This is another long overdue post.
Last year, I blogged about
My "Giving Birth" Experience to basically share my insights and learnings on the whole ordeal of giving birth. I mentioned there that I will soon blog about
Elle Mignonette's debut. That "soon" is now, however late it already is. As I have mentioned my other post is to share and to help soon-to-be first time moms; this post on the other hand, is for me, so that I will never forget how it all went.
At the start of my 37th week, I was already 1cm. dilated. I went crazy because I had a lot of things pending at work. I had a lot of contracts, memos and all those legal whatnots due. I also was still not packed for the hospital. We still did not have some other essentials for Elle (egs. diapers, wipes, alcohol, etc.) I crammed that weekend (finished some things with work, shopped last minute and most importantly, packed for the hospital) expecting that I would be giving birth that very same weekend.
I
thought I felt contractions, I even attempted counting and monitoring the intervals. My SIL, Iris said that I can use the 5-1-1 guideline -- when my contractions are 5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute and have been that way for 1 hour, then it is time to go to the hospital. But I almost always fell asleep doing that, so I guess they weren't really contractions but
Braxton Hicks. I did not give birth that weekend and was still able to report for work to meet all my deadlines.
On my 37th week, while at work, I had three essentials with me -- my phone (with E on speed dial), a slip from my OB-GYNE (with instructions to the attendants in the delivery room in Makati Medical Center for when it is time) and this photo saved in my phone. This was also from my SIL.
I started my maternity leave on my 38th week. I was still at 1cm. then. Dra. Sto. Domingo already prescribed a gel, which I were to purchase if I still do not give birth by the following Saturday. (I put off purchasing this gel up to the last hour before my Saturday check-up.)
As I've mentioned, I had to go on
bed rest
twice. I was disallowed to drive since my fifth month (when my first
pre-term labor scare happened). I was disallowed to walk long distances
(read: disallowed to go malling and shopping). So when I was cleared on
my 38th week, I was in the mall every single day. While it was summer
then (4th week of May 2011), it was already very rainy, so the best
place to walk around really was within the malls (read: very convenient
excuse).
I waited each day for it to happen, but nada. On the one hand, I was thinking that five days of my maternity leave were already wasted but on the other hand, I was thankful that even for a short while I was able to spend a little ME time before all the changes kicked in.
On the Friday of that week, when E picked me up from my Mom's, he already loaded my suitcase and Elle's in the car. And when we got to his parents' house, he transferred them to the other car already. (As if serendipitously, without knowing that I were to give birth the following day...)
I slept like a baby on the night of 27 May 2011 (that was the last time I slept for eight hours straight until recently). At about 5:30 in the morning, I felt Elle kick but I think it was a superkick because the kick came with a sound, well more of a thud. And then I felt fluid streaming down my legs. I immediately stood up and ran to the bathroom (thinking that I just might have had an accident given how unctrollable preganant women's bladders are). E ran after me and was almost screaming outside the bathroom asking what was happening, I told him calmly "I think my waterbag broke." He asked me what we have to do next. I told him I'll text Dra. Sto. Domingo and he should get ready for the hospital. He ran to our room to change and after he realized that I did not get out of the bathroom yet, he went back and asked me what I was doing. What I was doing? I was taking a bath. I shampooed, conditioned, I think I also exfoliated. (I knew it was gonna be a long while until I get to take a decent bath, with all these old wives tales about taking and not taking a bath after giving birth.) At this point, despite my initial fears, I was surprisingly calm and ready for whatever that may happen.
I then texted Dra. Sto. Domingo and told her what I think happened. She replied immediately and instructed me to go to the hospital. I also called my mom and told her to meet us at the hospital. This was at around 6:30 am. At this point, I was still feeling nothing, no pain, nada. So at the back of my mind I was thinking that it might not be my water bag. On the way to the hospital, E and I were talking to Elle and asking her to not make it difficult for me. It was here that I was experiencing cramps, like menstrual cramps. They were intermittent and were bearable (my monthly episodes are far worse).
By 7:30 am, I was already at the delivery room (with my magazines and Hunger Games Books 2 and 3). The resident checked whether it was really my water bag, it was! He also checked how much dilated I was already, I was 4cm dilated then. To tell you frankly, that IE was the most painful part for me, as in! I was literally screaming in pain. My silver lining then was that I only needed to be dilated another cm. before I can be given epidural.
They let me rest a bit and told me that they wouldcheck again in an hour. At this point, the contractions were just like very minor menstrual cramps so I was still relaxed and I spent a few minutes reading Book 2 of Hunger Games. After about 5 to 10 minutes, my cousin who's a resident approached me and told me that Dra. already ordered the epidural.
They transferred me to a labor room (I think) (the actual transferring, moving from one bed to another, wheeling the bed to the other room took about 10 minutes) where the epidural would be administered. This was at around 8:00 am. As I mentioned in my other
post, I didn't feel pain when I was given the anesthesia. I just felt cold that I had to ask for another blanket. According to my anesthesiologist, Dr. De Jesus, this was normal. At 8:30 am, I told one of the residents that I feel like the baby fell lower, so she conducted another IE. She said I feel like the baby fell because I was already 10cm. dilated. At around this time, Dra. Sto. Domingo arrived and together with her residents, she prepped me on how to breathe, push, etc. because it was already THE time to push! We practiced pushing twice and they checked if I would be able to deliver on the hospital bed. I couldn't.
So they moved me to an actual delivery room, with a different bed, one with stirrups. The transfer again took a few minutes, about 10 to 15 mins. and then they prepped me (this was at about 9:15 am). And then they asked me to push (inhale when they count up to ten and then push on ten) for about three times and then someone shouted "Baby Out". And that was it. Elle Mignonette was out at 9:38 am of 28 May 2011.
Before my third push, Dra. was asking the residents and nurses where E was because she said that it was only a matter of minutes before Elle was out. And E, my mom and sister were nowhere to be found. (I later learned that it was because they were transferred to another room and the delivery room had the old room number). The nurses were also panicking because my sister had not yet given them my camera. In the end, E was not able to witness how Elle came out (that was our agreement at the beginning already, so it was fine) BUT the nurses were able to get the camera (so I have pictures of Elle right after delivery).
I remember one of the doctors blurting "She has a dimple!" It was also at about this time that they made Elle latch to me.
And I remember (and now I am embarrassed that I said it) telling my doctor, Dra. baka mapalit yung baby ko.
I did not expect it to be that quick but I am very very very very very thankful nonetheless.
After all the procedures were done on me and Elle, I was transferred to the recovery room and Elle was transferred to the nursery. This was at a little after 10:00 am. I was still high on the adrenaline rush so I could not sleep, I kept asking the nurse when I was gonna be transferred to my room so that I could see the baby and so that I could watch TV or read a book. I was literally counting the minutes.
Before 12:00 noon, they wheeled me out of the recovery room and into my room, where I finally got to see my little baby girl.
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| This was while they were wheeling Elle out of the delivery room to the nursery. |
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| Elle in the MMC Nursery |
