Dad delivers

By LORRI HELFAND

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 18, 2000

CLEARWATER -- "You're doing good, girl," Tony Huerta said to his wife. "Baby Emma is on her way."

[Times photo: Jill Sagers] Tony Huerta holds Emma as new mother Laura Huerta gets her first look at their daughter Thursday. Behind them is nurse Claudia DeRemus.

As Laura Huerta pushed, her husband sat at the foot of the hospital bed supporting her left leg. Lucy Bosley, a certified nurse midwife, grasped Mrs. Huerta's other leg.

"I'm dying to find out what she looks like," Mrs. Huerta, 30, said.

As his wife caught her breath, waiting for the next contraction, Huerta jumped up and spooned ice chips into her mouth. Then he was back in position for the next big push.

From the beginning of his wife's pregnancy, Huerta, 34, was determined to take an active role in the birth of his daughter. "It's the right thing to do," he reasoned. "I'd rather be part of it than sit in the corner."

Just being in the delivery room wasn't enough. He wanted to bring his baby girl into the world with his own hands, helped only by a midwife.

This baby was a special blessing. Mrs. Huerta suffered two miscarriages before she became pregnant with Emma.

"It was a heartbreaker," Huerta said. They had discussed the complications and decided to keep trying. There was no question about it, because they both wanted children so badly.

"We always wanted children," Mrs. Huerta said. "We even talked about them before we got married."

They met six years ago and it was instant chemistry. Huerta, who works for United Parcel Service, was delivering a package to her as she worked in a dry-cleaning business owned by her family.

"She was just standing there smiling," Huerta said. He couldn't resist her contagious grin. Within a couple of days he called her, and by April the next year they were tying the knot.

Huerta and his wife planned to have kids, but they wanted to get their finances in order first.

They didn't want to struggle the way a lot of their friends have. For Huerta, financial security was extremely important because he planned to take a month off from work to stay home with the new baby.

Over the next few years, they paid off their car loans, saved up some money and bought a house in Palm Harbor.

With financial worries behind them, Huerta and his wife tried to have a baby. Their first two attempts ended in the miscarriages. Then nine months ago, they discovered Mrs. Huerta was pregnant again, and there were no complications.

"I loved being pregnant," Mrs. Huerta said. Her only complaints were a few weeks of "evening sickness" and a temporary disdain for garlic.

Over the past few months, the Huertas have taken Lamaze classes, newborn classes and breast-feeding classes. They have decorated Emma's room in teddy bears, pastel colors and patchwork prints.

To prepare for the delivery, Huerta watched The Baby Story, an educational cable television program about childbirth. The past few weeks, he said, he watched it up to three times a day.

He seemed comfortable with the birthing process, his wife said. "But he didn't like the fact that they didn't come out looking like Gerber babies," she added.

On Tuesday, Mrs. Huerta felt contractions, and her husband took her to Morton Plant Hospital. After a night of rest there, a doctor sent her home. But by 8 a.m. Thursday, Mrs. Huerta's contractions intensified, and they came back to the hospital's delivery room. She checked in at 11 a.m.

Within an hour, the pain worsened. Mrs. Huerta asked for an epidural injection, abandoning plans for a natural childbirth. The pain, she said, was too much.

Huerta thought about wearing his UPS uniform to the hospital because he thought his family would get a kick out of a UPS man making a "special delivery." Instead, he opted for a practical pair of jean shorts and a print polo.

By 2:15 p.m., the epidural had taken effect and Mrs. Huerta was relaxing on the bed in the delivery room. She wore a hospital gown and pink Tweety Bird socks. Huerta and his wife found the room cozy because it had laminate floors designed to look like hardwood, a putty-colored armoire and lacy white curtains.

Huerta popped in a "Relaxing Massage" compact disc before he fed his wife a few ice chips. All the while, he kept an eye on her IVs and the fetal monitor.

"The baby's sleeping," Huerta said, pointing to the monitor.

"It's getting close," Mrs. Huerta said, "because I feel lots of pressure."

As Huerta handed Mrs. Huerta lip balm, she asked where the midwife was.

"She went to have a beer," he joked.

The family was waiting across the hall. As Huerta's father, Raul, videotaped family members and whoever happened to walk through the door, they talked about how natural it seemed for Huerta to help in the delivery.

"He's a hands-on kind of guy," Mrs. Huerta's mother, Nancy McNamara, said. "I wouldn't expect him to do anything else."

Huerta's sister, Christine Huerta, who was munching on a piece of apple pie, said her brother will have an active role in rearing his daughter. "He'll teach her to cook, grill and fish, for sure," she said, "and he'll be there changing the diapers, too."

At 3:35, Tony crossed the hall and told the folks that his wife's cervix had dilated to 91/2 centimeters. She would be ready to deliver soon.

The midwife, Bosley, rushed in and gave Mrs. Huerta a quick examination. In 20 minutes, Bosley said, Mrs. Huerta should be ready to push. She told Mrs. Huerta how to raise her chin and lift her knees when she pushed.

Outside of the room, family members had migrated into the hall, holding pink balloons and a bag of stuffed animals.

"I can hear my dad hyperventilating," Huerta said.

At 3:55, Bosley told Mrs. Huerta it was time to start.

Looking at the fetal monitor, Huerta said, "She's doing a square dance in there."

Bosley told Huerta to sit at the foot of the bed. As Mrs. Huerta pushed, her husband grabbed her leg confidently and pressed firmly against her foot.

"The harder you push, the quicker this will be," Bosley said.

For the next hour as contractions got closer and closer together, Mrs. Huerta continued to work hard. Huerta got up periodically to feed his wife ice chips and turn down the volume on the fetal monitor.

Emma's amplified heartbeat punctuated the relaxation music.

By 5 p.m., Bosley told Mrs. Huerta to take off her socks and Huerta to wash his hands, because it was almost time for her to make a final push.

The midwife pulled the instrument table next to the bed and had nurse Claudia DeRemus prepare the bed for delivery.

At 5:24 Mrs. Huerta made her final effort. "Baby Emma is on her way," Huerta said.

"I can't do it," Mrs. Huerta said.

"Yes, you can. Come on, Laura," Bosley said.

Bosley coaxed Emma's head out of the womb and turned her shoulders as she guided Huerta's hands.

He placed his hands firmly on Emma's shoulders and pulled her out in one motion, resting her on a plastic sheet. As he rubbed her tiny back to help her breath, her purple skin turned pink and she let out a hearty wail.

"She's squeezing my finger," Huerta said, his eyes welling up with tears.

"Congratulations, baby," he told his wife.

With Bosley's help, Huerta cut the cord and placed Emma on Mrs. Huerta's chest. Huerta walked to the head of the bed and kissed his wife.

"It's okay, little girl," Huerta said as he stroked Emma's chin, "You're so pretty."

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