DD2's Birth Story
I have been reading birth stories posted by The Rural Doctoring, and this post kind of made me wonder about my own psychological state of mind when giving birth to DD2.
'Because a woman's psychological preparedness for giving birth really matters. Women have to reach deeply into their inner selves during labor, and they need to have some self-reflection to get to those deep places.' - The Rural Doctoring
2:00am: I woke up with strong contractions. The pain got more and more intense as time passed. Had to get out of bed and sit on the exercise ball to ease the pain.
2:30pm: "I think I will call my doula at 3am if the pain continues."
3:00pm: The pain was not going away and I could hardly talk when I have the contraction. Called my doula and she said she will be here soon.
3:45pm: My doula arrived at my place and I apologized for the bad timing. She said not to feel bad about it and checked my belly. She said that contractions are getting stronger and suggested that we go to the hospital now.
4:30pm: We arrived at the labor and delivery ward and got checked in. A nurse came to check me and got me to change into a gown.
10:30am: When I was in active labor after the OB doctor, Dr. C, broke my water in the morning, I did not request for epidural because I wanted to try giving birth without pain medication. I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. Initially with my doula's coaching, I was able to take deep breaths and focus on relaxing my shoulders and body instead of each contractions.
12:00pm: But by noon as the labor progressed, the contraction pain was getting more intense for me to relax. My doula advised me to reach deep to cope with each contraction pain, and I tried to listen to her through the pain. Eventually, Yvonne, the nurse who took care of me, advised me to take some pain medication to help me relax. Yvonne has been a registered nurse for over 15 years and although I have only meet her that day, I trust her professional judgment. I was glad that I took her advise because after having pain medication given to me through IV, my cervix dilated from 3cm to 4cm and 90% effaced.
1:00pm: I was still 4cm dilated. At this point, I couldn't tell myself to relax and focus on breathing deeply. I have been in active labor for over 12 hours and was too tired to cope with the intense pain. Yvonne again advised me to get an epidural as it might help me to get some rest and hopefully my cervix will dilate more when I am relaxed.
I decided to go for it. But I had to wait for an hour to get it as the anaesthesiologist, Dr. B, was swarmed with laboring woman who wanted epidural.
It was an agonizing one hour wait and I had no idea how I managed to wait that long without losing my mind.
2:00pm: When Dr. B finally came into my room, Yvonne and my doula told me the good news. By this time I was just too tired to feel happy. Dr. B gave me instructions to be in a sitting position, and although I heard him loud and clear, my body was not listening to my brain. I kept hearing him saying things like 'You are not doing it right.' or 'You are not listening to me.' or 'You are not looking at how I do it.' I tried to push my lower back outward like how he showed me but I didn't quite got it right. Finally Yvonne told me to hug a pillow with both arms and helped me to bend my lower back as much as possible. She told me to stay very still and with her help, it worked.
(The next day when I was in a postpartum recovery room after DD2 was born, my doula told me that she didn't like the way Dr. B spoke to me, and husband was also quite annoyed at his tone. I told her that perhaps Dr. B was under a lot of stress having to deal with so many requests for epidural within a short time, that was why he was not very patient with me. )
5:00pm: Three hours later my cervix went from 4cm to 7cm. Then it stayed at 7cm and still 90% effaced for the next 3 hours.
When I learned that I was pregnant last August, I thought of giving birth this time without pain medication. I had also wanted to have a Vaginal Birth After C-Section (VBAC). But knowing that things can happen when you least expected it, I was prepared to be flexible when the time came to do so.
7:00pm: Yvonne checked my vital signs and updated me on my status as evening approached. She told me I was having a low grade fever, labor has not progressed in three hours and there was also blood in my urine by that time. She told me I needed to consider having a C-section to prevent harm to myself and the baby. She said that she was going to call Dr. C and let her know of my condition. For my husband and I, our priority is the baby's health, not my ego or pride. Even though I was hoping to have a VBAC, I knew that I have to do the right thing for my baby.
7:15pm: Just as Yvonne said, Dr. C advised me to consider getting a C-section. I am thankful that Dr. C was the OB doctor on call on that Sunday, and allowed me to try my best effort to have a VBAC. She did not pressure me to get a C-section even though my own OB doctor wanted me to consider scheduling for a C-section two weeks ago in case the baby was past the due date. After discussing with husband about it, we both agreed that this was necessary to avoid causing harm to the baby.
7:45pm-8:17pm: So after laboring for 17 hours, DD2 was delivered via c-section.
Upon reflection, I am glad that I did my best not to take pain medication unless absolutely necessary. I am also glad that I tried to have a VBAC although it didn't happen the way I wanted it to be. I can honestly say that I gave 100% of my effort in the laboring of DD2 and Allah SWT has blessed me with a safe delivery of my daughter eventually.
At an early age I learned that stubbornness will not help me in life's difficult situations. My mother has always told me that by being flexible and taking other people's good advise at the right time, with Allah SWT's blessings I somehow manage to survive life's trials.
