February 10, 2009.. I woke up at around 7 am but was too lazy to get up so I just stayed in bed for a little bit. I am 41 weeks pregnant with swollen ankles and I can’t wait to be able to walk without swaddling and be able to sleep on my stomach again. It’s always been like this for the past couple of weeks, and with each passing day, I get more and more frustrated. I would even joke around and say, ” I might be pregnant forever… It seems like my baby is enjoying her uterus hotel and don’t ever wanna leave”.
I felt the first contraction while still in bed around 8:30 am.. A little pain that radiates from my belly towards my lower back. I thought to myself, “Don’t get too excited! This is just a braxton hicks contraction (a fake contraction) just like all those other contractions you have for weeks now”. So I got up, watch my daughter get on the school bus and ate breakfast. There it goes, another contraction.. I told my husband, this maybe the day we’ve been waiting for but he too seems to be apprehensive since I had a lot of this fake contractions before and they were all what they were.. FAKES..
I got ready since I have an appointment with my obstetrician later that day, and I have to go the East Jefferson General Hospital to have my blood works taken and pre-register as a patient. I was nervous because I am scheduled to be induced the very next day, February 11. As much as I want to give birth, I don’t really like the idea of being induced. As much as possible, I want the labor pain to come by itself, not induced by some kind of medicine.
While dressing up, I started to time my contractions. They were really erratic, they range from 15 to 25 to 8 minutes apart. But it’s already 10:45 am and they keep on coming so I entertained the idea that I might be having labor already. That time, the pain is just like if you have gas, uncomfortable but tolerable. I told my Rob (my husband) that I need to go have a manicure and pedicure so atleast my toenails and fingernails would be pretty if I ever give birth today. I know it’s silly but he obliged and so we went to the Asian nail shop. All that time, the contractions never ceased to come and it’s already 12 noon by the time my nails were done. I am quiet sure this is the real deal.
The pain ain’t that bad yet, just like before, feels like I’m having gas. So I told my husband if we could drop by the mall to get a big sister gift for Andrea (my older daughter), so we went there, got her a gold necklace with a cross pendant and from the mall went straight to my doctor’s office. Dr. Steward checked me and said I’m still 2 cm dilated, and said she would see me tomorrow at the hospital for my induction. I told her, I might not make it tomorrow since I am having contractions as we speak.
After registering at the hospital, it was already 6 pm when we got home. Now I’m pretty sure I would give birth in a couple of hours. The pain was consistently coming and they’re getting close together. I put my bags in the car, dropped Andrea off at my mother-in-law’s house (she’s so nice to agree to watch her while we’re in the hospital), and went back home and waited for the contractions to be 5 minutes apart. At 10 pm, the pain was getting worse, still tolerable but pretty uncomfortable, I tried to squeeze a little sleep but the pain won’t let me. My husband started timing the contractions and by 11:45, he told me to get dressed coz they’re regularly between 5 to 7 minutes apart.
We got to the hospital around midnight. We checked in, somebody put me in a wheel-chair and wheeled me to my labor and delivery room. It was a spacious room with a television and bathroom and all kinds of monitor. I stripped and put on my hospital gown and the nurse assigned to me came and checked me. I was already 4 cm dilated. This is it! There’s no turning back..
Nurse Jade hooked me into a fetal monitor to track my baby’s heartbeat and another monitor to track my contractions. She then administered an IV on me and asked me if I want an epidural (pain medication that is administered through the spine which makes the lower part of your body numb hence making you not feel the contractions), I declined. I gave birth to Andrea 6 years ago without it, I know I could do it again. I am so scared coz I knew already what kind of pain awaits me but I want to feel every bit of pain and I am scared of having a long needle stuck in my spine.. Ouch! That would probably hurt plus the fact that there might be some side-effects of the numbing medicine to my baby and me.
Now the pain was bad, I would grunt every time it comes and my husband seems to enjoy taking a video of me in that predicament. Nurse Jade asked me if I want to walk around, I said hell no! She then offered me a rocking chair and an exercise ball to sit on. I opted for the exercise ball coz acoording to my pregnancy book(What to Expect While you’re Expecting), sitting on execise balls while in labor helps open up your pelvis. So while sitting on that gigantic ball, I called my family in the Philippines to inform them about what’s going on. They’re all excited and they all offered encouraging words and prayers.
By 4 am, the grunts turned to screams.. Oh yeah! The contractions ain’t a joke. When a woman goes through labor, she really goes through big time LABOR! My husband stopped his video cam and started massaging my hips and lower back. My nurse brought me some hot compresses that she presses on my lower back everytime I have a contraction. She checked me again and said I am 6 cm dilated. I was like “What? Just 6? Come on! All that pain and I have 4 more cm to go? It was really an ordeal. All those times I was clutching my novena book for the Mother of Perpetual Help, constantly praying for more strenghth.
So tired, without any sleep, and in so much pain, I was about to give up. I told my nurse to call my doctor and tell her I want my water bag ruptured artificially to speed up my dilation, (thanks to my book, and ofcourse discovery health channel, I learned about all these). My doctor came around 6 am and ruptured my water bag with a plastic stick and checked me. By this time the pain was incredibly mind-boggling, I scream and yell and kicked everytime I have a contraction. She said I am 8 centimeters dilated but not 100% effaced, that means my cervix is not all the way open. I begged her to help me out, and she said it’s almost over. I squeezed my husbands hands so tight, begging him to help me and as he looked at me, his eyes were filled with tears, feeling so sorry but couldn’t do anything to help me. My doctor checked me again after like an eternity, and said she would try to push my cervix open. I hated it! The constant checking is making the pain worse. I kicked and screamed some more never caring if I look like a mad woman.
Atlast by 7 am, the doctor said I am ready to push. I have been feeling the urge to push, it feels like I need to go use the restroom ( you know what I mean?). Nurse Jade is officially off-duty now coz they changed shift already but she stayed behind to see the baby. There were 3 nurses in the room now including nurse Jade. They prepared the sheets, the equipments and everything that my doctor needed. I was kicking like crazy that a nurse has to hold each of my legs so I won’t kick my doctor by accident. Now it’s time to push…
With my husband beside be holding my hand, I pushed with all my might. Nothing. The doctor said I have to concentrate on putting all the pressure down there when I push. I pushed again and they said they could see the baby’s head. I pushed and pushed until It feels like it burns so much down there, I even screamed, it burns! it burns! I know, I lost all the shame at that time. My doctor encouraged me to push through the pain and atlast, I felt the baby pop out, and all the pain just magically disappeared. Thank GOD! Finally it’s over… My husband was so elated, he had tears on and was kissing me.. Then they put my little precious angel on my belly all covered with slime and blood. My husband cut her umbilical cord and she started crying. It was the sweetest cry I’ve ever heard. My precious little miracle came on February 11, 2009 at 7:26 am…
After that everything was a blurr.. The doctor checked me and the nurses cleaned me and my baby. I was scheduled to be induced that day but my baby has other plans, she came without the help of pitocin (induction medicine). All of a sudden, I felt hungry and tired and sleepy. Thanking God and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, I burst into tears. Giving birth is not a joke.
Looking back now, almost two months after, I could still imagine the pain. But I have no regrets. I felt a sense of accomplishment that I made it through. Will I do it again? Yes! Maybe not now, but my husband and I would definitely have more children. Is it worth it? Ofcourse! Every pain I felt, every sweat and tears I shed, is well worth it. especially now when my precious little miracle would give me a smile that just melts my heart with love…
