OAKLAND - On Friday Nov. 7, at 10:18 p.m., Nicholas Henry Trocolar was brought into this world, and while he was born in a conventional manner, the place in which he was born was not at least by modern times.
Denise and Steven Trocolar, three-year residents of Oakland, gave birth to their first child in their home on Friday, Nov. 7, although they had not planned it that way.
According to Denise, she began to feel what she thought were contractions on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 5.
They got progressively worse so she went to see her doctor Thursday afternoon.
"The doctor said there was nothing going on," Denise said. "I wasn't dilated, I wasn't effaced, and the baby was still up high, and that he would see me at my next appointment next week."
Her doctor's diagnosis was Braxton Hicks, the tightening of the muscles of the uterus anywhere from 30-60 seconds.
Denise recalled walking the family dog around 7 p.m. the next day, and then coming home and walking around the house because she was so uncomfortable.
"At 10 p.m. my water broke," said Denise, who at that time was frantically running around the house with her husband trying to get everything ready. "We called the doctor and he said to meet him at the hospital, but then I felt like we weren't going to make it. I went upstairs to the bathroom because I wasn't sure if I should expect something else or not. Then I just felt pressure like the baby was coming, so I told my husband to 'call the paramedics the baby was coming now.'"
Once in the bathroom Steven advised her to lie down as he called 911 and grabbed some towels.
"I tried to calm her down," Steven said. "I was nervous, but I was the only one there so I knew it had to be done."
The 911 operator talked Steven through the process as his wife gave birth to their son.
Steven said the head came out first and within 10 minutes the baby was caught in a towel as he cleaned out Nicholas' mouth and wiped off his face.
"He cried right when he came out and was looking around," Steven said. "Then [Denise] asked if it was a boy or a girl because in the excitement I didn't say what it was."
The Oakland Police showed up first expecting to provide Denise with oxygen and help her get to the hospital, but were surprised to find the baby, whomeasured 18 1/4 inches and weighed 5 pounds 10.8 ounces.
The paramedics arrived next and Denise and Nicholas were taken to Hackensack Medical Center.
There were no complications with the birth or the baby, but as a precaution, Nicholas was kept at the hospital and administered antibiotics since he was born in an unsterile environment.
"I'm very excited," Steven said. "It's our first child. It's even more special that it happened at hoem and we were able to experience this now that we know everything is ok, but as long as he's healthy we're both happy. It was just an amazing experience."
Denise's doctor told her this was only the second time in 22 years that this occurred with one of his patients.
Nicholas is currently at home healthy.