introducing diego miguel.

The Morel family.

Monday, the 12th of May, 8:29PM, Cesarean, Clinica Gregorio Hernandez,

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic,

Diego Miguel Morel made his grand appearance....7 pounds, 19 inches.

That Monday was a day to top all days. When I woke up that morning, I had no idea that it would be the birthing day of our little Diego. I guess no one goes into their birthing days knowing exactly how it will all pan out, but this day was definitely extraordinary.

Mom and I headed out the door around 11 AM to go in for the routine check up. We knew things were already happening with my body to make the delivery day draw nearer, and we kind of expected the Dr. to try to help get the show on the road with this next visit.

After entering the clinic and putting our name down on the wait list, we finally entered the Dr.'s office a couple of hours later. It must've been around a quarter to 2 that afternoon. Upon exam everything looked normal. The baby was moving, I had good blood pressure, things were dilating more, and the Dr. made sure to do some extra things to kick things into gear. But before getting up from the exam table, and I think as an afterthought, the Dr. decided to do one more sonograph to make sure all looked well on the inside. It was at that point that Dr. Rodriguez thought the ambiotic fluids looked pretty low, perhaps non-existent.

So off we went to get a second opinion by a certified sonografista. But before heading over to that office we were advised to get something to eat before, especially since the sonografista didn't open until 3PM. Being that it was 2:30 and all the cafeterias were finished serving lunch for the day, we headed to the local grocery store to get some bread and to make a cheese and turkey sandwich. There was a little park near the sonografista's office where we tried to find some shade under the massive tree with no leaves. The temperature that day was off the charts in my opinion for mid May. If you looked up the temp. on the weather website, I'm sure it would have said 98 degrees but feels like 115. You got that right! As we were tearing apart our bread to split a sandwich, Miguel came zooming up on his motorcycle.

I could tell his nervousness had set in.

So down we all went to get the second opinion using a sonograph (or ultrasound) where we waited another hour and a half in line. Maybe we should've eaten our sandwiches on the front steps of the office to get a better place in line. The Dr. confirmed that their wasn't any ambiotic fluid left in the baby's sack and advised that we do whatever we have to do to get that baby born within the following 8 hours. It was there that I heard the word cesarean.

It was at that point that I started to go into a zone of disbelief, uncertainty, and for some reason calmness. Miguel was unsettled and definitely uncomfortable as he would put it. Back we all went in the jeep to the clinic and back to our Dr.'s office. The secretary took our results, which also said that the baby's umbelical cord was wrapped around its neck, and took them into the Dr. A few minutes later, we were ushered in, and had a quick discussion about going into surgery. I left Miguel in the office to talk more with the Dr. who immediately began working on trying to find me a room.

My thoughts were all a-jumble. You have to understand, 95% of Dominican women give birth cesarean. I was fighting becoming a part of that statistic since the beginning. I had my mind set and prepared to have a natural birth experience. So I let them lead mom and I upstairs. There were no rooms available there in the clinic nor the other clinic around the corner. Mom and I just sat and waited in the lobby area. I let Miguel go and figure it out. It turns out the only room available was under renovation and had just been painted two days before. It was decided that it didn't smell too bad and we'd take it. So then began the cleaning process to get it ready.

Meanwhile, mom and I were wondering why nobody was coming to clean the leaking water from the water dispenser that now looked like a lake in the waiting room where we were at. Little did I know that the cleaning staff was a little preoccupied with my room.

So we were waiting....and then all of a sudden, a nurse comes out of the surgery room and tells me to come with her. I asked,"Where are we going?" Her reply,"We're going to operate you." I said,"What? Where is my husband? Can I take a shower? I'm dripping with sweat. All my stuff is at home ready in a bag." She insisted that I follow her. I insisted that I find my husband first. Eventually they consented to let me rinse off and found a bar of soap, a surgery gown, and a towel. I was led to a closet sized room where there was a shower and I wondered when the last time it was that they had cleaned it. I had to wrap the towel around my lower half as the back of the gown didn't quite close with my big belly. All this time, I could feel the baby moving around. I was thankful.

After the shower, they led me behind two surgery doors and told mom that she couldn't come with me. Miguel in the meantime was already racing home to get my stuff and shower himself. He had been working all morning and was a sweaty mess too. Mom quick prayed and we had to say our goodbyes. She insisted upon waiting at the doors when the nurses tried to get her to go back to the waiting room. Inside, the nurse got me set up on an IV and left me by myself. I closed my eyes and suddenly felt calm. Did they put drugs in my IV? Who knows...maybe. I had a feeling it was God though. I began to realize that I was going to soon meet the baby I had been carrying around for 9 months.

I was surprised to see mom after a little while. Her persistence paid off and they finally consented to let her go in to be my side. We prayed again and Miguel showed up....finally, it was ok for me to get underway. We all prayed again and at that point mom left us. Miguel and I took some pictures and tried to joke around...we were nervous. The Dr. showed up and then began the process of trying to find Miguel some scrubs that fit. After another long while, I was told to go sit on the operating table and Miguel was told to wait outside until they found him some other shoes besides his flip flops. The Drs. were hilarious. They were joking around, talking politics (the Presidential elections were on the 16th), talking about what kind of plantains they were going to eat for dinner, etc. There was no thought about me, the fact that I've never experienced surgery, that I was basically clueless, and nervous. I started asking questions at that point. I was told the epidural was going to feel like an ant bite, I prepared myself for at least a wasp bite. I flinched and tensed up...who wouldn't?

As soon as those shots were done, everything happened so fast. Miguel came in, I saw my legs being flopped around, I could see them taking off my gown. I thought I was totally naked during the whole thing. My arms were out on either side of me and I had no idea what was going on behind the curtain they strung up in front of my face. I asked Miguel if they had me cut open. He said, "yes." And then I heard the most beautiful little screech. It was our baby.

So imagine this, everyone was talking about this and that, and I was trying to get their attention by yelling, "What is it?!" Miguel hears me and yells back, "Its a boy and he's beautiful. Jennie, he's beautiful!" I asked to see the baby. Finally what seemed like an hour later...it might have been at least 15 minutes or more...all of a sudden the Dr. asked,"Where are the baby clothes?" What baby clothes? Why didn't they remind us of that? Miguel raced upstairs to get baby clothes, but then forgot the diaper...

At that point, I was desperate to see our baby. I lifted my head. The Dr. yelled at me not to lift my head! I finally saw the baby, we took some pics and then I started to vomit and got what they call a spinal headache. I thought I was going to die right then and there from the headache.

After another long while, they finally wheeled me down the hall to my room and placed me in the bed flat on my back. I tried to hold little Diego but couldn't really. Every other person was holding Diego...all the aunts, all the family, tours were being given to people coming in to check out the newly painted room...I called out that I wanted to hold our baby and was told by an aunt not to talk because of the anesthesia. Then she told me to give her the baby...that it was hers. I firmly told her NO. It was a chaos.

Later I was told that I could go home the next day if I was doing ok, but my Dr. wasn't around the next day to ok it until 6 in the evening. In the meantime, I couldn't eat, more family crowded into the room, more tours were given, little nursing care was seen and another night went by until we were finally released the following day.

We taxied home as there was no way for me to climb up into the jeep, and the flow of visitors followed me into my bedroom...Diego and I were finally relieved of visitors the following Friday afternoon...my birthday. I couldn't have asked for a better gift!

Nervously awaiting.



Baby Diego making his appearance.

Still on the operating table with Diego.

Diego and Papi.