This Is It!

29 January 2011 3:30pm

After pre-labor room, I was wheeled into the lamaze room of Medical City. In the lamaze room, the patient is allowed to have one companion who will be with you the entire labor and delivery of your child. Going to the lamaze room, we passed by the labor room and the delivery room although I didn't see much what was inside since we just passed by them in the hallway. The lamaze room in Medical City has pink walls, the hospital bed with the different monitors beside it, a purple sofa, a small television set and other medical stuff. Joema entered the room at the other side where he has to go through a sterile area and he had to change into scrubs.

5pm



I think another IE was done but the result was still 5cm. Honestly, I don't remember how many IE's were done to me before the actual delivery, I can only guess and try to remember. But I think this was the last one done when I felt the pain while the resident did the exam. I was grateful my friend warned me that IE's can be quite painful, "para kang nire-rape" is how she described it.

By this time I think my parents and brother already arrived in the hospital. Joema went out to meet them and show them the room he got.

6pm

The anesthesiologist, Dr. Mike Reyes, arrived to give me epidural. I still have not felt any labor pains. The midwife who was with me the whole time and was monitoring the contractions was amazed that I'm not feeling any pain because she said the contractions are already strong. As I've said, I know I'm having contractions because the "belt" that was wrapped around my waist to monitor them tightens every time I have contractions, that was my only cue - no pains. So Dr. Mike asked me to lie on my side, the midwife helped me to crouch a little and then the anesthesiologist pricked my back with a needle. He was also quite amazed how calm and cool I was with everything and wished every patient was like me. I was beaming with pride while deep down inside I was cursing Joema for not being there with me while the epidural was administered. I did feel a little pain when I think air passed through the hole they made in my spine. Dr. Mike explained that since I was not feeling the pain of the contractions, our basis if the anesthesia was working will be the IE's. He said I should not be feeling the pain anymore when they do the IE if the epidural is already working. The initial shot they gave, he said, will take effect in 30 minutes and will last for two hours. After that I have the option to either ask them again to administer another shot or they can give me a button wherein I can administer the epidural myself. He said I will not overdose with the second option because it was set up so that it will only administer 4 shots within an hour. So even if I push that "magic button" 10 times only 4 will be administered. So yes I opted for the magic button.

Joema was back in the lamaze room after I've had the epidural although he was still able to meet our anesthesiologist. I was upset with him for not being there. He said my parents brought him dinner and they told him to eat before going back to me because they knew the wait might take long. So I forgave him, no point in getting angry with him anyway.

After 30minutes I think another IE was done. Lo and behold, the epidural works! Epidural-1, IE-0! Yey haha! Although I was still 5cm dilated. Tsk, tsk!



9pm

I've asked for the button now, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to bear the pain. My OB's intern (I think) had to ask the anesthesiologist's resident for the button because they did not leave it with me. Funny coz the button was just there, right beside the apparatus hehehe. Anyway, the intern was a guy. I remember feeling "bwisit" that he takes a peek everytime an IE was done to me. But what can I do?

10pm

I fell asleep and was woken up by a resident asking if I've already peed. They need my urine for testing. So they had to put a catheter to get my urine. It was my first time to use a bedpan.

My OB arrived and did an IE again. She was updated on my status - strong, regular contractions, no pain yet. She said that I was still at 5cm and the baby's head is floating which she said wasn't the case in the clinic earlier in the day. So they had to burst my waterbag (although I realized it much later, I thought I was still peeing hehe). They also gave me some meds through the IV which helped progressed my contractions. After that, I was feeling the labor pains. The pain I felt was just like what I feel when I'm having dysmenorrhea although it didn't spread from my tummy to my lower back as what I've read in some books. I only felt it in my abdomen area. It was still manageable although I think it was also because of the epidural. Since there was another apparatus hooked to me which took my blood pressure every 5 minutes (I knew because I heard the doctor said to set it to 5mins), I just count to three the number of times it took my BP and then push that magic button.

The resident also asked my to lie on my left side (for blood circulation) and the bed was half-raised so that gravity will help the baby go down. When they raised the bed, the button of my epidural was disconnected to the tube because I was lying down on it. I was almost paranoid I destroyed the contraption. But no worries, the doctor just connected the tube again and everything's fine.

11pm

The resident went back and did another IE. She said I was already 7cm dilated. Whew! Everyone was talking about how there are 3 other pregnant women in the labor room but not all of them are in active labor yet. One was even only 1cm dilated and another one was due to be transferred in the lamaze room after we use it.

11:30pm

The resident did another IE and said I was about ready. So she asked me to practice pushing. So I did push when she asked me to do so. I just had to remember what my OB taught me. The resident said I did a good job pushing. And then she gathered everyone else for my delivery. (Or did she do an IE around 11pm and return to me around 11:30pm to practice pushing? I don't quite remember now.)

Anyways, after that everyone was inside the room,my OB and her residents, the pediatrician's residents, the anesthesiologist and his residents, midwives and nurses. They had propped the stirrups and everyone was seeing my woohoo hahaha! But I couldn't care less honestly, I was just excited to push my baby and see her. My OB had me practiced my pushing again. I couldn't hold the handle of my bed on my right because my hand was swollen from the IV needle. But I had to still hold it while pushing. By this time, Joema had his gloves on and our camera was passed on to one of the residents to take the picture.

The pushing was done with every contractions. Three sets of 10-second-pushing for every contraction. On the first and second contractions, I pushed and pushed and pushed. And a female resident was bearing down on my abdomen as well - I forgot the term it was called but my OB said that this was really usually done to help the baby down the pelvic area. Joema later told me that during this time, I didn't have a clue but my OB was already doing an episiotomy and was just keeping me distracted telling me how good my push was but *cut cut* she did haha! Anyways, on the third contraction, Dr. Mike was the one who pushed down on my abdomen and all of a sudden I heard my baby crying.

