A Birth Story

To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)

More details regarding my labor and delivery :)

When my water broke at 5:30AM on Saturday morning, I wasn't sure if that's what really happened since I still was waiting for my "bloody show." It was a small gush while I was laying in bed and was slightly pink when I checked my maxi-pad.

I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking off all the things I wanted to clean "Berry"...my Mitsubishi Eclipse (named as in cars being called "Cherry" but Richie says it's cuz it's "berry berry f/past"! Hahaha! The biggest nesting thing that happened to me was the day before I was cleaning Richie's car since it was a mess (the Subaru that he named Dakine) ! I was polishing and vacuuming and practically detailing the dang thing!

Anyway, finally at 7AM, I decided to call the doctor. I told them, I think my water broke but I wasn't sure and they told me to come to triage. I also called my Mom to let her know because she's my doula :) Since I wasn't feeling contractions yet, Richie and I took our sweet time: had breakfast, took a shower, finished packing and headed off to the Alta Bates Medical Center, only 3 miles away. We got there at 9AM and they confirmed that my bag of water had indeed ruptured. They would have admitted me right then and there but there were no beds available, plus I wasn't having contractions (I guess only 15% of women have their water break before active labor begins). So at 10:30AM they told me to go for a walk and have a light meal then come back in an hour or two. By that time, my parents, Rally & Lily, and twin sisters, Eva & Angeline, were already arriving at the hospital. We decided to walk up the street to College Avenue and have brunch.

While we were at the restaurant, I started to feel the contractions, but they were neither strong nor consistent. When we got back to the hospital at 12:30PM, there still weren't any rooms available, but they said I had to be admitted within 12 hours of my water breaking to prevent infection. So they said, go home and come back at 5pm or sooner if my labor starts to get really strong and active.



We ended up renting a movie from Blockbuster and went back to our condo in Emeryville. Richie's parents, Edna & Titong, were driving back to the Bay from LA, after visiting his sister Leia, her husband Anthony and their new babygirl Arabella. They were hoping to make it back before I gave birth. Back at Watergate (our residential community) I lay in bed and tried to relax as my mom timed my contractions. Around 4PM, Richie and I decide to take a stroll around the boardwalk and enjoy the view of the Bay. Like clockwork, when 5pm rolled around, I was having minute long contractions, 4 or 5 minutes apart. By 6PM I was officially admitted and finally lay in a hospital bed :)



Our first nurse, Alani - a young hapa from Hawaii, was really sweet. I should mention that my mom Lily is also a Registered Nurse, so she quickly bonds with other RNs. Pleasant conversation was had and she asked me what my birthplan was. My philisophy was that I wanted to see how far I could go without medication; I would prefer that they weren't offered to me, but if I ask for it and it's not too late, then to go ahead. Since they really wanted me to deliver within 24 hours of my water breaking, they gave me pitocin to induce my labor and speed things along. I was a little weary because supposedly labors induced with pitocin tend to be stronger than those that progress naturally.

Richie's mom Edna joined us in the delivery room when his parents arrived around 7PM. The pain was increasing so around 9PM, I ended up asking for a "morphine" type of medicine (maybe Demerol?) that was supposed to "take the edge off" the pain but that I would still feel contractions. The meds were supposed to last an 1-1.5 hours and I could ask for more if I wanted to. With the contractions getting stronger and I was only 5 cm dilated, I was thinking "dang, if this is the pain now, I can only imagine what it will feel like later... cuz it sure felt "edgey" to me!!

So YES, I did end up asking for the epidural at 10 PM. I figured I don't want to wait until it's too late and it's already time to push! (This happened to my sister Jasmine with her daughter Meleia). My contractions started to slow down after I got the epidural, so they pumped up my pitocin. The doctor guesstimated that I would give birth by Noon the next day. That seemed like such a long time, but since I couldn't feel a thing, patience came easily.



At 11:30PM the nurse Alani left and she was relieved by two other nurses, Alaina and Sarah. Alani seemed kinda bummed that she wouldn't be there to deliver my baby but would check on us in the morning. The doctor gave me a new estimate of 4AM on Sunday morning when she saw that my labor had progressed faster than anticipated. Unfortunately, at one point things ended up speeding along too fast and the baby's heart rate dropped to the point where the obstectrician and another nurse were brought into the room and I was asked to change positions several times. They stopped the pitocin and the baby calmed down, but I still had a ways to go.

It seemed like forever, but at 9:30AM, Alaina asked me if I was ready to push since I was finally 10 cm dilated. Richie and my mom Lily were at my legs and my mother-in-law Edna was supporting my head. I was told that it wasn't uncommon for first time mothers to push for up to 3 hours! NO WAY! Even though the nurse was telling me I was doing well, it felt like the pushing seemed to be going nowhere.

The mood changed when the traveling nurse, Jackie, came to relieve Alaina, she mistakenly thought that my mom was the nurse! That was funny, but Jackie quickly got down to business and realized that the baby was OP, facing up :( At this time, Alani had come back and wanted to care for me again, but we decided that since Jackie already had a grasp on the situation, we'd keep her instead. Jackie, greased the baby's head with mineral oil and helped to stretch me out, but I hadn't been pushing correctly.

Once she told me where to apply the pressure, that's really when things got heated... literally. I was sweating and huffing and puffing! Richie was cheering, "She's right there! I can see her head!" (among other things: see previous post). Once her head had popped out, the doctor didn't pull her out immediately because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Dr. Asan snipped the cord *sorry, Richie, maybe next time* and at 10:50AM on Mother's Day, I gave birth to a babygirl :) I don't remember this, but my mom told me later that when the baby finally came out, Richie yelled, "TOUCHDOWN!"

Mom Edna started crying right away, but I was kinda in shock. I was so wiped out, but I was also so scared for the baby because she looked pale and wasn't crying. In the corner I could see them lifting her arms, and the baby was too floppy. They said she was just as drained from the delivery as I was, if not more. My mom later told me that although her body was limp, her eyes were wide open and looking around, as if to say "Where am I?" I felt so helpless and wanted nothing more than for her to let out a large cry, but she only whimpered. I held her briefly before they wheeled her off to the transitional nursery. I prayed for God to give her the strength and revive her completely.



I was oddly at peace while she was away because I had the utmost faith that she was going to pull through. Sure enough, she had recuperated the time she got to the nursery. Richie said that when she was examined, the nurse asked, "Why are you bringing me a perfectly healthy baby?" Needless to say, our prayers were answered. She just needed a little time to get herself together... and who could blame her after 30 hours of labor and delivery! It sounds long, but like they say, after all is said and done, once the baby is born, all the pain was well worth it!



As for her stats, I was totally expecting to give birth to an 8-lb baby. I had gained almost 1.5 times the recommended weight and both Richie and I were heavier babies when we were born. So when I saw on the scale that she was only 6 lbs and 4 oz, I had to do a double take. Then on top of that, she's also a long baby: 20.5 inches! Her poor head had been bruised up since she was practically pulled out of me, but when they measured her head, it was also considered on the small size.



So after 30 hours from start to finish, baby and I finished the marathon with flying colors! Would I do it all over again? You betcha... in a heartbeat!