mylstones: my birthing story

since i have a little time on my hands before my little matthew wakes up, here's my birthing story. :) i don't know if this is scary for first time moms, so read with caution na lang. :D

july 28, wednesday:

i was 1cm dilated even though i didn't feel the contractions which led to it. no cause for alarm, can wait, and can still be pregnant by the next check-up. so i talked to little matthew and told him if he can wait because:

1. my friends organized a "surprise" baby shower on the 31st.

2. my officemates organized a "surprise" baby shower on the 2nd of august.

3. i still have to buy the remaining items which they didn't buy in our registry. :)

masunurin naman si matthew at naghintay pa. :)

august 4, wednesday:

i was 2 cm dilated, but i still haven't felt any of the contractions. some pregnant women kasi don't feel pain during contractions, so i am one of the few who are lucky not to feel pain. :) my ob says, she could admit me na, but we opted not to muna because i have to return an item sa baby company. :))

august 5, thursday:

i had some bloody discharge. though it could be from the internal exam from the day before, this time, there was mucous. so hun and i went again to the hospital. i was 2.5cm dilated by this time, and hun wanted to check me in asap. ayaw daw niyang mataranta bigla na manganganak na ako.

but the lamaze room, which we wanted to use so hun could be by my side the whole labor, was occupied. so again, nakiusap si mommy kay matthew to "wait a little longer". :)

august 6, friday:

my ob texted me that the lamaze room is now unoccupied, so hun, jay, and i headed to the hospital after some light breakfast. cool na cool lang, wala pa ring pain (thank goodness). headed straight to pre-labor room, then after checking contractions and heartbeat of the baby, checked-in na at lamaze room at around 12:45pm.

1st 3 hours:

boredom. nood lang ng tv. no pain, strapped to the bed for fetal heart monitoring. was on iv, where buscopan was injected to help induce my contractions. alternate mom and hunny by my side. :)

4th hour:

epidural time. need to put na daw this early even though i haven't felt any pain coz they will already break my water and i will already feel unbearable pain. we got the machine type epidural, forgot what it's called but i control the amount of epidural which flows through me. so every time i feel pain, i just need to press a button and a shot will flow through me to ease the pain. additional payment of around P2,000, i think.

5th hour:

breaking of the water bag. as in pinutok ng ob ko. whoa. hindi masakit. para ka lang nawiwi.

6th to 8th hour:
boredom. felt contractions, but mild lang. probably because of the epidural. but at last, i understood what contractions meant. :))

9th hour:

i was at last 10cm dilated! time to make iri. haha. prep time.

10th hour:

iri time. the doctors and midwives helped me by saying, "inhale, hold, and (iri) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, exhale slowlyyyyy...". we did this everytime there is a contraction. but since i was partly anaesthesized, ob said i was 50% short in power. :P btw, pag umiiri, wala daw dapat sound! so yung nakikita sa movies, joke time. bawal sumigaw. :P

because of this, one midwife decided to "help me out". how? by putting her freakin' arm on my belly, putting all her weight on top of me, and pushing out the baby. whoa. i thought i was gonna die. no kidding. that was very painful! and i didn't like her! she was bitchy and i wanted to slap her right there and then. sinita pa niya yung video cam namin. hmp. but don't worry, this pushing thing will only last for 10 long seconds (as you are pushing out the baby).

by this time also, ayaw lumabas ni matthew. pag iniiri siya, his heartbeat slows down to about 90 or lower, where the average is about 140-150. so worried ang ob, the cord might be in the way. and mali rin ang position ng ulo niya. dapat pala ang mukha niya ay nakaharap pababa (butt side), again, unlike in movies na pinapanganak na nakatingala. so my ob decided to make me lie down on my left side, in hopes of helping the baby turn to the right direction. if he doesn't turn, usap daw kami for caesarian option.

oh no.

1. afraid of cs. tagal ng healing! ayaw ko!
2. expensive!
3. hunny won't be there.

so we wait.

11th hour:

the most agonizing hour. eto na, totoo na, i FELT the contractions. buti hunny was with me the whole time to hold my hand. i was in pain na talaga. and wala nang kwenta yung button dahil kahit anong press ko, masakit pa rin! waaah!!!

i was also praying the whole time that matthew turns. kinakausap ko rin siya, kasi usapan namin normal. haha! :)

12th (and final) hour:

ob checked, did matthew turn? no. :( but he went down daw, so she will try to deliver normal na. yehey! kaya pala ubod ng sakit.

more iri time. and this time, another midwife was pushing down the baby. but she was more bearable. and mabait siya compared to the other bitch. buti naman at umalis yun. :) hanggang sa...

august 7, saturday:

"time check, time check" says anaesthesiologist. "12:07am". baby matthew is born!

teka, i didn't feel him going out of me! seriously. you know the fear na shucks, masakit yun pag lumalabas na, kasya ba, but i didn't feel any pain there! ang masakit yung pagpiga talaga ng tiyan! :P

oops, but it isn't over yet, placenta pa and final stitches. masakit again ang pagpump out ng placenta, pinipiga uli ang tiyan.

but after all that, when the baby is delivered right onto your side, what a feeling! wala na lahat ng sakit. promise, sandali lang yung pain. as in the pain lasts only during the time na nagcocontract, and pinupump out yung baby. hindi na siya mag-eextend pa!

then, super cutely swaddled matthew with one eye shut, was put on my side. congratulations says the midwife. hay, ang saya! and matthew is just perfect! his head is kind of cone-shaped, which is normal, and would go back to its original shape (it did). so if your baby looks like a conehead, don't worry, normal lang daw yun. :D

picture picture na agad ang isang anaesthesiologist sa aming tatlo! at nakakangiti na agad ako. :D it was very tiring but talagang walang tatalo sa feeling pag nakita mo na si baby. :D and i was very happy that hunny was by my side the whole time.

but then i had to go na to the recovery room. sleep muna 2 hours. they again brought matthew to try latching for breastfeeding, try lang. hindi pa niya magawa... so try again later. sleep uli. they put an ice bag on my belly to help my uterus contract daw. sarap. sige.

after 2 hours... i was brought to my room na. hunny was there together with jay and jessa. i felt like a queen. how awesome to have a husband to prepare one of my favorite meals (well, bought homestyle bangus at pancake house) and my special request: ice cold coca-cola. love you hunny!