Baby Luke: The Birth of Our Hero

Baby Luke’s story changed me and our family forever. As many of you know, he is disabled and struggles with a number of medical conditions. But he was not born this way. His birth and first few moments of life were magical.

Having a baby on our wedding anniversary

It’s August 3, 2019, two days past Luke’s due date, and it's super hot so we decide to take Mia to my parent’s house to go swimming. I tell Adrian that maybe we should go have our anniversary dinner tonight instead of the following day because you never know what could happen. So, we decide to go to Lucilles because I’ve been craving ribs. It was a nice night out. We enjoyed ourselves, just us two. This was the last time Adrian and I would feel this carefree being by ourselves. It was a nice and calm seven year anniversary. We then go pick up Mia and head home ready to meet our baby boy.

At 11p.m., while watching a movie, I begin to feel uncomfortable with small contractions. Little by little, they start to build, but I can still breath through them, nothing too bad. As the night progressed, they got stronger and I began needing support from Adrian. Then, 5:00 a.m. comes and I’m struggling, a lot. I start to become vocal and the contractions are less than three minutes apart. I told Adrian that we will wait until 6:00 a.m. before we head to the hospital. I could barely make it to 5:30 a.m. and I started feeling the sensation of pushing. Uh oh! I start to panic thinking we waited too long, so I tell Adrian we gotta go. I don't want to have this baby in the toilet! He tries to calm me down and have me wait until 6:00 a.m. like I told him, but there was no calming me. My pain was too high, and I was not using the most appropriate language, and by this time Mia was awake. She kept saying, “Mommy don't say that word! It’s a bad word!!”But I couldn’t help it. Oddly enough, she wasn’t scared and was helping her daddy rub my back. As I waited for Adrian to pack the car, I was getting so irritated because I felt like he was moving like a turtle. So I ask him if he's doing this on purpose because I said 6:00 a.m.! My poor husband was definitely not stalling. I was just not in my right mind.

The need to push doesn’t always mean it’s the baby is coming!

The 15 minute drive to the hospital felt like a 45 minute drive. I kept telling Adrian to drive faster because that sensation of pushing was still there and that was freaking me out. I was cursing and trying to shift my body from side to side, but laboring in the front seat of a Honda is not the easiest. Mia kept telling me to relax and to take deep breaths. In between each contraction I would apologize for my language and tell Mia, “Don’t use those words. Mommy is just sick.” We get to the hospital at the same time as my in-laws, they take Mia, and we go up the elevator. The nurses immediately take me into the room and ask me to lay down. I tell them I can’t because I feel like I need to push. Finally, they convince me and she checks…… and low and behold, to my surprise, I’m one centimeter! Yes, I said that right. ONE. I tell the nurse “This is not possible, your fingers are too big, bring someone with smaller fingers!” The sweet lady says sorry hunny but it's not time. I started crying because the pain was too much. Then I asked her why I felt like I needed to push, so she asked me, “What was the last thing you ate?” (As I’m retelling this story, my face is red, I’m so embarrassed!) I tell her, “We had Lucille's” with shame and embarrassment written all over my face. Yup, I just needed to poop.

I go to the restroom and after I do my business (sorry TMI!) that sensation to push goes away. But my contractions are still very strong. To my surprise, the doctor allowed me to stay and labor for the rest of the day. I wasn’t expecting this because I was only one centimeter and labor could stop at any moment. Finally at 2:00 p.m., after fifteen hours of labor, I was at three centimeters and they agreed to give me the epidural. This time I had no shame in asking for the drugs. Getting the epidural was easier and the doctor, Adrian, and the nurse were wonderful in helping me relax. As soon as the epidural kicked in, I slept and so did Adrian.

My mom got to the hospital later that afternoon and allowed Adrian to get something to eat. As we waited, the same thing happened with this delivery. I started to relax and my body opened one centimeter an hour. At 10:30 p.m. I was ready to push. I fully opened on my own without any pitocin or any other intervention. I was so happy! Thank the lord!!

Advocating for yourself can sometimes be difficult when you go against medical advice.

Now, I want to backtrack a little bit and tell you about my prenatal visits. Having a natural birth after my c-section was not easy. With Mia, I stalled at seven centimeters, had a fever, and the baby’s heartbeat was in distress. Every time I went for my prenatal visits for Luke, the doctors would try and schedule a c-section, and I refused every time. The doctor asked my age, weight, ethnicity and said that due to these factors I would not have a successful v-back (vaginal birth after cesarean). I would leave the office frustrated and angry at my doctors for their lack of support and lack of bedside manners. The doctor told me that my body was not made to have a natural birth among other things that were inappropriate. I changed doctors three times, but due to insurance issues, it was the only OBGYN office I could visit unless I was willing to drive 50 miles. I knew that the doctors were frustrated and annoyed at the fact that I would not agree to a cesarean birth. But I knew deep inside that Luke was not meant to come into the world that way. I knew that we would be okay. So I denied the c-section and the doctor gave me until 41 weeks to have him naturally. Thankfully Baby Luke was on board with the timeline and only came three days late.

Baby Luke Kobe Barajas was born on 08/04/2019 straight into my arms.

Going back to the labor story. At 10:30 p.m., the nurse told me I was ready to push and I felt so excited. Adrian and I allowed my mom to stay and witness the birth. She was so overjoyed to be a part of such a special moment. I began to experience all those small things like pressure, and the need to push. (Yes, I realized the need to push was different this time). Finally the doctor came in, and within 30 minutes of pushing, the baby went straight into my arms. This is a feeling I will never forget. I know baby Luke cried but I can't remember what it sounded like. He was alert and just perfect. He scored a 9 and 10 on the apgar test and had the biggest eyes that just looked at me. Adrian and I experienced such a beautiful magical moment. Baby Luke was beautiful and healthy. After the doctors and nurses left, my mom and dad came and met Luke and they were also in love with him. Carrying him while looking into his eyes knowing that we worked so well together made me so proud of him. Luke's birth was more than perfect, and Adrain and I are so thankful to have experienced such a beautiful start to his life. For now, I will leave it at this, and I will share his NICU story in a later post.