30 January 2011, 12:40am




Our baby! Miya's first photo outside my tummy.



I was almost in tears when I saw her. My OB placed her on my tummy and my immediate reaction was to hold her. When I was about to hold her, almost everyone was like shouting "no, no, no" but my OB said it was okay to touch the baby because she's not sterile yet. So I was able to hold her.



Joema cutting the cord.

Our first family photo. Funny coz I remember telling Joema and the resident holding our camera that I want a family picture.

Miya getting cleaned up.

She's still crying.



My two greatest loves

How It All Started

It all started, well sort of started on my birthday, 28th of January. My family were expecting and kind of hoping that I will give birth on my birthday. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before in my blog but the 28th is kind of special with my father's side of the family. Aside from my birthday, it's my great grandmother and my grandmother's birthday. It's also my parent's wedding anniversary. This year the 28th fell on a Friday so I opted to take a leave on that day. But since Joema had work we didn't really celebrate the day by going out, he just bought food and cake instead and took them home. Anyways, the next day the 29th, I was scheduled for my OB visit. When we got to the clinic there were no parking slots available, so Joema dropped me off and then went to my office to park the car. He was planning on just picking me up if my checkup was just for a short time. You see, every Friday night before my Saturday checkup he signs me up in the list outside the doctor's clinic. So if we're number 1 on the list, even if they were already checking on number 7 I will be the next patient the doctor will see. Hence, we were kind of expecting that the checkup won't take that long. When I came in I think another patient just got in so I called Joema to tell him he had lots of time to follow and I really wanted him there (it would have been the first time that he didn't accompany me inside the clinic if his plan pushed through). Which was a good thing because I was already 3cm dilated when my OB did an internal exam. But I'm already getting ahead of myself. When we got in the clinic, my OB did the usual ultrasound. And then she did a 4D ultrasound (which I thought was not possible after the 5th month). Later on she told us she did the ultrasound because the baby was facing her the right way, thus we got a clear picture of her.


After my ultrasound, my OB said she'll do an IE since my tummy's so hard. As mentioned in my previous posts, I've been having contractions since September. The contractions aren't really new to me. So when I feel a tightening in my belly, that was a usual thing. And I really thought the baby was just moving inside me. After the IE, my OB asked "Wala ka talagang nararamdaman? 3cm ka na." It turned out I was already in labor. As I've said, I was already 3cm dilated so she told me (Joema was outside in her clinic and not inside the ultrasound room when she did the IE) that we should eat lunch first and then after two hours we can go to the hospital to get admitted. I'm not sure how I felt then, it must've been a mixture of emotions but I remember feeling a certain calmness take over me. Which was the complete opposite with Joema. When the OB told him what's happening, the idea of me giving birth that day didn't really sink in haha! After being told to have lunch then go to the hospital, he asked "So Doc, ngayon na po sya manganganak?" (or something to that effect), to which our OB replied that it is possible or I can give birth the next day, it all depends on the progress of my labor. So after our OB gave us final instructions (go to the 5th floor where the pre-labor room is, we should park in Rockwell instead of at The Medical City so that we can save on parking fee, take off contact lens) and gave us a slip for the admission in the hospital, we paid the bill and went straight to Megamall.

We bought old showbiz magazines (since we weren't sure how long we'll wait for the delivery and we were advised that we can bring in magazines in the labor room) before going to HK Choi for lunch. By this time, I was texting our family and friends that I'm about to be admitted to the hospital. There was a Baby & Co. sale that time at Megamall and I really wanted to go but Joema didn't want to go anymore. "Nagle-labor ka na nga gusto mo pa magshopping," he said.

Lunch at HK Choi

For posterity's sake, at 37 weeks and 4 days

After lunch, we went to the groceries to buy a few essentials like snacks, bottled water (my OB said I can still drink while I'm in labor). I even saw an officemate at the groceries and told her I was already in labor. I was really excited while Joema was a nervous wreck haha! We had to drop by the office to get the car and wait for a few more minutes because Doc said to go to the hospital 2 hours after having lunch. We didn't have to go back home for our things because they were already packed in our car's trunk.

We got to the pre-labor room around 2:30pm. Joema was asked to leave me there and wait for instructions if he had to go and reserve a room for us. I guess they had to check first if I should be really admitted or be sent back home. But I had the admission slip from my OB which I gave to them. I was asked to change into the hospital robe and then was placed in a bed. The pre-labor room in Medical City is a small room with, I think only, 3 beds inside it separated by curtains. I was strapped into a device that monitored the contractions. That's when I realized the tightening I was feeling was contractions and not the baby moving inside me because they were monitoring each tightening of my tummy. I wasn't really feeling anything, I only know I'm having contractions which I realized only then at the pre-labor room. In the pre-labor room they had to ask me a bunch of questions for their forms, blood was drawn, enema was done. The resident also did another IE (IE's are hell!!!), she advised me that I was dilated 4-5cm already. After she talked to my OB over the phone she told me they can transfer me already. In my birthplan, we asked to be roomed into the lamaze room only during active labor, otherwise I should be transferred to the labor room first. But since they said that 4-5cm is already considered active labor they will transfer me to the lamaze room instead of the labor room. That was fine by me, atleast Joema will be with me all the way. Take note, I wasn't still feeling any pain. I think I was wheeled into the lamaze room before 4pm.

To be continued...