Nicolas' birth story

It was Tuesday, July 29, 2008 and I had a scheduled doctor's appointment. I woke up at 7:30am and I knew I was in labor. Throughout the night, I was having contractions but I was still able to sleep through them. My appointment was at 11am so I managed to squeeze a couple of errands beforehand. Yes, I went to my favorite place...Target..I knew I wouldn't be able to go there for awhile! I was driving through the strong contractions. As it got stronger, I decided to call Erdy to come take me to my appointment. Luckily, he was only working in Mountain View so he was able to come home right away.

I went to my appointment and my doctor determined that I was at 4cm. Labor and Delivery was full so they were thinking of sending me to Santa Teresa or Redwood City. Fortunately, because it was my third child, they weren't comfortable having me drive that far away. So after waiting for a room, I was examined again and I was still at 4 cm and the first doctor gave me the option of hanging out for awhile to see if I progress or I could go home. Erdy and I decided to stay. That was at 1pm. After an hour and a half, I was checked again and I was still at 4cm. This time the second doctor was leaning on sending me home. She asked me to walk around for an hour. So Erdy and I walked the entire third floor of Kaiser. Erdy thought we must have walked at least 2 miles. He was so proud of me, walking through all my contractions. I returned to my room at 3:30pm when I was supposed to be checked again. At this point, I was so hungry after watching my sister eat meatloaf from the cafeteria. It looked so good that I was willing to be sent home so I can eat. By 4:30pm, the third doctor came in and told me that the resident doctor was uncomfortable sending me home since I may dilate quickly. We were there to stay. They finally gave me the IV. I knew it would take awhile to get all the fluids in me before I can have my epidural. Meanwhile, the pain was intense.

My epidural was finally placed at 6:30pm. The anesthesiologist was getting ready to insert the needle when I informed him that I was having a contraction. He said, "Oh good then you won't feel this." I literally felt like I was stabbed in my back. He jammed that needle in me. My body was in shock. Erdy's hands were stinging from my nails digging into his hands. The new thing is that I had the control of the dosage of epidural. I was started out at the lowest dose and I had a button to press whenever I felt like I needed more of it. The epidural instantly took into effect and I was very comfortable.

At that point, I was at 5cm. I told Erdy to head home so he can get the other two kids settled into bed. I thought it would take awhile. He was hesistant but I convinced him to go. I was now comfortable with my new bestfriend, the epidural. I was even able to nap for a bit. But all of a sudden, the epidural didn't take on my right hand side. I started to feel the pain and pressure again and I was shaking so much from being in total pain. I panicked and kept pressing my epidural button. I even asked the nurse why the epidural wasn't getting stronger. I later learned that I can only press it once every 12 minutes so that I won't overdose.

Since I was in so much pain, the doctor decided to check me again. Within 30 minutes, I was at 7 1/2 cm. I had my sister call Erdy to let him know to start heading back to the hospital. Ten minutes later, I was at 9cm and within seconds I was at 10, ready to push. My sister called Erdy again to tell him to rush back. He happened to be at Popeye's ordering his popcorn shrimp that he had been wanting all day. They labored me down so that we can wait for him. He came running in and I began to push. I pushed three times with two nurses in the room. I noticed one of the nurses left but thought she was called away. My nurse told me to stop pushing and yelled for my sister to push the emergency button in the room. I felt something slippery going through me and the nurse caught the baby as the doctors came running in.

Nico decided to make a very early entrance. He came right out without any help. He wasn't even crowning yet. I didn't even push him out. He just came out on his own. So he will be forever remembered by my nurse Trena who ended up delivering him. After three pushes in ten minutes, Nicolas Jacob Ayende Barlahan was born at 8:58pm. He weighed 6.5 lbs and was 19 inches long.