I always thought how I gave birth was pretty epic. It was for me, and it's something I'd always like to remember; it's a story I just love telling to anybody who's curious about giving birth or getting pregnant, how it all feels.
I've been told that once you've been anaesthetised, you're bound to forget things, so this is my way of immortalising giving birth to my baby Souki.
May 6, 2013
I was scheduled to deliver on May 14, 2013, but my hubby and I decided to switch doctors at the very last minute due to budget constraints. My original OB Gyn charged gold for an all-in, no complication fee for a cesarian delivery. Obviously, gold is what we didn't have, so my hubby decided to ask an old friend how much the current average cost of delivery was. Yup, you guessed it, it was still gold (at least for major hospitals). She, then, recommended a maternity hospital where she performs deliveries and didn't charge gold. AND she wasn't going to charge us. Yippee!
On May 6th, we went to his friend's clinic for a check up. My blood pressure had been slowly rising during my last trimester, and I've been drinking medication for it. Unfortunately, it wasn't doing anything to keep my BP at bay. Meh. Upon arrival at her clinic, my weight and BP and were checked - just as I suspected, it was slightly elevated. I was asked to take a urinalysis to see if I had the slightest trace of protein in my urine. If the result came back positive for protein, she wouldn't have me wait 'til the 14th - she would deliver me ASAP (not even wait for the weekend for it). She said the longer the baby was inside me, the higher chances of my BP elevating. So...pre-eclampsia is something I do not want.
Urinalysis result? POSITIVE.
May 8, 2013, VT Maternity Hospital
Day I was scheduled to deliver. It was the ASAP-est ASAP. I didn't feel prepared, I was close to panicking, knowing my hubby couldn't be present with me in the operating room. I was anxious and very nervous. Worst of all? I was hungryyyy. I was required to have my last meal by 8 AM, since I was scheduled for delivery by 4 PM. Ugh 8 hours fasting, I couldn't even have water.
By 1 PM, I was already checked in at the hospital. My things were unloaded from the car, I did my bathroom rituals before I was prepped for surgery at 3 PM.
3 PM finally arrived. IV was put in, and the nurse did that skin testing thingy - that made me cry. She said that was more painful than the IV. Boy, she wasn't lying.
I was wheeled upstairs to the operating room, very nervous, as I left my husband in our room. If only I could have him outside the operating room, that would've been enough for me. But all I had was myself, my bare-backed hospital gown, and huge-ass belly with our baby inside.
Only a nurse was in the operating room. It looked just like in those doctor shows - big, cold, almost bare (had it not been for the 2 or 3 AC's on the wall and the operating table), and very quiet. I think what made the place noisy was me, as I was babbling away my nervousness. A few minutes after, the anaesthesiologist arrived and started setting up her stuff; she asked me how I was, and I said I was nervous, have GDM and slightly elevated BP. After a few minutes, she told me she injected something in my IV to help me relax. And relax I did, I felt like I drank 3 bottles of beer straight, as I felt my head go woozy and light, and I started feeling sleepy. She told me not to fight it - how I could I?
4 PM: a male nurse came in, and my new OB Gyn (hubby's friend) arrived. Time to put in the spinal anaesthesia. Oh joy. It took us about 30 minutes to get whatever in my spine. The male nurse looked like he worked out for 5 hours, as his sweat was in beads from holding me in a fetal position so my spine could stick out. Given my, uhm, curvy figure, it was very difficult. Plus, my being ticklish at the back did not help at all. As soon as that part of my spine was sticking out, and the needle was on its way, what felt like a strand of hair being brushed on my back made me instantly jerk, and of course my spine would straighten out pronto. We had to repeat the entire procedure about 3 or 4 times, before I was able to control myself from getting tickled. Kudos to my doctors who were very patient with me. :D
Anaesthesia finally in! I could feel my toes numbing instantly, as it climbed its way up my legs, waist, until my tummy area. I was asked several times if I could feel the needle on my tummy. When I said it just felt it was just sitting on top, a cloth was raised in front of me, preventing me to see my tummy down. I guess they were already opening my tummy, because I did not feel a thing. I was very tired from my earlier anaesthesia ordeal too, that I just wanted to sleep. A few minutes later, at 5:02 PM, my OB Gyn shouted "baby out", as I felt a slight tug from my stomach (didn't hurt). My Souki weighed 6.2 lbs and measured 19 inches long.
My baby girl was presented to me from the cloth that covered my tummy, but all I could see was her hand and arm. It was white, like she hasn't been cleaned yet. I told them to cut the umbilical cord innie style. Haha, I just had to tell them that. After that, I dozed off.
Recovery Room
I woke up before 6 PM, as I was transferred to the recovery room. It was very quiet and cold. But I couldn't care less, I just slept. A few hours later, I was awakened by a nurse who constantly checked my temperature and blood pressure - everything was normal. Then, another nurse came in, this time with my baby Souki. She was wrapped in a pink blanket, as the nurse placed her in my left arm. It was the first time I held her, and it was love.
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