Birthing Kwento - from Mommy's Point of View

Brief background, my due date is on October 4 but I want to give birth
on the last week of September because Paul (my husband) works
abroad and arrived last September 23 and will be here only till October
11 and I would like him to spend more time with our baby. Upon his
arrival, we went agad to my OB to ask if I can give birth na anytime.
Magpapa-induce na lang ako para mas mapabilis. Ok daw sabi ng OB,
she gave me medicines to take (pampalambot daw ng cervix) and
advised me na maglakad-lakad muna then come back on Monday
(September 25) para maglagay siya ng pampahilab.

Monday, we went to her clinic as advised, so nilagyan niya ko ng
pampahilab and advised us na mag-contact (hehe!) para makatulong sa
contractions (which unfortunately eh di namin nagawa, sayang! Hehe!)
After that, mega lakad kami ulit ni Paul. 5am ng Tuesday, pagpunta ko
sa restroom, may mga blood na ko nakita and it scared me kasi ang
dami niya and buo-buo. I was expecting na yung bloody show eh hindi
ganon, yung tipong, liquid lang talaga, yung sa kin kasi may buo-buo
talaga. So I asked Paul to take me to the hospital. Prepared na naman
yung mga bags kaya alis na kami agad. We then proceeded to the pre-
labor room sa medical city and gave them my admission slip. They
strapped me up and monitored my contractions pati na din fetal
heartbeat ni baby. 1cm pa lang daw ako, (hehe!) and di pa ganon
kadalas yung contractions ko so the resident OB called my OB and
asked what we should do. My OB advised us to go home muna and
visit her on her clinic later that day kaya umuwi muna kami. Kakatawa
nga kasi yung sis ko nag text pala sa mga relatives to pray for my safe
delivery eh false alarm pa. hehe! We went home muna then visited my
OB sa clinic ng mga lunch time. When she examined me, 1cm pa din
nga daw and advised me na maglakad-lakad ulit but told me to go back
to the hospital in the afternoon kasi medyo madami nga akong bloody
show. Kaya pagdating ng hapon, balik kami ulit sa medical city at dala-
dala ulit namin ni Paul yung mga gamit namin at iniwan muna sa car.
Sa pre-labor room, ganon pa din yung opening ng cervix ko, 1cm pa din
so kinausap ako ng OB ko kung ano yung plan namin ni Paul. Kung
balik ako clinic niya lagyan ulit ng pampahilab or magpa-admit na ako
para ituloy na yung pag induce. Nagdecide kami ni Paul na magpa-
admit na ko kasi kakapagod din pabalik-balik ng hospital. So mga 7pm
admit na ko at dinala na sa labor room. Nagulat pa kami ni Paul na di
na pala kami magkikita kapag na-admit ako at after giving birth na kami
ulit magkikita. Kala kasi namin, I can wait muna sa hospital room para
together kami, di pala ganon. Hehe! Kaya ayun, pinagbihis na ko ng
hospital gown and binilin na kay paul yung things ko and they asked
him na to get a room for us pati na din dinner for me kasi sisimulan na
nga yung pag induce. Ay before pala nila ko dinala sa labor room,
shave muna and asked us to sign some documents. Tapos ayun, punta
na sa labor room.

Sa labor room, mga 2 lang kaming patients, that was around 7pm.
Dinala na din sa kin yung dinner ko and after eating, may nilagay sa
butt ko for edema daw. After a few minutes, nag take effect agad and
punta na ko cr. After that strap nila ko ulit ng pangmonitor ng fetal
heartbeat and contractions tsaka IV na din. Tapos sinimulan na din
yung pag-induce. May nilalagay na gamot sa kin I think every
30minutes, di ko lang matandaan. Tapos tinigil din nila yung pag
induce mga 9 or 10pm kasi bumabagal yung heartbeat ni baby. I heard
the resident OB called my OB and asked for advice. Ayun, pinatigil
nga muna since mukhang na-stress si baby sa pag induce. May
nagmo-monitor din pala ng contractions ko, andon lang siya sa tabi ko
and take note ng contractions. Mga 11pm, the resident OB told me na
at 12 midnight dadalahin muna ako sa room ko tapos babalik na lang sa
labor room ng 5am. Natuwa naman ako kasi ibig sabihin makikita ko si
Paul. Ay at that time pala 1cm pa din ako.

