2:30am - decided to get out of bed for midnight snack; accompanied by spider solitaire
3:30am - mummy woke up and said hi. She went back to bed and I followed suit
4:30am - lying in bed, still couldn't sleep, but I know I need to get my rest
5:30am - Caleb's alarm rang and it's time to get up, but now I'm sleepy
8:00am - woke up from my sleep, but was feeling tired from restless night so I stayed on bed
10:00am - finally started work (thank god for remote work and flexibility!) but I couldn't sit still for over 30minute at a time because I either experienced some back pressure or groin pressure. Sitting on the yoga ball didn't help much either
12:00pm - decided that I must not be in labor, so we bought tickets to the king tut exhibit
3:00pm - left home for our fun evening out (king tut, followed by some shopping for mummy at hard rock cafe, and ended the evening with dinner by the bay at red robins)
8:30pm - showered and got ready or bed. Right as I was about to partake of my evening primrose oil, I experienced what felt like my water breaking (constant trickle, not a big gush)
9:00pm - water still trickling, so we left a voicemail with the midwife, Charlotte. Told mummy about the incident and wore adult diapers so I can try to sleep
9:29pm - I think this feels like a contraction (?)
9:36pm - this also feels like a contraction (but let's have Caleb sleep because if it is 1st stage labor, everyone needs to rest
9:44pm - I wonder if this potential contraction is creating a trend?
9:51pm - I think this is a contraction.. Seems like there is a pattern in the frequency.. Should I wake Caleb up or wait till it gets more intense?
9:58pm - Caleb can't sleep, but he's trying to get some rest. Told the family and Joanna called
10:05pm - the trickling doesn't stop.. The Bradley class says I need to replenish the water loss by drinking water, but I think I should try to sleep..
10:11pm - man, I can't believe I'm timing this early on.. If I am in labor for 20hrs, this is not very fun
10:16pm - is it picking up speed? Caleb is awake and starting to time my contractions
10:24pm - midwife said to take temperature n drink water, contractions lasting 40seconds, 36.5 Celsius
10:30pm - 1min contraction
10:35pm - 30seconds, I think we should try to go to bed and stop timing the contractions for a whole.. This is going to be a long night...
10:46pm - I didn't time the last contraction, instead I went to the bathroom n saw blood in my diaper. So I decided to give up the sleeping idea n watch Survivor. For some reason I feel very cold
11:47pm - contractions have been consistent, but it does help to be distracted by watching tv. I hope mummy n Caleb r getting enough rest to help me through 2nd stage later. Getting slight headache n still somewhat sleepy but can't really do anything but go with the flow (37celsius)
Oct 19
12:23am - temperature creeping up (37.6celsius)
12:57am - apparently the temperature I am in is normal, but it seems like my contractions are not as regular? I don't know, because I haven't been timing. Was able to update STD benefits and work in regards to time off and handing off project
I stopped timing after that last post as I decided that it is time to get some rest (I guess I am going into labor) but it wasn't very comfortable nor easy to nap. I didn't eat much but I kept stayin hydrated. Caleb called the midwife several times and updated them on our status, but we didn't head over to the birth center until 2:30pm. The contractions wasn't necessarily stronger, but I was just feelin very miserable and uncomfortable to move or stay still. I wanted to be in the bath tub as the warm water would've soothed me, but the midwife said it could slow down my contractions.
The car ride wasn't as bad as I had thought, all thanks to my wonderful husband who planned it ahead so we had a full tank of gas and traveled during light traffic time. When we arrived, I was still just as miserable but this time, I can't pee. The full bladder was in competition with my uterus, and since baby is moving down the birth canal, the urethra squished shut. We tried multiple natural ways to help me pee (hand in warm water, warm shower, manually squeeze bladder) but ended up needing to catheterize me, twice. I had several wasted 'push' prior to emptying the bladder, since the full bladder only acted as a cushion to bounce the baby back in. On top of getting catheterized, I got an IV drip with antibiotics at 20hr after water break because there's odor in my discharge.
