And Out Popped a Baby!

You might recall in an earlier post I mentioned the dilemna of whether or not to have an epidural during my labor. Well, that necessity to make the decision went straight out the window when the big day came around.

Before I begin our story, so you know, Baby Netkow has been born and we named her Meyli. I tell you that up front so I can refer to her by name to simplify things.

Here's what happened.......

It's Monday, October 18, 2010, the day before the expected due date. We decided it would be best that Meyli comes a day late so she can have a 10/20/10 birthdate. I know, us parents get to make all the important decisions.

It's Tuesday, October 19, 2010, Meyli's expected due date. She decided to be punctual, no running on Chinese time here! I start having contractions at about 2:30 AM but fall back to sleep. At about 4:30 AM I wake up to a bit more aggressive contractions. I set up the iPhone timeclock and start tracking the separation and duration and it's all over the place. After a few, Anthony suggests we try to go back to sleep and I did finally doze off for a bit.

Around 7 AM I'm back awake and the contractions are still coming but still not in regular intervals. They are however, more painful and Anthony reminds me to breathe. We joke that we can't go to the hospital yet since it would be morning rush hour. So we get up and Anthony has me in his rocking lounger. I'm tracking my contractions and he's having his usual morning coffee.

At about 8 AM I notice that my contractions are hitting more consistently at around 5 minutes apart. But some part of me kept thinking I must be mistaken and it'll go back to being irregular. Afterall, first pregnancies are suppose to have a lengthy stage 1 (contraction part, before the actual pushing stage). I attempt to have some broth for breakfast but my contractions were becoming increasingly painful and frequent that I only got about 2 small bites before I called it quits and opted for a hot shower.

I actually had a 1:30 PM doctor's appointment that day and we thought we'd "hang on" to get to the appointment so the doctor can let us know what to do next. But around 11 AM we decided it was best that we head into the city and show up to the doctor's office early and have them check things out for me. Being a weekday and living so far from the hospital we didn't want traffic to be an issue.

On the way in Anthony calls the private hospital that I'm expected to deliver at and explain the situation. The midwife asks to speak to me. We tell her the contractions are about 5 minutes apart and she tells me to go ahead and go to the doctor's appointment. She rambles on a bit about how first time pregnancies can often have false labor and people are sent home. I happen to have a contraction while on the phone and it's definitely getting more painful to where I couldn't speak. The midwife says to go to the doctor's appointment until I need pain management. She asks what I'm doing to deal with the contractions. I remember thinking to myself, "What the hell do you think I'm doing?? I have no choice but to take them as they come and ride them out!!" But my response to her was more civil, I said "breathing." But seriously, what did she expect me to tell her, it's not like I have an epidural shot handy that I could give myself or any other medication.

So we pull up to the light right outside the doctor's office and what do we see? Our doctor walking across the street to the hospital. I'm trying to think positive, that there will be another doctor in the office or the midwife that can check on my dilation. Anthony pulls into a 15 minute parking spot right in front of the doctor's office (thank goodness) and we walk up a few steps then take the elevator up, while I'm having a really really painful contraction. We get to the office and there's nobody there but a single lady manning the desk. She calls the hospital, explains the situation, and of course the mid wife wants to talk to me, a different one this time.

I tell her we initially thought 5 minute apart on contractions but while in the car I was noticing they were more like 3 minutes. She also asks me what I'm doing for the pain and this time my internal oration was much more colorful but still on the same lines of what a ridiculous question that is. I grunt out to her, "breathing." She then tells me that the birthing suites are chockered (means full in Australia lingo) at the moment but they will be cleaning a room soon. I asked how long it would take to get a room and she said about 30 minutes and said it was up to me to either wait at the doctor's office for the room to be ready or to wait in their waiting area.

Since we only had the 15 minute parking, we opted to go to the hospital. So back down the elevator and the steps and towards the car where I promptly threw up. I don't catch Anthony off guard much but at that moment I had a absurd brief celebratory moment of thought that I surprised Anthony! Then relief that I didn't up chuck in the small elevator where 3 other people were in it with us. We get into the car and I pull out the bags that I had stashed during my nauseating first trimester and Anthony zips us across the street to the Ambulance loading bay and drops me off while he goes to find parking since all the 15-30 minute spaces were all taken.

Now I'm pretty sure at this point I was already fully dilated. We learned in our birth class that nausea and vomitting will hit right before the next stage starts, the pushing stage. (See, we did pay attention in class!) Well that and the fact the contractions were an all consuming pain. A shred of self dignity was probably what prevented me from moaning and screaming in the elevator when I had a contraction. I do remember cursing to myself when somebody stepped into the elevator with me and hit a floor below the one I needed to go to.

