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Written by Michael Torreyson, the Dad.

            After 41 weeks of waiting and hoping for the best gift that I would ever receive, Shayna was placed in my arms. What a magical day! November 1^st, 2004 will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my life.

         I could tell that Melissa was at a point that she needed little Shayna to come. She walked around as she was miserable in her skin. She was terribly uncomfortable, and it seemed like nothing could ease her discomfort. To this point we had heard and ignored all of those old wise tales regarding pregnancy, but we were willing to try anything to jumpstart labor. Both my mother and grandmother walked their babies out, so in the early afternoon of October 31^st, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Our trip was 0.9 miles, and it encompassed some serious hills. We finished the track in about 30 minutes (20 minutes longer then our previous trips). This seemed to work, as Melissa was starting to get the pangs, but nothing serious yet. Melissa was experiencing mini-contractions, but at this pace, it seemed like the baby would not come for days, so I convinced Melissa to take another trip around the neighborhood. I grabbed our trusty greyhound for companionship and protection for any ghost and goblins that might be out on that Halloween night, and we started the next walk. This time, Melissa started getting her official contractions, which slowed our trip to a snails pace. An hour an a half later, we finished the 0.9 mile loop, and bunked down to deal with contractions. Unfortunately, the contractions that Melissa was experiencing were nothing for what was to come.

Labor Began

     As the day turned to night, Melissa continued to experience contractions, but because they were so far apart, we began to doubt that they were the real thing, and I went to bed around 10 pm prepared to go to work the next day. Around 3 in the morning, Melissa woke me up, and wanted me to time the contractions that she was having. I went out to get a pen, and I had found a sheet of paper where Melissa had been timing the time of the contractions and the time between the two. I immediately had felt bad because I was not there for Melissa as she began labor, but then I started to appreciate how tough Melissa was, both mentally and physically. We timed the contractions as we had been taught in her pregnancy classes, and around 4:45 am, it appeared that the time had come to make the trip to the birth center. I called my parents and told them to get ready to become grandparents, and we made the trip up to the birth center.

Frustrating News

        That baby is no where near ready to come. You might have a few more days to go. The words any pregnant family dreads to hear. The midwife told us that Melissa was only 1 centimeter, and sent us home. She did give Melissa a sedative to help her sleep, as she had been up for almost 24 hours at this point. In a daze, we returned home to continue to wait for the baby to come. Being in a zombie state, I called in sick to work, thinking that I would be able to catch up on some sleep. When we got home, I fell right back to sleep, but poor Melissa didn t. The medication did put her into a daze, which made her contractions very unusual. She woke me up around 10 am, telling me that she was having contractions on top of contractions. I could tell that she was terribly uncomfortable, but remembering what we had heard a couple hours earlier, we were hesitant to make another trip to the birth center. As I got up and went into the bathroom, I noticed that the towel bar had been ripped from the wall. Figuring that Melissa was in that much pain, I knew it was time to go, because I was a bit scared that if Melissa was destroying parts of the house, that I would be next in her path of furry if left alone in the house.

Great Progress

         There was a new midwife that was on call, and as she performed an exam on Melissa, she gave the great news that Melissa was at 7 centimeters, and that we should get ready to have a baby. Melissa then told me to call her family. I called Briana at work. I tried to reach Janet, but couldn't. I then was able to reach Paul and told him that he was going to be a grandfather soon.

        The birth center offered a large bath tub to ease the labor process, and we had been debating whether we would chose to have a water birth, but after 12 hours of labor, Melissa was ready to try something different. In hindsight, we will tell all pregnant mothers to try to have a bath tub handy to deal with labor. It was amazing how much it relaxed Melissa, and it sped her labor along. Within one hour, Melissa had sped through transition, and was ready for some pushing.

         All of my life, I had sworn that I would not watch a baby come out. I had decided that I would stay up with Melissa, and let the professionals deal with the delivery, but as Melissa struggled to push the baby out, I was drawn to watch the miracle of birth. First, we saw the dark hair on the baby's head, then more head emerged, and before you knew it, out popped Shayna. I was amazed how quick it happened. I was even more amazed how easy it was. Melissa gets mad when I say it was easy, but Melissa had Shayna drug free, and did not once complain about the pain, or make any of the horrible screams you typically hear in the movies. Shayna came out blue as a smurf, and that moment turned us from a young careless couple, to parents. It was amazing. I laughed and cried at the same time. I could not believe what I had seen. The midwife asked me to cut the cord, and it took a couple of tries. Man, it was really tough. I laughed that I had worked really hard that day, but in reality, Melissa became my hero. She is so tough, what a trooper, what a natural.

Our Daughter

         Shayna has been such a wonderful addition to our lives. She has transformed us into a family, and with all of my thoughts directed towards her, I cherish the greatest gift that I have ever received, my daughter.

Our Family

        Both sides of our family welcomed Shayna. We appreciate both sets of Grandparents coming to visit along with Aunt Briana. This made the day we became a family extra special!