So ayun, dinala ako sa room, tapos kakatawa kasi nagulat si Paul.
Ang unang tanong niya sa kin, kung nagdeliver na daw ba ko. Sabi ko
hindi pa, pinapamonitor pa yung contractions ko. Windang yata asawa
ko, ang laki pa ng tyan ko tinanong ako kung nanganak na ko. Hehehe!
Anyway, sabi nila matulog daw ako at magpahinga dahil definitely
manganganak ako the following day. Kaso di ako nakatulog, kasi
madalas na yung contractions. Halos madurog ko yung kamay ni Paul
pag nagco-contract. Ang sakit talaga. We even asked the nurse kung
may pain reliever ba, kasi parang di ko na kaya yung pain. So syempre
wala kaya tiis muna. Thank God mga 4:30am may dumating na OB at
IE niya ko ulit. 5-6cm na daw ako, yahoo! Kaya as scheduled dinala
ako ulit sa labor room ng 5am. Paul and I said a short prayer first
before nila ako dinala. Buti na din nga naibalik ako sa room kasi nung
una, di kami nakapag pray ni Paul.

Pagbalik ko sa labor room, ang dami ng patients, puno na agad! Hehe!
When I left, 2 lang kami at pagbalik ko mga 8 na kami sa labor room.
Medyo kakapraning din kasi yung iba naririnig mo na maiyak iyak na
sila dahil sa pain ng contractions. Tapos ayun, every now and then
pinupuntahan ako ng resident OB to check yung opening ng cervix.
Nung nag 7cm na ko I asked kung di pa dumadating yung
anesthesiologist ko dahil ang sakit na talaga. Thank God after a few
minutes dumating na siya. Inject na niya ko sa spinal and ayun di ko
na naramdaman yung contractions. 9am dumating na yung OB ko,
9cm na ko non. She told me na nag iintay lang kami ng delivery room
kasi nga ang daming nanganganak. Ok lang naman sa kin since wala
na naman akong nararamdaman. Nararamdaman ko naninigas ung
tyan ko pero wala ng pain. Nung may available na na delivery room,
pinutok na nung OB ko yung water bag ko, 9cm pa din ako non.

9:45am dinala na nila ako sa delivery room. Ang dami palang tao pag
ganon, hehe! Kulit pa ng anesthesiologist ko, she was telling me na
dapat by 10am tapos na ko manganak dahil ang dami pa daw nakapila.
Hehe! Pag sinabi daw niya na iri, push na ko. Tapos di ko alam game
na pala. Ang saya kasi don sa delivery room eh. Hehe! May music
tapos sabay-sabay sila sa pagsabi ng inhale, hold and push. Tapos
count ng 1-10. Nung di ako nagsucceed sa pag push they called
someone to help me push. Ayun, may tao nagtutulak sa tummy ko.
Every contraction, push kaso di ako marunong mag push. Tawag sila
ng ibang mag-push. Naka-apat akong taga-push, as in yung pang 4th,
yun na yung head daw nung mga nagpu-push (di ko alam tawag sa
kanila eh). Nahirapan talaga ko. Tapos they were telling me, kaya mo
yan Toni, sige ka pag di ka nagpush ng maigi i-CS daw ako don na
mismo kasi wala nang room. Kita na daw nila yung hair ni baby at kung
pwede lang sabunutan para lumabas gagawin nila. Hehehe! So game
ulit, push na naman and finally at 10:45 lumabas si Lance. Ang laki
daw ni Lance. 7lbs and 14oz siya tsaka 51cm. Kaya din siguro ako
nahirapan.

Ang sarap ng feeling nung lumabas siya!!! Kita ko siya while they were
suctioning him and cleaning him tapos pina-latch on sa kin. After non,
dinala na siya sa nursery. Pinakita muna pala siya kay Paul before
dinala sa nursery. Kakapagod magpush, I asked pa nga kung pwedeng
humingi ng water, eh di pala pwede. Tsaka since di ako marunong
magpush, naputukan ako ng ugat sa mata (yung sinasabi nilang blood
shot eyes), di naman siya masakit pero red all over lang yung right eye
ko. Anyway, sa delivery room, parang nararamdaman ko yung buong
kamay ng OB ko na nasa loob ko. And shefs asking me kung masakit
daw ba, sabi ko wala akong nararamdaman. After that I passed out na.

