DisisD: Lucy's birth story {happy birthday, lulu}

7.04.2015

Lucy's birth story {happy birthday, lulu}

When things turned around…

I finally had the appetite to eat some dinner and so I did. Was it a good idea? Bad idea?

Good idea because it sped things along. It must be my bowels moving at the same time as the contractions increasing in strength and frequency.

Bad idea because of what will happen later.

In between trips to the bathroom, I told Derrick to call the OB line. At that point my contractions were 2 minutes apart and 1 minute long. That call was just a formality. After my trip to the loo, I made up my mind that we are going to the car no matter what the OB said! Good thing we already have our bags in the trunk. We left in a hurry. I paused before I hopped inside the car, bracing for another contraction with the dslr hanging around my neck. (I saw it on our way out, I thought I packed it already). Every single contraction I had, I was thinking my water would break and mess up Derrick’s car. I made him grab his emergency blanket in the trunk to cover the passenger’s seat.

We made it safely to the south entrance. Derrick dropped me off and I sat on one of the wheelchairs. I prayed through the contractions. I was scared at the same time. A gentleman left the quiet hospital. I was not sure if I should make eye contact. I did anyway… and gave a polite smile. (I wondered what he was thinking)… whoa that poor woman is about to pop!

We rode the elevator to the L&D floor. The registration lady met us and showed me to my room. Apparently it was one busy day at the wards. It was around 8p when I arrived in the room. I kept asking Derrick if I can have the epidural. I asked the nurse, I asked the OB on call. They all were very encouraging telling me that I could go either way. I was afraid I would not know how to push when I am numb. The OB said I have done it before and my body will remember what to do. I told them if I have to endure labor for longer than an hour, I’m going for the epidural. I gave myself a deadline!

I changed to the fancy gown and waited to be checked. I prayed: please, dear God, I hope I am at least close to 7cm. The tocometer was placed on my belly. I had a feeling I was not at the transition phase but I asked the RN anyway. She said contractions were still 2-3 minutes apart. Oh…. My…. I knew that the worst pain is yet to come. (it truly sucks when you know what’s coming next!)

She checked me around 8:15p after all the history was taken and I was 6-7 cm dilated…

Afterwards, another RN prepped the delivery table with the towels, sutures and other metal things (there you go, I lost all medical terminology knowledge). The OB came. We had a discussion about the epidural and pushing… She said that once my water breaks, the pain will intensify but transition phase will go pretty fast at that point. She asked if it’s ok to do that. Since I was far along, I agreed. I asked about the complications of artificialrupture of membranes which included: cord prolapse (yikes) and intensified pain down there because there’s no more bag to cushion the head. It was around 8:45pm when she left. She said we can do another cervical check in 15 minutes and if I haven’t progressed, she’d suggest that she artificially rupture the membranes.

I did not quite make it to 9pm. I don’t remember the exact time but I do remember telling them that the contractions were much stronger. As if the previous hour was not painful, those contractions were 10/10 pain. They called the OB and she got ready to do a cervical check. She said: I don’t feel any cervix. I silently praised the Lord in delight: Thank you, God!

She asked if she can break the bag of waters and I said yes. I even amazed myself that I was able to raise my bottom when the OB asked me to. She had to place the drapes and bags to catch all fluids. I felt a warm sensation when membranes ruptured. I heard her say: the amniotic fluid is stained with meconium (just like with Sebastian), call peds. I said, I had to push but they had me wait out a few seconds till peds team came. I raised my legs up: hubs supporting one and RN holding another. If you arenot comfortable about bodily fluids, you may want to skip the following….

One of my pet-peeves is not having privacy when going to the bathroom. Urinating is fine… but having a BM with my children running around the bathroom is unacceptable. I start teaching them about privacy. Also one reason, I cannot be a nurse is that I do not like cleaning up stool. Nope, nope, nope.

So when I strained to pushed, guess what came out first before the baby – yup.. you guessed it. Remember I just ate dinner a couple of hours ago and I haven’t emptied my bowels since calling the OB. Oh yuck.

But the medical folks are ready for such things. Laboring moms having bowel movements during delivery is actually common. I just did not want to be one of them L I pushed with one contraction… She told me to slow down and ease the power. I took a deep breath. I tucked my chin to my chest and pushed again and held it for 5-8-10 seconds.

The pressure….

The burning sensation….

Aw, aw, aw….

Then I heard the OB and RN say: you’re doing a good job. Push again. There’s the head…. One more good one…

Then the weird sensation again of something sliding out – yup, the head.. then they asked me to give another push. I felt the shoulders out… Then Lucy is out.

I did not look down at all. I was so tired. I don’t remember who said it first.. was it Derrick? Was it the OB who said, it’s a girl. I asked: is she blue? My OB said no, she’s all pink. I do not even remember Derrick cutting the cord.. but he said he did. I was so exhausted. I just laid there.

Thankfully the rest of the birth story is unremarkable. Peds did not have to do anything extra on Lucy. The Neonatalogist introduced herself and said everything was ok ( I actually know her… doubt she remembers me but I was one of her residents years ago). Placenta came out with tons of cramping and some pushing. Then I had to have my sutures.

Derrick brought her to me and I just cried… Seeing her and holding her made all the pain worth it.

I was exhausted and happy that it’s all over. I told them I cannot believe I was a wimp. The RN objected. I guess on their point of view, I just pushed an almost 7 lb baby without pain meds so that was no wimpy thing at all…. But in my mind, failing and letting anxiety kick in made me feel like a wimp. If I am going to do this again, I will have to re-learn some major breathing and relaxation techniques…. Or just have the epidural.

Facetiming with Kuya Bastian. The kids were still up and super excited!