Liam's birth story... continued

still on 12 Feb:

At 3PM I was 3 cm. dilated. At 6PM I was between 5 and 6 cm. At 9PM, I was 9 cm dilated... so pretty much you can tell that the graph for my dilation is a straight 45 degree upward.

When I was fully dilated, at around 1030 PM, I started pushing. I think I officially started pushing at 11PM and nothing really seemed to make any impact on the baby's position. He was still stuck 4 cm away from the exit. The midwife also said his head was positioned at 5 o'clock but that just confused me because I (still) don't know where 12 o'clock is supposed to point to despite our initial idea that it pointed straight up. 

It didn't help being on epidural because I had to rely on the CTG monitor to know about my contractions so that I could start pushing. I wanted the 12th to be Liam's birthday just because I didn't want him to have a Friday the 13th birthday. Jon, being who he is, preferred the 13th and for him to have that Friday the 13th birthday! Anyways, I was getting annoyed at my midwife for not making me push one after another because I wanted to give birth before midnight. At 1130PM, I just had to give that up and just started wanting to have the baby out because it was just taking so long. 

13 Feb:

By 2AM, when all pushing didn't do a thing, next thing I learned was that I was gonna be moved to the operating/delivery room.

I was prepped on my bed, stir-ups on, I was like a big turkey laying there with legs up while doctors walked in. The doctor (Dr. Edwards) who was gonna perform my assisted delivery explained to me why I needed forceps (or suction if they could find the sucking piece of it) to deliver Liam. Apparently 3 hours of pushing is enough. The baby starts disliking pushing after 3 hours, especially when his heart rate is not bouncing back to above 120. Liam was in distress and was in immediate need to be born already.

So while they were getting things ready, I managed a conversation with Dr. Edwards and this doctor-in-training he was mentoring about gaining residency (for doctors) in New Zealand. I didn't even notice he started the episiotomy on me. So fast forward to putting the forceps one after the other, I was instructed to push and that I did with might. As he pulled I felt getting dragged across the bed so I let him know that! He said "I know!" and put his right arm against my left thigh and pulled Liam sideways. Jon told me when Liam's head was out and I was still pushing and pushing. The next thing I knew was Liam plopped on my tummy, all gooey and crying his lungs out. Jon cut his umbilical cord and when we agreed that I was fine, he took off to check the baby.

The placenta was actively managed because I had forceps delivery. They tried to get him started with breastfeeding but there was just nothing and I was knackered! I requested for a decent meal before I start getting sleepy. While I ate, I realized that I was having allergic reaction - eyes getting alien-like - and it was probably from one of the medication given to me during episiotomy. They told me later that it was probably from Marcaine (sp?). By 5AM, I was totally crashing out and I don't remember anything after that. Oh, I remember my midwife waking me up to sign a document about giving Liam formula. Can you believe that?

I woke up at around 10AM the same day and didn't really get a good long sleep after that. I was moved to the maternity ward in the afternoon and we thought that Jon could stay the night. At 930PM while Jon walked Liam in the corridor, a nurse/midwife told him that he should've left by 830PM but nobody told us! There was no sign at all either! So he hurriedly left and I felt a bit sad to see him go because I sure needed help that night. I wanted to sleep a good long one after a full (achy) day. That night Liam didn't sleep from 10PM and 2AM, but he managed to sleep through til 6AM. He woke up for some milk and slept an hour more. Jon was back at 8AM and I was released from the hospital by 1230PM. Woo hoo!

As of writing, Liam's 16 days old. We went to our first catch up with our antenatal classmates. It was good to see the kids after meeting with the pregnant couples for 8 weeks last year. We decided to host next week's catch up, so that means we'll have photos to post!

Liam's birth story

11 Feb:

Got a call from Margaret (Midwife #2) to inform me of the result from a previous ultrasound scan saying that my fluid level was low, and that I should go to the hospital within a couple of hours to get scanned again. At 1PM, Jon dropped me off at the Delivery Suite reception desk. He had to go back to work real quick for an appointment. After an hour on CTG monitor where everything seemed fine, I was sent for an ultrasound and was instructed to get the report and bring it back to Delivery Suite. The fluid pool measured at 0cm! I had no fluid left it seemed like! On the way back to Delivery, Jon had come back from his appointment and when we met Margaret she looked at the report and said that she'd get back to us to talk about induction.