I woke up sa recovery room na. Sabi nila minimum of 2hrs daw don, so
excited ako. Kala ko mga 1pm dadalahin na ko sa room. I kept on
asking the time, sabi nila di pa daw pwede kasi ang baba daw ng pulse
rate ko (or BP? Canft remember). Sabi nila matulog daw ako kasi pag
tulog ako nag improve yung pulse rate or BP. Eh kaso di ako maka-
sleep dahil gusto ko na nga pumunta sa room, lalo tuloy ako
natagalan. I asked pa the nurse kung pwedeng dalahin si Lance sa
recovery room kung hungry kasi gusto ko sana magbreastfeed. Dinala
naman nila and pina-suck si Lance sa kin.

Finally at 4pm, dinala na ako sa room ko. Paul was there waiting.
Kwentuhan ko siya nung nangyari. 5pm viewing time so I asked him to
check on Lance and pagbalik niya ang dami na pictures. Hehe! Nung
feeling ko ok na ko, I asked Paul kung matatayo niya ko sa bed,
unfortunately di ko kaya. Hilong-hilo ako and ang daming blood na
tumulo. Yung nursery was asking kung i-room-in na si Lance and we
said no first kasi hilo talaga ako. Sabi ko ako na lang punta sa nursery
for breastfeeding. Pati the following day, hilo talaga ako so di ko
napupuntahan si Lance. My OB called me and told me na kaya daw
ako hilo kasi I lost a lot of blood nung nagdeliver. Di ko alam yung
tawag pero yung parang blood count ko before was 130 tapos nag drop
to 80 kaya hilo talaga and kelangan ng blood transfusion. Sobrang sad
ako kasi di ko talaga kaya bumangon and pumunta sa nursery. Si Paul
visit lang si Lance pag viewing time and don ko lang siya nakikita sa
pictures. Pinupuntahan naman kami ng pedia niya to update us kung
kumusta si Lance and ok naman daw siya. Thursday midnight nag
start yung blood transfusion. 2 bags yung sinalin sa kin and natapos
siya Friday ng madaling araw. My OB advised us also na I can go
home na on Friday pero we decided to extend until Saturday since
kakatapos lang ng transfusion para makarest din ako. Friday midnight
finally, na-visit ko na si Lance sa nursery. Saturday, wefre preparing
na to leave. Ang tagal nung clearance sa nursery, yun pala di namin
maisasama pauwi si Lance. Pinuntahan kami ng pedia niya sa room
and told us na medyo ma-yellow daw si Lance kaya mas gusto niya na
iwan muna para observe. Test din daw muna yung blood ni Lance
tapos kung ok result pwede iuwi. Unfortunately, yung test niya 13 yung
result eh dapat below 10 so iwan talaga siya. Umuwi muna kami and
bumalik kami ni Paul the following day. Pagpunta namin sa nursery
andon yung pedia niya and told us na nag improve daw color ni Lance,
yung back na lang yung medyo ma-yellow. By tomorrow daw pwede na
kami umuwi. So balik kami ng Monday, Oct 2 and finally nauwi na
namin si Lance. He's now 26 days old. Yun po ang mahaba kong
birthing kwento. :)

Here's a link to his photos:
Lance Gabriel

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Birthing Kwento - from the Daddy's Point of View

I arrived in Manila Sept. 23. This was already Toni's 38th week and since I would be home for just a little over 2 weeks, our OB advised that labor be induced. That time we were still afraid that Toni might give birth pa at the latter part of my stay kasi mataas pa yung tummy nya. That same afternoon, we went to our OB and we were told that Toni's cervix was still closed so the doctor opened it to 1cm. What alarmed us was that when the doctor checked our baby's heart rate, medyo mabagal daw but bumilis naman eventually. We were also told to watch out for the contractions and to time the intervals. Since this was our first child, we didn't even know what a contraction was like so the OB described to us what it was. Only then did we figured out that Toni was already experiencing some contractions, just spaced widely apart. Toni was also told na maglakad lakad para lalo mag open yung cervix nya. Since the clinic is located in a mall, that was just exactly what we did. Kakatuwa kasi nakakapag mall na ulit kami together. Di rin kasi sya makapag mall before kasi she was trying to avoid walking too much kasi nga baka mapaaga yung delivery tapos wala pa ako.