'Because a woman's psychological preparedness for giving birth really matters. Women have to reach deeply into their inner selves during labor, and they need to have some self-reflection to get to those deep places.' - The Rural Doctoring
2:00am: I woke up with strong contractions. The pain got more and more intense as time passed. Had to get out of bed and sit on the exercise ball to ease the pain.
2:30pm: "I think I will call my doula at 3am if the pain continues."
3:00pm: The pain was not going away and I could hardly talk when I have the contraction. Called my doula and she said she will be here soon.
3:45pm: My doula arrived at my place and I apologized for the bad timing. She said not to feel bad about it and checked my belly. She said that contractions are getting stronger and suggested that we go to the hospital now.
4:30pm: We arrived at the labor and delivery ward and got checked in. A nurse came to check me and got me to change into a gown.
10:30am: When I was in active labor after the OB doctor, Dr. C, broke my water in the morning, I did not request for epidural because I wanted to try giving birth without pain medication. I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. Initially with my doula's coaching, I was able to take deep breaths and focus on relaxing my shoulders and body instead of each contractions.
12:00pm: But by noon as the labor progressed, the contraction pain was getting more intense for me to relax. My doula advised me to reach deep to cope with each contraction pain, and I tried to listen to her through the pain. Eventually, Yvonne, the nurse who took care of me, advised me to take some pain medication to help me relax. Yvonne has been a registered nurse for over 15 years and although I have only meet her that day, I trust her professional judgment. I was glad that I took her advise because after having pain medication given to me through IV, my cervix dilated from 3cm to 4cm and 90% effaced.
1:00pm: I was still 4cm dilated. At this point, I couldn't tell myself to relax and focus on breathing deeply. I have been in active labor for over 12 hours and was too tired to cope with the intense pain. Yvonne again advised me to get an epidural as it might help me to get some rest and hopefully my cervix will dilate more when I am relaxed.
I decided to go for it. But I had to wait for an hour to get it as the anaesthesiologist, Dr. B, was swarmed with laboring woman who wanted epidural.
It was an agonizing one hour wait and I had no idea how I managed to wait that long without losing my mind.
2:00pm: When Dr. B finally came into my room, Yvonne and my doula told me the good news. By this time I was just too tired to feel happy. Dr. B gave me instructions to be in a sitting position, and although I heard him loud and clear, my body was not listening to my brain. I kept hearing him saying things like 'You are not doing it right.' or 'You are not listening to me.' or 'You are not looking at how I do it.' I tried to push my lower back outward like how he showed me but I didn't quite got it right. Finally Yvonne told me to hug a pillow with both arms and helped me to bend my lower back as much as possible. She told me to stay very still and with her help, it worked.
(The next day when I was in a postpartum recovery room after DD2 was born, my doula told me that she didn't like the way Dr. B spoke to me, and husband was also quite annoyed at his tone. I told her that perhaps Dr. B was under a lot of stress having to deal with so many requests for epidural within a short time, that was why he was not very patient with me. )
5:00pm: Three hours later my cervix went from 4cm to 7cm. Then it stayed at 7cm and still 90% effaced for the next 3 hours.
When I learned that I was pregnant last August, I thought of giving birth this time without pain medication. I had also wanted to have a Vaginal Birth After C-Section (VBAC). But knowing that things can happen when you least expected it, I was prepared to be flexible when the time came to do so.
7:00pm: Yvonne checked my vital signs and updated me on my status as evening approached. She told me I was having a low grade fever, labor has not progressed in three hours and there was also blood in my urine by that time. She told me I needed to consider having a C-section to prevent harm to myself and the baby. She said that she was going to call Dr. C and let her know of my condition. For my husband and I, our priority is the baby's health, not my ego or pride. Even though I was hoping to have a VBAC, I knew that I have to do the right thing for my baby.
7:15pm: Just as Yvonne said, Dr. C advised me to consider getting a C-section. I am thankful that Dr. C was the OB doctor on call on that Sunday, and allowed me to try my best effort to have a VBAC. She did not pressure me to get a C-section even though my own OB doctor wanted me to consider scheduling for a C-section two weeks ago in case the baby was past the due date. After discussing with husband about it, we both agreed that this was necessary to avoid causing harm to the baby.
7:45pm-8:17pm: So after laboring for 17 hours, DD2 was delivered via c-section.
Upon reflection, I am glad that I did my best not to take pain medication unless absolutely necessary. I am also glad that I tried to have a VBAC although it didn't happen the way I wanted it to be. I can honestly say that I gave 100% of my effort in the laboring of DD2 and Allah SWT has blessed me with a safe delivery of my daughter eventually.
At an early age I learned that stubbornness will not help me in life's difficult situations. My mother has always told me that by being flexible and taking other people's good advise at the right time, with Allah SWT's blessings I somehow manage to survive life's trials.
posted by Jiru at
6:51 PM
