Our Birth Story

July 12 started off rather early - at 4:30am I woke up with contractions that weren't monumental... just strong enough to wake me up and leave me awake for the next few hours. I also leaked a bit of fluid, but was unsure if my membranes had ruptured or I was just willing it to happen. I called the hospital to ask when I should come in, and they said when my contractions are 3 minutes apart. So I tried to go back to sleep and forget about the leaking fluid - it might just have been normal discharge after all.

Come 1:00pm, I had an appointment with Dr. Paul - a routine prenatal one since I hadn't given birth yet. She did an internal exam and found me 1cm dilated, and proceeded to fill out paperwork for a scheduled induction on July 20. Since I was on the exam table already, I asked her to check out the fluid leaking off me - which she did via a speculum exam. She was mildly surprised at what she saw but did not want to alarm me so she calmly told me to wait while she called the hospital so they could check me out.

So I called Aldo (who was in a meeting, right in the middle of a presentation) and told him to meet me at the hospital... and no, it wasn't an emergency, just a routine check to make sure things were still intact. I was ready to take the bus to the hospital since it was quicker than being on hold for a cab, but Aldo phoned me right back to say he was on his way to pick me up.

At St. Paul's, they hooked me up to the fetal monitor and did another speculum exam on me. Two doctors and a microscope later, Dr. Paul arrived. Together with the resident OB-GYN, they tried to put two and two together and concluded that the leaky fluid I was complaining about was my bag of waters - and it had traces of meconium, so they didn't want to take chances and let us stay.

They had decided to pop my bag of waters to make sure it was that, and also to help my labor along since I had been in the early phase from 4:30 that morning. Once I was given a room, Aldo left to get all our hospital gear - which we had ready for weeks.

After settling in, the resident doctors and the OB-GYN appeared with a plastic knitting-hook-like apparatus... this was what they were going to use to pop my bag of waters ACK! But the OB assured me that no, it wasn't going all the way in - she was just going to literally poke the bag with the tip. Which she did... and much to my - and everyone else - surprise, no water gushed out. At this point, they concluded that I had leaking fluid because it was just a tear on the top of the bag, as opposed to having a big-ass gush when the bag pops open.

They also decided to put me on Oxytocin to speed up the contractions. We had to wait for the shift change in the nursing station before they hooked me up to the IV because apparently, when you're given Oxytocin, you need a nurse to monitor you. So at 8:00, I was poked for an IV tube for the Oxytocin. Just a few minutes into it, my contractions started escalating - now I could feel them coming, and had to pause when someone was talking to me. By 10pm, I was only 3cm dilated so the nurses added more to my IV drip, while at the same time monitoring my contractions and the fetal heartbeat. By 12:30am, Dr. Paul popped in and suggested I should probably have an epidural to help me rest, and also as a back-up in case I needed a c-section. I was pretty tired at that point so I didn't need much convincing... the epidural was put in by 1am. Putting in the small tube on my back was painful - especially since the Anaesthetist asked me to be still while having a contraction! I nearly tore Aldo's shirt apart while I held on to him to keep my back curled and still. But the pain was well worth it - 15 or so minutes after it was put in, I didn't feel a thing... I would see the contraction on the fetal monitor, but not really feel it. The nurse had to put in a catheter since I wasn't going to walk around anymore at that point... I hardly felt my legs, let alone be able to stand in them!

By 5am, I was only dilated by 5cm - the other 3 moms in labor the night before had given birth by then and I was only 5cm! By 10am, the doctors all agreed that if we all waited for 10cm it might be July 20 already... so Dr. Paul told me we were going to have a c-section... which was fine by me. I wasn't one to be adamant about a natural birth so cut me up if you have to!

I was wheeled into the OR by 1pm. I was given an extra dose of epidural, and some morphine. In 5 short minutes, I couldn't feel anything from the chest down. At this point, the Anaesthetist was talking to me the most... he told me I'd be shaking uncontrollably, but this would be normal. I think he was cute - but then I only saw his blue eyes and his mask. LOL. Before I knew it, a sheet was drawn in front of me, and Aldo was beside me in a scrub suit. Ten minutes later, I felt pressure on my belly and the baby was out! She was not made to cry because of the meconium so she
was placed in the baby warming thing and given oxygen... then the pediatrician suctioned out all the meconium from her throat and nose, and she was finally able to cry.



Aldo then cut her umbilical cord - and was told by the pediatrician to cut faster because Aldo was taking too long.




After that, she was swaddled and given to Aldo and me.







One picture after, Amori was wheeled out by the nurses, taking Aldo with them. The doctors were still stitching me up. All I could hear was "staple here, sew here". Yikes! I was sent to Recovery 20 minutes after, and stayed there til I could feel my legs and chest, which took 2 hours or so.. after which, I was wheeled back to the room where Aldo and Amori were waiting for me. All that time, they were in the room together - trying to figure each other out. We immediately started breastfeeding because she had been rooting and trying to feed from Aldo since she was born. Hehehe.

6 hours later, I was standing up and walking to the bathroom because I desparately wanted to brush my teeth and wash my face. LOL. And the next day, I was able to take a shower and function as normal as my stitches would allow me. After all, no one was going to take care of Amori except Aldo and me so there was no space to be maarte. LOL.

The hours and days that followed are now a blur, and have been a constant rollercoaster ride. Since my milk had not come in yet by the 2nd day, Amori was getting hungry - but of course we didn't know that so in blind panic and utter frustration and exhaustion, I sent Aldo to a 24-hour pharmacy to buy a pacifier at 3am. The days that followed were pretty much the same... Aldo and I in a zombie-like state while our little girl wailed her lungs out - crying as long as 3 hours straight at times.

We were finally sent home after 5 long days. Little did we know that being home was another adventure altogether! But bringing home our little bundle of amore was the best part, and the beginning of an ongoing saga of sleepless nights and even more crying spells!

Funny... I thought labor pains and stitches were painful... but heck - now all is forgotten as there is a little girl to feed, change, and care for!