Niklaus turned one a few days ago
and so was the day I labored to get him out of my womb. I couldn’t help but
reminisce what happened on the past year, especially what happened during my
Labor Day! Haha!
It was May 4, Wednesday, when the
little human inside made me feel his excitement of getting out. I was in the
office, quite busy if I remembered it correctly, when I felt a contraction. I was
on my thirty sixth week, so this feeling got me to panic a bit. I started
moving around on my chair to check if this was it, or just a false alarm, the
contraction went away every time I moved and so was my panic. I immediately
informed my husband of the incident and started to time my contractions. I also
tried walking around when I felt a stronger contraction. It became consecutive
but not regular, so I messaged my OB-GYN that I will paid a visit and ask my
boss to have an early lunch so I could pay a visit to my OB.
I was the last patient when I
arrived the clinic, my OB immediately gave me an internal examination. IT. WAS.
BRAXTON HICKS. But it turned out that my cervix started to open, like 1
centimeter open, I was assured by my OB that it's still thick so the baby won’t be coming
out that day and her best estimate is that I could deliver within the week or
two.
Fun fact, my husband has an
employee benefit that shoulders delivery cost of a baby if the doctor that will
deliver your baby is accredited; and you got it right, the OB who checked me
above is not (let’s call her OB-1 to avoid confusion). We tried if she would be
willing to be accredited but her answer is no. So we had a little adventure few weeks before D-day, in
finding another OB that will delivery our baby and is also accredited.
This got me a bit scared since I
have been comfortable with my OB-1, she has been great for all those months and
now to the D-day, another person will be with me. It was a week before D-day
when we finally decided for a replacement. I was hoping I could meet her but,
boy was she busy. My OB-1 has strongly suggested that I meet with OB-2, but she
got called into an emergency, and so was the opportunity to meet her before
D-day.
May 7, I had another check-up
with OB-1 as we had a goal for me to get a flu vaccine before D-day so I can
pass some of that to the little human inside me. The flu vaccine came really
late, so we need to find another clinic that can provide, luckily, the
accredited clinic of husband’s company already has a stock. So we went there to
get vaccinated. There was a line so I got myself a taho for snack, (Fact: soya
is good for baby’s brain development, so eat up soon to be mom).
After the vaccination, I suddenly
felt some contractions; it went away when I walk so I thought it was because of
the syrup from the taho. We had lunch at a nearby restaurant and went back to
the clinic, I can’t remember why. When we’re about to go home the contractions
came back and this time it was stronger, like I can feel the baby’s head coming
out.
We went home, and packed all the
things we can pack. We obviously were not ready. At lunch, I remember that my
husband and I are talking of the things we still need to buy. Haha! We messaged
everyone, OB-1, OB-2, family and friends. Our things may not be that ready, but my labor
plan was all laid out. OB-1 made sure it was all plan out four weeks before ETA, this is so
important soon-to-be-mom, so nothing will be forced on you that you
don't want to during labor.
At the hospital, we went straight
to the pre-labor room since I could still walk and got admitted. Pre labor
procedures were conducted which includes several internal examinations to check
the cervix, several questioning for medical records, and lavativa (this
procedure is critical to avoid infection during delivery); medical apparatus
were placed on me to monitor the contractions and the baby’s heart rate. I was all by myself at the pre-labor, feeling
all sorts of feelings, luckily, the pre-labor resident doctor was a beautiful
lady so it kind of calms me. Haha!
It was, I think, quarter to 8
p.m. when they decided to transfer me to the labor room. They have qualifying
measures on who should be in the pre-labor and labor room. The labor room is a
much spacious room and I had a nurse who is looking out for me and attending to
my needs. I was given oxygen, when you’re conscious; it was harder to breathe
with that on. But the oxygen was in fact for the baby, as a mommy in labor has
a tendency to not breathe properly.
I don’t know how often they were
asking on the rating of the pain, but every time they asked, my answer would be
8, but then my OB-2 and the nurses would ask why am I still smiling. They were
actually asking for the pain level to know whether it’s time to give me the
epidural. A week before D-day, we already had a consultation with the
anesthesiologist on how my labor pains will be handled, we chose the epidural.
They were very particular that this option is only painless and not
pain-free. This was included on my labor
plan.
For my whole stay in the labor room, I was
lying down, there are still machines attached to me to monitor my contractions,
baby’s heart rate and my blood pressure. It was 9 pm and I felt something exploded;
I called for the nurse, she examined and told me that it was my water that
popped. Yup, I didn’t have that dramatic effect they have on the movies when
their water broke (FACT: When you’re water broke but you haven’t felt any
contraction i.e., you’re not yet in labor, please still to go to the hospital
to avoid any infection to the baby or immediately inform your OB-GYN).
So my water broke, this was also
the start of the agony. Oh the pain is just getting intense as the minute went
by, moving around the bed has little to no help. I then decided that it is time
for the epidural. Epidural is a regional anesthesia that blocks pain from a
particular body part, in this case from buttocks down to my toes. Needle sized
tubes were attached to the end of my spine, these where the anesthesia will
flow. This was one of the hardest part of my labor, I need to be very still
while they are attaching the tubes and with the pain I’m feeling, this was
impossible. They attached it quick the first time, but I still could feel
unbearable pain. I could feel the little human inside me pushing out, they
tried it again, but for the second time, I am screaming in pain. Someone has to
hold me to keep me still so they can re-attach the tubes, I might have hurt them in the process.
The epidural usually kicks in
after 15 minutes, and finally it started kicking in. But, the first dose of
epidural was not enough, I can feel my body breaking and tearing apart. It was
time that I be moved to the delivery room.
When I reached the delivery room,
I still feel a bit of contraction but it’s bearable, but not my legs. I also
got chills, chilling to the point of shaking. So they gave me additional
blanket. Thankfully, they let my husband to be with me during delivery, I wish
he was also there during labor.
The pushing begins. The unhelpful
side effect of a continuous epidural is that you will feel the contraction
lesser than it should. Dear soon-to-be mom, this may or may not be mentioned to
you early on, but you have to push when there is a contraction; because
logically, the baby is pushing every contraction. I had a hard time feeling the
contractions, so they timed the pushing for me and help me pushed the little
human out. I may not felt enough contractions but I felt the little human came
out of me. They did not need to slap him, he cry once he got out, probably because it was too cold outside my womb, haha.
I asked my husband to record
everything, but he got struck by the beautiful human and probably by the amount of
blood there was. The nurse has to tell him that he can start taking video and
pictures. I saw tears coming out of his eyes, it was priceless. We followed the
“Unang Yakap” (you can watch a video in youtube) procedure for my delivery, so I got to hold my baby after
checking the baby. He crawled on me until he reached my breast for his first
collustrum. It was amazing. One of the best scenes I had in my life. But, I did
not cry! I did not had that dramatic reaction they usually have or those that I
have watched and heard. I was exhausted, in relief and chilling; and half of my
body was numb. It was finally over. I can eat chocolates. These are my
thoughts. Haha!
I said a little prayer after, gave
thanks to the Lord that my little human is healthy, complete and is so alive,
that I’m alive and for the smooth delivery. It was 12:15 in the midnight, a
Sunday and it’s mother’s day!
Advanced happy mother’s day!!!
Love
~A
P.S. Don't forget to follow me on my social media, will be hosting a small giveaway for mother's day!
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