0940 hours
We reached the delivery suite and
went through the registration procedures. There was a lot of waiting around for
them to process us so we simply chatted with each other. I warned Joshua that
the first major part of inducing is long and boring so I told him to do his own
work while I rested and saved my strength for the real deal at the end.
1055 hours
The doctor finally inserted the
first tablet to induce labor. We had already rallied our friends to pray for a
quick and successful process and the Lord was merciful to answer that prayer.
Within minutes, the first contraction began. I was wondering if the
contractions were effective enough to dilate my cervix since I did not feel any
pain. It was very much like the Braxton Hicks, which I had constantly
experienced previously. In fact, if I were not paying attention, I thought that
the contractions had stopped, till I check the machine to ascertain otherwise.
1330 hours
My lunch came and I dug in heartily
as I knew that I would need all the strength for the later part of the day and
Joshua went to get his own food.
1445 hours
The readings on my contractions
convinced my gynea to start giving me the antibiotics for the GBS infection. I
was still doubtful that the painless contractions were really doing their job
in opening my cervix.
1555 hours
My cervix was finally checked and
announced to be 3 cm dilated. I was surprised since previously, I would have
found it difficult to walk during contractions by this time and yet I still
felt nothing. I could only be grateful to God for allowing me an easy first
part of the labor.
1840 hours
By now, I started feeling pain
during contractions and thought that I was progressing towards active labor. I
was already 5 cm dilated and coping pretty well with breathing techniques and
Joshua’s massages.
1900 hours
My gynea discovered during an
internal exam that Joram’s hand was at the cervix. She told her colleagues that
if my waters break, they must help me push his hand back into the womb because
if the hand comes out before the head, I would have to go for an emergency
caesarean.
1927 hours
Joram was apparently eager to
come out. With a mighty punch, I could clearly feel him break the water bag
himself! Fear griped me as I remembered what my gynea said. I tried not to move
till the doctor came to examine me. She frantically tried to stuff his hand
back in and even asked her colleagues to help her out too. With all these
happening, I started crying out both inwardly to God for help and outwardly to
release the stress building up in me. Thankfully, God intervened and the hand
was no longer in the way after 10 minutes. It was safe to continue the labor
till the end especially since the GBS infection was no longer a concern
anymore. However, another problem began to pose itself to us.
1937 hours
With the breaking of the waters,
I felt a great need to bear down and the pain greatly intensified. All hell
broke loose and I started screaming during contractions to feel better. I told
the doctor and nurses that I wanted to push and they checked me. I was still
only 5 to 6 cm dilated! When I asked if I could push, the doctor said in an
uncertain tone that I could push if I really wanted to. A nurse then added that
I was not yet fully dilated. Yet another medical personnel asked me if I wanted
an epidural since it might take some time before I deliver. I was extremely
confused. I didn’t know what to do. I could only yell out in frustration and
pull at my husband’s arm during each rapidly coming contraction and try
discussing about what to do in between. After being bombarded by a barrage of
suggestions for me to take the epidural, I finally acceded to get them off my
back. I guess it must have been rather traumatizing for them to hear my loud
screaming.
1945 hours
Someone called for my gynea and
an anesthetist came in to go through with me the long speech regarding the
risks of epidural. Halfway through, I totally lost interest and decided to
listen to my own body and start pushing as I could feel the baby coming
through. I screamed my lungs out with each contraction as I pushed with all my
strength. The medical personnel noticed what I was doing and was in a frenzy to
help me. There was simply not enough time to put up the delivery equipment.
Someone kept telling me to control my breathing and not scream. Believe me, I
would if it were of any use at all. Breathing in and out only served to
interfere with my pushing so I resumed my screaming and grunting.
2001 hours
After only a few pushes, Joram
was out and I could clearly see the shocked look on the doctor’s face at the
speed of it all. She was unprepared to be the one doing the delivery and
fumbled during the extracting of the cord blood. It would have been amusing if
it weren’t for the pain and distress I was in, trying to convince everyone that
I was ready to give birth despite being only 5 cm dilated and that screaming
was the best way to help me to do it. After a few minutes, my gynea finally
arrived to deliver the placenta and stitch me up. She was the only who
understood automatically my need to scream to relieve stress. She actually told
me I could scream all I want if I found the stitching painful because then, at
least, she would know that I was alright. Ironically, I was feeling
light-headed at that time due to the sudden blood loss and the bright lights in
the room. I did scream though, after I felt better. Together with Joram’s
crying, we made a great duet in the delivery suite. LOL
All in all, I was glad we went
through with the inducing. Joram was already 3kg at 38 weeks, the biggest baby
I had so far. If I had waited longer, I wonder if I would have difficulty
pushing him out. God’s mercy was evident throughout the process and everything
turned out well. After the stitching was done. I did what I had never done in
the delivery suite before. I broke down in tears of joy and cried to Joshua
that it was finished. The vision was fulfilled and my mission finally
accomplished. To God be all the glory!
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| Greetings, brand new world! |
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| My babe and I |
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| Home Sweet Home |
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| Joram's newborn photo is finally up! |
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