16 February 2007
Ale and I were going through the motions of a typical, busy Friday which, for the past two weeks, meant back-to-back visits to Sweet Success at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Long Beach for my gestational diabetes treatment and then to Los Alamitos Medical Center to see my O.B. However, this time around, we were sent home from Long Beach and asked to get ready to go to the hospital.
My Sweet Success program required me to go through a frequent Non Stress Test and Ultrasound. That day, the sonologist found that my amniotic fluid level was very low but the baby was doing very well despite it. The staff then called my OB and my doctor said, “Jen, you don’t need to see me today. I want you to go home, prepare your things and check yourself in the hospital at about 12:30 a.m., Saturday. We have to induce you.”
Ale and I did just that. We went home, finished packing my bags and waited. Some of my titas and titos came over and waited with us. Thus, we had a loving entourage upon checking in at Los Alamitos Medical Center to cheer us on.
17 February 2007
Birthing Suite 214 was already waiting for me. The minute I changed into the hospital gown then was strapped into the fetal monitor and got hooked into an I.V. machine, I knew that God definitely had plans other than what was written on our birth plan! Ü Instead of the active labor I was anticipating and physically prepared for, I was about to be confined to a bed and not allowed to walk around. Here’s why…
At 1 a.m. I was given medicine to help my cervix efface and thin out. It took 4 tablets every four hours for this to happen. The frequent internal examination was quite painful but, other than that, it was a night of uninterrupted sleep for Ale and myself.
My doctor expected that the procedure would help start my contractions without the need to inject me with the labor-contractions-inducing drug Pitocin. I did have some contractions but it wasn’t enough to dilate me.
At 1 p.m. I was given the initial dosage of Pitocin via I.V. and that was when my labor officially began. I started to feel light contractions which progressed to stronger but still tolerable ones (my threshold for pain is quite high). I was at 1-2 cm. for what seemed like forever (you need to be 10 cm to be able to deliver)!
By 10 p.m. there was still no progress but the contractions already reached a point where I needed some form of relief. My Lamaze breathing and Ale’s coaching and massage helped but going through just that meant no sleep. So, after my parents left for the night, Ale and I asked for a pain reliever and I was given one through my I.V. The medicine left me groggy and hallucinating but it allowed Ale and I to sleep for at least two hours.
18 February 2007
I woke up to sharp, frequent pains at 2 a.m. I woke up Ale and we went through the Lamaze breathing, imagery and massage but it was no longer working. I was blessed to have a team of Filipino nurses that night so they gave me a second, stronger round of pain medicine but it was no longer as effective as the first. I would have short dreams and each ended with excruciating pain.
When the nurse came in to examine me, I had finally moved to 3-4 cm and all of my water had finally rushed out which meant I could already ask for an epidural. I held on for another hour but within that time I was already suffering and I could see it in Ale’s eyes that he it pained him to see me in that state. We requested for an epidural but I was in so much pain that I felt that it took so long for the anesthesiologist to arrive. When he finally did (and he asked Ale to step aside because the last husband he allowed to watch him just fainted), the contractions were so strong that I no longer felt any of the pain that should have come with having a loooong needle inserted on one’s spine. A catheter was attached to my bladder since I could no longer stand. In less than five minutes, I was in numb heaven!
I woke up at around 7 a.m. to the news that I was already 6-8 cm dilated and that I would deliver before lunch. My mom and dad arrived to see me sleeping soundly with an oxygen mask attached to me (to make sure that the baby got the best oxygen possible).
By 10 a.m. I told the nurse, Katherine, that I was feeling pressure every time that monitor signaled a strong contraction. She checked and found that I was already almost there and she prepped me for pushing.
I was very groggy and my arms ached from lying down too much that I didn’t feel I had enough energy for the work that I was about to do. When Dr. Dikio arrived at 10:30 a.m., my mom was on one side, Katherine & Ale on the other side of the bed holding on to me to help me push. And push I did! The baby was facing up, the wrong position, which made it very difficult for me and which required a pretty big episiotomy and the use of a vacuum. With whatever energy I had left, I breathed my little angel out into the world.
Due to the stress of pushing and pulling out of my womb, Teo came out grayish and limp. He did not cry right away and the vacuum left a circular wound on the crown of his lovely head. So, after he was put on my chest and Ale cut his cord, he was examined and taken to the nursery to recover.
I was left in the room with my mom and Ale shivering and shaking from exhaustion and lack of food and water for 11 hours. But God is good because I was able to eat and drink and sleep right away although I was beset with a slight fever. In the afternoon, Teo and I were both better so they roomed us together in a post-partum room and were discharged the next day.
Ale and I are adjusting quite well to the schedule of having a little man with us. We take turns walking up in the middle of the night to feed and change him.
I had planned to fully breastfeed and we are on the way there! The hospital staff was not supposed to give him a bottle but it was medically imperative that to give Teo formula for him to gain his strength so we are just finishing his supply from the hospital (Similac ready-to-drink) and will switch to breast milk completely after that. Praise God that I have already my initial milk supply (Colostrum) to feed the always-hungry tummy of Teo! We rented a hospital-grade breast-pump to help me out with ‘production’.
For the ladies, well, the pain is indescribable and all throughout I kept this in my mind and heart: When God brings me to it, He’ll bring me through it. After that, I think I can physically handle anything – and I know that includes gaining my pre-preggy body back slowly but surely (I still look 4 months pregnant).
Thank you for praying with us during our entire pregnancy and especially when I was in labor! We cannot wait to bring Teo home so he can personally thank you! Ü