And so I was officially admitted to the hospital at 5PM after meeting a doctor who talked to me about induction. I was going to be induced the next day, between 8 and 9AM, hopefully have the baby by the afternoon (which I thought was possible at that time of hearing this). We left to get our stuff at home and had our dinner. Before I left, I was given my first shot of antibiotics. The next shot was 6 hours later (1030PM) and that meant we had enough time between 5 and 10PM to do our preparations. I decided to be back at the hospital by 8PM and we watched 2 movies that night. - The American Haunting and Emma - but I slept through the 2nd half of Emma when I realized that I had already seen it.

12 Feb:

I woke up at around 5AM to pee and felt so awake but decided to catch some more snooze. By 7AM I woke up to Ting just walking into the room, just as what she said she'd be in! Jon woke up too and he went home to pick up my folks and possibly grab some breakfast. I had my breakfast and was immediately put on CTG to be monitored.

At 830AM, a doctor checked my cervix and said that it had effaced but had not dilated. He put on a gel to start induction of labor. Within minutes I could already feel the beginning of cramps. It just felt like period cramps that became stronger over time. I was cramping until about 1PM and after that I was experiencing strong contractions. They seemed relentless! I'm not sure what time I started with breathing in gas but I sure didn't like it. It sure relaxed me but it made me feel ill. I had to stop because if I didn't I'd probably have vomited there! Ting kept reminding me to breathe gas in with every contraction but I just couldn't. Jon was also very good in reminding me to take deep breaths because in all that pain, it just seemed easy to focus on wanting to get rid of it and scream instead of breathing correctly. I snapped at Jon for maybe a couple of times because I wanted him to do the right thing without me telling him what to do and to also stop making the situation seemed light. I wanted him to suffer too! He was very good with acupressure though. I gotta give the dad that! Ting also did acupressure on my feet. 

Contractions are cramps multiplied by 100 I think. By 4ishPM, Ting started suggesting epidural but I still took my time. I said yes to it finally but didn't get it until 5PM. That time the contractions were truly relentless and too painful. I don't even know how I managed to keep still during the application of epidural. I finally decided on epidural because the pain was making me emotional - I was feeling sorry for myself already and the pain had started me whimpering. It wouldn't be good for me in the long run. After 5 minutes, the epidural started working and Jon left to go home and attend to our dog who was left alone all day!

More soon, but for now please visit our Flickr page for Liam Conor's photos.

still pregnant

yes. it is feb 11th and i am still pregnant!!! what more can i say???

i do get contractions, especially after walking for an hour or so. i tried walking more last night while i was feeling some contractions to induce labor. sigh. it can be quite tiring to wait. i've reached that point where i don't care about the pain anymore. i just want to give birth now!

there is not a day that i don't get asked if i already had a baby or not. i'm sure we'll tell everyone as soon as he pops out!

still waiting...

it is the 8th of february and i am STILL pregnant! i'm getting impatient because i'd just rather get it over and done with, you know?

my midwife took me to the hospital this morning after i told her that i had some watery discharge last night. the baby's heart was monitored and so were my contractions for an hour. my discharge was also checked but it wasn't my water, it was just pre-labor discharge which was normal they said. i was initially set up for an ultrasound scan but they changed their mind the last minute because the results of the monitored heartbeat and contraction were not alarming and indicated that the baby was in good condition.

so i went home, had lunch, took a short nap, went to the beach for a couple of hours to walk with jon and the dog. after a while of walking i thought i was having labor but the discomfort and pain stopped when i rested. maybe i should have continued walking despite the pain to get on labor, but it's hard!

wellington is such a small place. i found out that my midwife is a coworker's wife!

today is the due day

but i'm still pregnant!

i was thinking of writing down notes for a longer, and possibly more comprehensive, rundown of my labour but i have too much time to kill. this morning at 10AM, i had a "show". it was the funniest thing when i called jon about it. he saw it and was grossed out! :-P i didn't know he'd react that way. sorry dude!

i have been having pains from the pressure on my area down there. i woke up at 5AM today and had pains at around 6AM. it was then that i decided to wake jon up because i was having the i-can't-make-any-noise kind of pain. mom makes me walk a lot to make me go on labour and hopefully have a fast and safe delivery. i complain and i get annoyed easily. i wanted to nap this afternoon and i did at the beginning of Oprah but woke up way before it even ended. blech.

so it looks like in a day or two, somebody will be introduced to all of you. :) we'll surely post pictures.

small updates

• my parents have arrived and have been neat freaks! aylavet! :)
• 5 days to go says the countdown
• just waiting for the little one to decide it's time to be out
• eating and eating mama's cookin'
• getting nightly massage
• getting pulled (against my will) to take walks