There was no clock in the room, which bugged me but now I am thankful for that since it would've only made more paranoid about the time. It seemed like I had the urge to push later that evening, and those were painful. In fact, it made me forget what my normal contractions felt like in comparison to second stage contractions + pushing. They said you would get adrenaline to keep you going thru the labor, but I'm guessing my lack of food intake impacted that adrenaline factor because I was super exhausted. I tried to rest/nap in between my contractions, which was only successful half the time since nothing I did enabled comfort. The only thing I was able to eat was yogurt and a few bites of chicken herbal soup.
I moved into multiple positions to help the birth process, all of which were not comfortable either. I was stuck in between a rock and a hard place: If I don't finish what was started aka push baby out, I may just stay pregnant forever... Tough choice! Laying on my back hurts my butt, sitting on the birth stool cuts off circulation to my legs, kneeling on hands and knees takes too much energy but I kept alternating through the different positions as they helped position the baby into the right angle when she passes thru different parts of the birth canal (this is when education helps big time! I understand what is happening and can imagine what my body is doing, so I can logically talk myself into assisting the process despite the pain) the position I was in most was laying on my side because it enabled me to rest between contractions/pushes.
It is a HUGE blessing to have my wonderful birth coach aka my one and only spouse, my loving and ever ready mom, and a team of supportive, experienced midwives to help me through this challenging time. I can't imagine how anyone could've done this with lesser assistance. One person is fanning me, while wiping sweat off my brow, another person intermittently checking my vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature), another person feeding me and verbally comforting me, and two others helped me stretch open my legs as I push. Such a big job to deliver a baby!!
Caleb nor I can identify when was the transition period; it seems like I went straight from 1st to 2nd stage without passing transition, unless we did go through it and it wasnt that bad? I had no idea what my progress was like the entire time. Since my water broke, doing too many vaginal inspections could increase the risk of infection so by the time we checked my dilation for the first time, I was already at 9cm. This was close to midnight (the silly thing was that I had a slight twinge of excitement from knowing that the baby will be born on October 20th!) so that was when the hardest part began - pushing! All in all I had about 5hours of hard labor.
It really does feel like you are passing a big hard stool, because you are to focus the pushing on the butt. I knew it felt odd but they kept telling me I'm doing a good job after each push, so I must be doing it right. I would rest for a minute or two, and then when I feel a contraction coming, I warn the team, and they get my legs into position - spread eagle. I was frustrated when I know the baby was rocking back and forth under the pelvic bone (which is normal to go thru the 2step forward 1 step back motion) but there's no other way out. I did think of asking for medication, but I knew it was pointless because they had none. Which was why it was great that I didn't choose to birth in a hospital where drugs were a lot more accessible. The tiring part of pushing was feeling the baby passing through the birth canal, putting pressure at different parts of my body. At times my butt really hurts, then there's times my rib cage really hurts, but none of those pain amounts to the pressure on the groin when she is getting closer.
Caleb reminded me to take deep breaths, I think that really helped to get oxygen to the baby and maintained her heart rate, he told me to also relax other parts of my body during the push so I am concentrating all efforts on the part that counts, and he kept me hydrated so I can keep my strength up. The last wave came and I knew it was all about to come to an end when they showed me her head in the mirror..A few more pushes and I am done!! My legs were so tired from the spread, my butt was so sore from the pressure, and I was ready to be done! When she started crowning, I really felt the ring of fire people mentioned! The stupid thing was that I'm too tired to give any more pushes, so she had to stay crowned in between my contractions. I rested for a minute to two, then I pushed 3 times at about 10seconds stretch each. I tried to do low grunts but most of the time I just shut my eyes, squeezed my face and held my breath as I pushed. When her head finally passed through I gave a sigh of relief but the midwife quickly told me to keep pushing (even though I had already given my usual 3 pushes) baby was stuck by the shoulders/waist!!! So I just pushed with whatever might I had left in me just to get her out. I felt success as the baby finally slid out of me like a big blob of warm goo. Without hesitation they placed her on my bare chest (well, they placed baby on my tummy since the umbilical cord was abnormally short and can't reach any further) Caleb and I both teared up as we watch our beautiful baby girl being rubbed down on my tummy and she gave a few adorable coos which almost instantly makes you forget what you went through..all 27hour worth of laboring!
Violet Kaili (凯丽) Martin
October 20,2012
2:04am, 8.1lbs