I manage to get to the reception desk and she points me down the hall to the birthing suite and something must have flickered across my face because she quickly added that she would get me a wheelchair. So as I'm hanging on to the counter trying not to bash my head against it, the lady goes off in search of a wheelchair. She takes me around the corner to the birthing suite and I'm left in front of the nurses station where it has because apparent that I'm pretty far along in the process because I hear little whispers and catch "Netkow.....looks in a lot of pain.....hurry" and midwives are constantly coming up to me to assure me they're getting the birthing suite ready for me and to hang in there. I'm thinking to myself, "stupid midwife...telling me to wait to show up." Anthony shows up with our million pieces of luggages but honestly I was too preoccupied to worry about being embarrased. I have to give him credit for dragging it all up in one go and so quickly though.

They have me sit in their nurses office for some privacy while they rush to set up the birthing room. So this is where I am when Anthony snaps a picture of me.





Anthony, after taking this picture, promptly says "you'll thank me later for taking this picture." He's still waiting for that thank you. I'm holding a barf bag a midwife gave me and this is one of the last pictures of me pregnant!

  I have a few blindingly painful contractions while waiting in that little office but a few minutes later they usher me into my birthing suite.



Pretty big birthing suite! Off to the right is the bathroom with a full water birthing tub as well. You'll notice there's not much in terms of equipment in here. No monitors, no IV.



Not a pretty picture of me but it gives you another picture of what the room looks like. There's a baby heart monitor strapped to me otherwise no other monitors or needles attached to me. I'm holding a barf bag in my left hand (although I'm pretty sure I emptied my stomach just a few minutes prior) and the long tube in my right hand is the nitrous oxide. This is shortly before I go all commando.

 I mentioned in a previous blog about the nitrous oxide which is commonly used during the stage 1 of labor. I'm not sure how effective it was although a part of me wants to believe it shaved off a tiny bit of the really biting pain of the contractions. The mouth piece is just a long oval hard straw but I think I found myself biting onto it more than anything else. I remember with every contraction people kept directing my hand with the mouth piece to my face and telling me to take deep breathes. It's really hard to breathe normal when you feel like you're getting pulverized inside. They took this away from me though once I started pushing.

The doctor, who was conducting an emergency cesearean, joined us shortly. I was bracing for her to say something like "oh, you're only 3 cm dilated." but instead I heard surprise in her voice and "oh! she's fully dilated!" There was definitely a moment of relief then I had a contraction. The doctor then tells me she's going to break my water and before I really mustered up the energy to acknowledge her there was a pop and a really loud gush followed by a loud splash. The doctor kind of jumped back in surprise and I heard her say something about how she barely touched it. Apparently Meyli was quite ready. Of course, what I thought was painful contractions paled in comparison to the contractions after my water broke. I cringe just at the mention of it. My doctor left shortly after that to return to her practice across the street to wait for me to get further along, apparently common practice.

Fast forward about 45 minutes of hard pushing, words of encouragement, and chit chatting amongst Anthony, the midwife, the student midwife before the doctor returned. To her surprise I was quite far along and after another 15 or 20 minutes of REALLY hard pushing (yes, some hard grunting and a bit of screaming too), out popped Meyli! She came out all slick and slimey and screaming at the top of her lungs. She was immediately placed on my chest. I was momentarily caught off guard but happy they held true to the skin-to-skin practice we kept hearing about from everyone here. While I held her, Anthony cut the umbilical cord.

Everyone cleared out of the room for a few minutes so that it was just the new happy family. About 10 or 15 minutes later Meyli started her little head bobbing to look for what only her Mum could provide at that time, a boob! The midwife returned shortly to assist with making sure Meyli latches on properly then the doctor returned to finish fixing me up.

We were left alone again for a bit before a bustle of activity came through the door. Apparently they needed the birthing room and since I already delivered Meyli they had to rush us up to our private recovery room to free up that room. Last in, first out! So Meyli was wiped down and bundled up while I slowly made my way off the bed and onto a wheelchair. Poor Anthony was stuck with all the luggage again.

Once we arrived at our room and given some initial instructions, we were left on our own for several hours before we saw another midwife. And when I mean on our own, I mean the 3 of us. Since the birth, Meyli has continously been in the same room with us and even at the end of our 4 day stay she was never out of our sights.

I'll end my little story telling here as it's gone on long enough. I'll resume on a separate blog of our experience at the hospital for 2 days followed by us finishing out our total of 4 day hospital stay in the Grand Hyatt Hotel. I know, crazy right??

- julie