The following Monday, we visited again her OB to see if her cervix had opened even more. Unfortunately, it was still at 1cm. The doctor then tried to open Toni's cervix to 2cm but she found it difficult to do so. What the doctor did was put something like a gel to promote contractions. The doctor even said that she can already feel the baby's head. After that, Toni and I just went around and ran some errands para matagtag din sya. Then in the early morning of Tuesday, Toni went to the bathroom but when she got there she was surprised because she started bleeding already. Medyo panic na kami so pumunta na agad kami sa Medical City. Buti na lang it was early morning so the streets were almost empty. When we got there, Toni went inside the Pre Labor na while I waited outside. While she was there, the doctors and nurses measured the baby's heart rate and the interval between contractions. Ok naman yung heart rate ni baby and her contractions were spaced far apart. She was also able to talk to her OB and was advised to go home na muna and just continue to time the contractions. So sige umuwi na nga kami. After lunch naman the same day, we again visited her OB. Buti na lang her OB also has a clinic near our house. Konting lakad lang andon ka na. Sipag namin at araw araw nag checkup hehehe. Anyway, the doctor checked Toni and the baby. She noticed na medyo madami na nga yung bloody show ni Toni so we were told to go back to Medical City at around 5pm.

When we got there, she went inside the Pre Labor again while I waited outside. Since Toni was already having the bloody show, her OB gave her the choice on whether to be admitted na or apply the gel for contractions one more time then go back again to the hospital the next day. Toni then decided to be admitted. At least we were already in the hospital. I was then asked by the doctor to get a room for Toni and to buy her dinner also because the next time we'd see each other would be after the delivery na. They said I could wait in the room and they would just call me to inform me of the status of Toni and the baby. So we hugged and I said some encouraging words before I went to get a room and her dinner. As I left I was saying to myself "this is it. in a few hours we would finally see our baby."

I was just waiting in the room but I couldn't find myself to fall asleep. I guess it was the anticipation of Toni's and the baby's condition. I think it was close to midnight when the door opened and I saw Toni in the wheelchair, smiling like she always does. I thought the delivery was over, our baby was in the nursery and Toni was now here to rest from the ordeal of giving birth. But she said that her cervix wasn't dilated enough so she was wheeled in to the room to wait for it to open up some more and to time the contractions. The nurses told us that she would be brought back to the Labor Room at 4am to check on the progress and perhaps the delivery as well. It was good that she was brought to the room so we'd be together and we'd also assure each other that everything was going to be fine. We were trying to rest but we would be roused from sleep every so often when Toni had contractions and then I would take note of the time. We would hold each other's hand so if she had painful contractions, she could squeeze my hand. I was really hoping that that would bring her some level of comfort. As 4am came and passed, we were getting impatient for the nurses to bring her back to the Labor Room as her contractions were getting really close to each other and she was in so much pain already. We kept on calling the nurses about it but we were told that they haven't been advised yet and they couldn't give her pain killers because that would be administered in the Labor Room. So all we could do was just hold each other and pray and say reassuring words.

Thankfully the nurses came at about 5am to bring Toni back to the Labor Room. And again I heard the line that they would call me to tell me if she was about to be brought to the Delivery Room. I was also told that I could call the nurses' station if I wanted to know about Toni's condition. I was thinking to myself that that would be around every 5 minutes hehehe. So it was back to the waiting game. This time around I was able to get a little more sleep than before. Maybe because Toni wasn't there squeezing my hand like a clamp heheh.

I think it was around 9 when I finally got the call that Toni was being brought to the Delivery Room and that her cervix was now 5-6cm. I was also instructed to wait outside the delivery room so I could see our baby after he was born. Being a dad for the 1st time, I even asked if there was something I needed to bring, maybe a receiving blanket, baby book or whatever. They said only a camera and baby book if we had it. After handing the camera and baby book to the nurse, I took a seat in the waiting area where all the other soon-to-be dads were seated. It was about 11am when I heard my name called. When I approached the nurse, I saw that she had a wheeled bed with a baby inside. My baby. The nurse said it was a baby boy for me and Toni and he weighed 7lbs 14 oz and measured 51cm. I wanted to hold him but decided not to as I was afraid he would contract some germs and I knew that he was in a very delicate condition being a newly born. I just saw myself standing there looking at our baby. I was completely mesmerized by him. My stare was only broken when the nurse told me that Toni was in the recovery room and would be brought back to the room after about 2 hours. They then brought our baby to the nursery. As I was walking back to the room, I was saying to myself "I'm now a dad!"

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