I've decided to blog about Kiyomi's arrival, because I will inevitably forget what happened (ex. everytime I mentioned something about the birth to my mother, she responded with, "Oh, right, I forgot about that." Very helpful, mom!), and so that she has something to look back on if she decides she wants to know about her entrance!
Just a warning, I will be describing some things in detail so it might be TMI for some people. Just stop reading if you don't want to know about the ins and outs of a birth.
Kiyomi was due on September 2nd, 2012, and sure enough, on Friday night (Aug. 31), I was jarred awake in the middle of the night with extremely painful cramps. Wait, I should edit that. I *thought* they were painful. Little did I know what else was in store. I woke up around 3:30 am and noticed I had bright red spotting, and freaked out (they always say bloody show is supposed to be pink). I woke Kevin up and made him take me to the hospital. I told them that I knew I wasn't in labour, but that I wanted to make sure everything was okay with the spotting. Dr. Taerk (pronounced Dr. Turk...I almost burst out laughing because Kev and I had been watching copious amounts of Scrubs, and I wanted to ask the doctor whether his name was short for Turkelton) examined me, and told me my cervix was just effacing. Sent me home at 4 am.
All Saturday, I relaxed at home, and didn't really have any cramps, but Saturday night, the cramps were terrible (again, so I thought. So silly.), and Kevin insisted on timing them with me. I casually mentioned that they probably had an app to time them, which the did, so Kevin used his phone to time them. This meant I was waking him up every 10 mins. or so to make him time them, which meant he got absolutely no sleep. They continued once I woke up in the morning, but weren't quite as painful.
I stayed home on Sunday and relaxed again, which meant I missed an amazing dinner that Kevin got to go to. He got home around 10 pm, which is when the REAL contractions started. I thought they were super-painful, and I timed them overnight. Around 3 am again, I thought we were finally at the magic 5-1-1 (contractions 5 minutes apart, for 1 minute duration, which continue for at least an hour). I was in a lot of pain, so we went to the hospital. Again, Dr. Taerk examined me, but I was only 3 cm dilated, so he sent us home. I said that the contractions were really painful, but he told me they would be worse, hahah. He said we would likely be back later on that day. I was slightly embarassed to be seen by the same doctor and STILL not be ready to be admitted.
All Monday, I laboured at home on the couch. It was excruciating!! I told Kevin testily that he should not talk to me because I needed all my concentration to keep getting through the contractions. The pain got worse and worse, and I finally understood what the Dr. had said about the pain getting much worse. I could vaguely hear Kevin watching more Scrubs episodes in the background, but it took all I had to keep breathing through the contractions. Sometime in the early afternoon, I started to feel a lot of pressure, and a desire to push. I knew I wasn't supposed to push, so I just kept breathing. Shoulda listened to some hypno-birthing techniques beforehand! I knew I could probably go into the hospital, but the pain was just so terrible, that everytime I thought about the effort it would take to move, walk downstairs, endure a 20-minute car ride, and walk through the hospital to triage, I didn't think I could do it. I know they say that walking, taking a shower, etc. is actually great for labour, but are you KIDDING ME?! I couldn't get up from the couch.
Finally at around 3pm, I decided I needed to get to the hospital. By that time, I had decided I really wanted an epidural (so much for seeing how far I'd get without one!), and was now worried that I was too far along to get one! The car ride was TERRIBLE, but I was thankful that it was Labour Day, and that the hospital wasn't that busy. Kevin dropped me off at the main entrance, and I quickly hobbled towards a wheelchair that someone had left outside. Part of me wanted to sit in it and get Kevin to wheel me around, but sitting was actually more uncomfortable, so I just used the wheelchair to get through the next contraction, and then booted it through the lobby. I wanted to try to make it upstairs before the next contraction, but they were coming pretty frequently, so I ended up having one in the elevator. A man was in there with me, and I was doubled over, staring at the floor. I don't know what he thought, but I hope he knew I was in labour, as I breathed heavily and asked him if we were at the 5th floor yet. He didn't answer, so I looked up, recognized the floor and scurried to the triage desk. There, I had another contraction, and Kevin arrived shortly thereafter. The nurse amused me, because she spoke soooooo slowly and calmly, that had I not been in so much pain, I would have been really annoyed at her pace. Anyway, she got me onto a triage bed, and through my two previous visits, I knew that she was supposed to leave me to time my contractions for a while before she even called the doctor. Well, I was not having any of this waiting business, so I told her I really felt like pushing, so she checked me, and I was a "stretchy 6", in her words. She asked me whether I wanted an epidural, to which I replied vehemently, "YES!" She mentioned something about going au naturel, but I repeated that I definitely wanted an epidural, haha.
By the time I got to the labour room, it was around 4pm. They got an IV in me (the first time, they messed up and I ended up bleeding all over the floor and bruising, but did I care? Noooo siree! Too much labour pain!) and Dr. Halpern came in to give me the epidural. I was relieved to see he was an older man, because I didn't want a resident giving me my epidural. The most ridiculous part, I thought, was how they kept saying that I had to stay absolutely still while they gave it to me. It was funny, because I was experiencing contractions every few minutes, which were making me writhe in pain. I really didn't think I'd be able to stay still, and had momentary thoughts of panic as I worried about what would happen if I didn't stay still. Anyway, my worries were unfounded, because the epidural went in successfully, and thus started 7 hours of painless bliss! I had normal conversations with Kevin, I napped, and it was beautiful. I totally respect anyone who is able to give birth without an epidural, because it takes SO.MUCH.MENTAL.CONTROL. I could feel the most minimal of sensations when I had a contraction, so once I was dilated to 10cm at around 10:30pm, I started to push. Uh, can I just say that pushing is SO EASY when you have an epidural? Totally not like in the movies, where ladies are screaming and injuring their husband's hands. In the end, they had to give me an episiotomy to prevent tearing. I think they actually gave it to me while I was pushing, so Kiyomi actually FLEW out of me onto the table. I thought to myself that every birth training video/book I had read directed us to guide the baby out SLOWLY, but hey, Kiyomi came out crying and flailing, so I was happy. She was actually flailing and grabbing so much, that the first thing she did was to grab the scissors that they were trying to use to cut the umbilical cord. Apparently, she was not ready to be separated from her mama yet. :)
She was born at 11:03pm on September 3rd, weighing 3418 grams (7 lbs, 8 oz), but her head was small compared to her body length (52 cm). They suctioned her lungs, as there was some meconium when they broke my water, just to make sure she hadn't inhaled any, but she was pronounced healthy and fit!
I asked the doctor how many stitches he was putting in, and his reply was, "It's not so much about the number, as it is about getting everything back where it's supposed to be." As if THAT was supposed to be reassuring?! The only other memorable thing that happened before they stitched me up was Kevin's very sensitive comment that, "It looks scary down there." A very supportive husband comment, hahaha.
I thought Kiyomi was the most beautiful newborn I had ever seen. She had beautiful rosebud lips, but she refused to open her eyes for the first day or so. They let us stay 2 nights, and we went home Sept. 5th. I waddled.
Part of me wonders about having an underwater birth, or possibly a home birth next time...we'll have to see!
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