By: Marc J. Marseglia

In the preceding months before Grace was born I would wonder to myself how it would all go down. How the whole event pattern for my impending big day would play itself out. I would wonder what day it would happen on, where I would be when it the moment came when we had to go to the hospital, etc.. So now that it’s all in the books I thought I would put it all down on paper (or computer screen) so there are never any future mistakes when telling our baby girl how she came into this world. So here goes.

To get a full feel for the day our Gracie was born I really need to start with the day before. Saturday June 10th started out like any other Saturday. We woke up, relaxed a little, went up to Kate’s deceased Aunt’s house to help clean it out, then we came home and just tried to take it east since it was only two days before the due date. Around 5 o’clock my brother Shaun called our house to see if we were coming to the family graduation party taking place at my Aunt Chris and Uncle Jim’s house. The party had actually slipped both of our minds. So we quickly got showered and headed up there. We hung out there until around 10 o’clock or so. Let’s just say that I drove there and Kate had to drive back. I had mildly indulged in the beverages that were on hand. When we got home I went almost right to bed while Kate stayed up a little longer to watch TV. The last memory I had before I fell asleep (passed out) was laying in my bed wondering when I was going to become a dad….

….MARC!!!...was the next thing that went through my head. Kate screamed my name after she flicked on the bedroom light all while she was high tailing it out of our bedroom holding herself in the area where babies come from. Slightly dazed with my head mildly pounding I jumped out of bed and scurried after my wife. By the time I got to her she was sitting safely in our bathroom. My attention then was turned to my feet where a warm substance had found itself under where I was standing. And at that moment I realized that it was “Go time”. Kate’s water had absolutely broken. It wasn’t leaking, it was even debatable. It was time!

I quickly ran over to the microwave to check the time. I didn’t have my glasses on and I wasn’t wearing my contacts so I had to get about 6 inches away to see the time, it was 2:50am. After the time was noted I retrieved the phone for Kate who paged the doctor. I quickly called both of our mothers to let them know to get ready. The doctor called back a little groggy and told us to go right to the hospital. The next 15 minutes went fairly quickly. We both go dressed, Kate made the bed, and I let the dogs out. Before we knew it we were off to the hospital. After arriving at the hospital we got situated and everything really started to slow down. The mom’s arrived around 4 with coffee. Kate slowly started to get contractions. Basically we waited though. By 11 o’clock they began giving Kate pitocin. Pitocin moves the labor process along. Around 1pm the nurse came in and checked Kate out and she was a little over 3cm dilated. Enough dilation for them to provide the epidural. That really helped Kate in the pain department. But I should take this moment to say Kate was incredible before the epidural. The contractions were 2 minutes apart and she handled them like a pro. She never even made a sound or shed a tear. She really just held it together and gave it hell.

3 o’clock rolled around and the nurse came in again to check how far Kate was progressing. And to our surprise she was a full 10cm! After the shock that she was ready to begin pushing wore off we realized it was time. Kate pushed like a champ for 45 minutes and the baby’s position didn’t change. At this point the nurse said we were going to take a break for a while with the hopes that the baby would drop a little more on her own.

Finally around 5:15pm we started pushing again. Two whole hours later we were still pushing. After the doctor investigated the situation it was determined that the best course of action would be to go in and get the girl. A c-section was quickly planned and Kate was taken into the operating room. After all the prepping was complete I was called into the room and was given a seat right next to my brave and beautiful wife. And finally at 8:03pm Grace Elizabeth Marseglia entered the world. She let out a little screech and a faint cry to let her parents on the other side of the curtain know she was indeed here. While accounts of that glorious day my become hazy in my already deteriorating mind, that moment will live in my mind and heart forever. It’s just something you never forget. You really need to experience it to fully understanding the magnitude of the moment. It was amazing!

A few minutes passed before I was able to be by my baby girls side and that was another incredible moment. She actually responded to hearing my voice. A strange moisture formed around my eyes that I’m only admitting to right now. After she was cleaned up and her measurements were taken we were able to take her to the nursery. But between the nursery and the operating room was the family lounge. A place where many family members had spent the day. When we went through the double doors outside the maternity ward it was like the press. Flash bulbs from cameras and camera phones were thrust into my newest mad creation’s face. She handled it with grace and she did so with wide eyes. It was amazing how wide open she had her baby blues. It looked like she was soaking it all in.

After Kate was literally put back together and stitched up she was moved into recovery for two hours. She did great! Around 10pm after Grace was run through all of the newborn tests (everything was perfect) and given a bath, the three of us were re-united in the recovery room for some family time. We even got our first family picture taken.

So after all of the anticipation leading up to the big day I wasn’t remotely disappointed. It was everything I thought it would be and more. And looking back it couldn’t have gone any better. Mom and baby are healthy and happy and I was able to be with Kate from beginning to end. And what made this even better was the fact that it all happened a week before Father’s Day. I am truly the luckiest proud papa on earth!

Happy First Father's Day, Marc!!

Good post. It's an awesome experience.

So, it was 2 hours before Kate was able to spend any time with her?

Marc - great story of Grace's birth. It truly is an amazing experience, that one must go through to really understand and appreciate how beautiful it is. Grace is adorable, and Kate looks fabulous - you must be one proud husband and papa! I hope this first week home together has been a good one... we're looking forward to reading all about little Grace's life in this crazy world!