start the main course. The meal was nice. I finished mine and Mommy ate all of hers except for a couple of pieces of steak that she could not finish. At the end of the meal, one of the women at the table asked Mommy when she was due. She told them 'Thursday' (it was current Tuesday). They could not believe it, and said how great she looked and wished us luck.
We drove home. I scanned the new ultrasound photo and made cups of tea for Mommy and I. Mommy said she wanted a big cup of tea. I told her I would make the tea in the 'whale' mug, but she was puzzled because she thought I was saying 'wheel' mug. Then we called grandma to let her know about the good news from the ultrasound test. We joked with her that there was only three hours left in this day, and that it looked like the baby would not be born on St Patrick's Day.
Sometime just before 10pm, Mommy asked me to get her some Vitamin C because she still had a little bit of a cold. I went down to make it and brought it up to her in our bedroom. Just as she started drinking it, she suddenly stopped and said, "Tony, I think my water just broke". It was about 9:45pm.
Our first thought was to get Mommy up from the bed and keep the bed from getting too wet. I got some towels to put down, but actually there was only a small spot of fluid on the bed sheet. I helped Mommy to the bathroom. I told her that we would likely be going to the hospital by the morning. Mommy decided she would take a shower and put on some dry comfortable clothes.
When she got in the shower she had her first real contraction. She had had many 'Braxton-Hicks' contractions before this, but this time the pain was much more intense. I got the stopwatch and stood in the bathroom outside of the shower. I told Mommy to tell me when the next contraction started and I timed it with the stopwatch. When she had the next contraction, I looked down at the stopwatch... two minutes and 45 seconds. I reset the stopwatch. The next contraction was two minutes and 50 seconds. This wasn't happening the way that they told us in the birthing class. I went down stairs and called the doctor's office. When I explained the situation, the nurse told us to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
The next fifteen minutes or so were quite chaotic. Fortunately, we had already packed a suitcase and put that in the car along with all of the important documents that we needed to bring to the hospital with us. I told Mommy she should get out of the shower quickly and start to get dressed. She got out, but it was hard for her to get ready because the contractions were very intense and painful and she still had fluid leaking. She managed to dry off and put on some clothes, but they quickly became wet. I got her some dry ones, but again, the clothes became wet right away. Finally, I told her she would just have to be wet for the ride to the hospital. We had to get going.
I ran downstairs and started the car. I put a dry towel on the seat for Mommy and a couple of extra in the back. I also grabbed my backpack which had our camera and video camera. I quickly filled up the cat's bowls with food and then ran back upstairs to help Mommy. She finished dressing and went down to the car. I ran back in the house for something... I forget what it was now. She honked the horn. I turned some lights off and ran out to the car.
I would guess it was about 10:30pm when we left the house, perhaps a few minutes earlier. I backed the car out to the street and proceeded to take a right on Pine St and a left at Rt 139. I hit a least on red light on 139 on our way to Rt 24. I considered just driving through it, but decided it was not worth taking a chance. We got onto Rt 24. I wanted to drive as fast as I could without getting pulled over. I did about 75mph. We changed onto Rt 128. As we passed by Great Blue Hill in Canton, Mommy told me that she felt like she had to push. I felt really panicked at that point, but I knew I had to keep a cool head and also keep Mommy as calm as I could. As we were going by the TV towers a State Police cruiser passed by me. I thought for sure I would get pulled over, but he kept going. Phewww! We were almost to the hospital. I got off the exit and drove on Rt 16 towards the hospital. Right across the street from the hospital there was a car pulled over by a State Police cruiser. It must be my lucky night that it was him and not me. We pulled into the hospital driveway and I went straight to the emergency entrance.
I stopped the car and ran inside and grabbed a wheelchair, quickly came back to the car and got Mommy out of the car and into the chair. I pushed her inside. I don't remember exactly what I said now, but I told the security guard on duty something like, 'she's in labor'. He asked the name, and when I answered 'Masiello' he said they were expecting us. That was such a huge relief!!! We were at the hospital, they were expecting us...
They took us through the emergency section to elevators which brought us to the fifth floor. I gave my car keys to the security guard and he went back down to move our car. There seemed to be a little confusion as to what room Mommy would go into. We waited in front of the nurses station for a minute or two before the put us into delivery room #1.
They put Mommy into the bed and setup a monitor for the baby. The nurse asked Mommy if she planed to use an epidural. Mommy was in pain so I answered for her, "She is not planning to use but she still wants to know of her options". After I said that, Mommy was hit by another contraction, and it was really painful, so Mommy told the nurse that she does want to use an epidural. The nurse started to setup the medication on the iv stand to prepare. Mommy was having very painful contractions all of this time. We were in the room for about ten minutes with two nurses before Dianne, the midwife, came in. Dianne took control right away, and calmed Mommy down and assured her that everything was going great and she was doing a great job.
As soon as Diane finished checking Mommy, she asked for the pain medication again, but Diane told Mommy she was already fully dilated, that the baby will be born before the medication can kick in, and that she was only about ten minutes away. Mommy heard this and she knew that she could do it now! Dianne had Mommy lay slightly on her side and showed her how to lift one leg up as the contractions came and to push into them, and then to let her leg down, breathe, and rest in between.
I was standing to the left of Mommy. I was trying to talk to her, and rub her back during the contractions. Dianne started to tell us that she could see the head coming through. I could not see from my angle. After a couple of more contractions I decided to go to the foot of the bed and see. I saw a little patch of head and hair. I went back to help try and comfort Mommy. After another contraction, Mommy asked us if the baby was out. Dianne got a large mirror out and asked Mommy if she wanted to see the progress, but she did not want to see.
I decided it was time to get out the video camera. We bought it just for this purpose. I was torn between wanting to use it, and wanting to just take care of Mommy. As I got the video camera out of my backpack, Mommy had another contraction and pushed the head of the baby out. It was amazing. The baby looked gray and very still. I was a bit worried if everything was okay, but I sensed a calm in the room from Dianne and the two nurses. I turned on the camera just as Dianne began to untangle the cord from around the baby's neck. It was an amazing site.
With the next contraction that Mommy had she pushed the baby all the way out. Dianne lifted the baby onto Mommy's chest. She told Mommy that Mommy would say the gender of the baby. She opened the baby's legs and I heard Mommy say those beautiful words. "It's a girl!!!"
Kristianna Lin had arrived!
I looked up at the clock of the room, it was 11:43pm. We have a St Patrick's Day baby!
To say that this was the most amazing moment of my life would be an understatement. To look down and see Mommy, my beautiful wife, having just given so much and done such an incredible job, holding this beautiful perfect baby girl on her chest.
