I had always said throughout the pregnancy that I thought the baby would come early ... but I had no idea he would come THIS early!
On April 13th, I started leaking amniotic fluid. Ardit had to work that day so I was all alone in the house. I was thinking how 'yabai' it was ... but then again I wasn't 100% sure that it was my water bag so I decided to wait the day out and see what happened. I chatted with my mom and told her what was happening and how I wasn't sure if it was my water or not, but she wanted me to go to the doctor to be sure, so I promised her that I would go the next day if it didn't stop.
Well I took my afternoon nap as usual, but when I woke up and got out of bed ... BAM ... this time I WAS sure that it was my water.
Since I couldn't tell Mami what was wrong I called Ardit up so he could tell her, and of course then there was no choice BUT to go to the doctor. I really didn't want to go cause I knew they would just send me to the hospital and I REALLY didn't want to go.
At the clinic the doctor checked, and yep ... it was my water. So of course I got sent on to the hospital. The doctor gave us 48 hours for the labor to start (I was having ZERO contractions).
We went home, and packed some stuff for me and for the baby, and off we went. It was such a weird feeling driving to the hospital feeling totally fine, yet knowing that when I came back, it would be with our little boy! I was excited, but feeling more worried that things wouldn't go well.
By the time I got checked in to the hospital and sent to my room, it was night. There was another pregnant lady in the room with me, who was already having contractions. Anyway, that night was spent trying to rest between the lady's contractions and the nurses coming in to check on us and our babies. Early the next morning the lady moved to the delivery ward and I was left all alone with Ardit. And all that day was spent having light contractions that I could barely feel, sleeping, walking around the corridors, and trying not to get too bored. The doctor and nurses came to check quite often, and the doctor told us that tomorrow morning they would start the induction. 'Tomorrow no matter what your baby will be born!' I was still stuck between being scared (I've always hated hospitals), happy (that the baby was coming!), unhappy (I wanted a Taurus!!!), and scared again.
I was so glad that they let Ardit stay with me even during the nights ... I would have freaked out if I had to stay there all by myself.
So, the morning of the 15th I was taken down to the delivery ward, and because my contractions hadn't gotten strong enough, I was hooked up to an IV, and given a serum to induce the contractions. Before I had time to worry that it would hurt, BAM I started getting heavier contractions. They weren't TOO strong, just strong enough, and around 10 min apart, and they had me hooked up to monitors for me and the baby, so I had to stay on my back and that was uncomfortable. Around noon I was sent to the doctor for a check, and he found out that my labor hadn't progressed at all (my cervix hadn't effaced, and I was was still only 2 cm dilated).
So he gave us our options:
1: Continue with the serum, with a maximum of 8 hours, and if I STILL hadn't progressed enough, be sent to surgery for a cesarean.
2: To just go straight into surgery to have a cesarean without waiting any longer.
He told us that in his experience, most women who chose to wait anyway ended up not progressed enough to have a natural delivery and ended up having surgery anyway. If we waited and it didn't work out the natural way, I would be tired from working all day with the induced contractions, and also at the end of the 8 hours our doctor (who had followed me through the pregnancy and was the chief obstetrician of the hospital) would be off duty so the surgery would be performed by a different doctor. And both of us wanted THIS doctor for my delivery.
So it was just such a shock to me, because all of the things we wanted so much to avoid were happening one by one. First the water breaking early and having to come to the hospital for 2 days, then the induction, and now the possible surgery. All I wanted was to have a natural delivery, with the least amount of medication, and shortest stay at the hospital as possible. So when given these two options it was like the last straw for me, and I just broke down. It's a little embarrassing now to write about it, but at that time I felt perfectly justified. It wasn't only the stress of the whole 3 days and being taken from one bad scenario to the next. I was also FREAKED out.
Ardit was wonderful through it all. He didn't get mad at me for crying, but just comforted me, and reassured me that it would all be ok, and that it was what was best for the baby. I was also worried that the recovery would take longer, so I wouldn't be able to take proper care of the baby, but he was so brave and reassured me he would take care of me and the baby till I got well enough. I honestly would have died probably if he wasn't there.
So in the end we decided to have the surgery, and that it would be best for me and the baby if we didn't prolong it but just got it done and over with. All of this time that I was breaking down and we were discussing what to do I was still receiving the serum that was giving me contractions so it was all a huge disastrous mess going on.
But within the hour the doctor had arranged for the surgery, and I was taken into the surgery room. As I left Ardit in the room and walked (limped is more like it) to the surgery room I started panicking again, and on the table being prepped I just started hyperventilating and shaking. I was SOOOOOOOOO scared I thought I would start crying again! They gave me a shot in the back and it hurt WAY less than I was scared of (THANK GOD!). I found out later that they just gave me the shot instead of the epidural anesthetic which would have been SUPER painful and was the one that I was scared of. Anyway, I was still shaking like crazy but they strapped my whole body down I guess so I couldn't move. The doctor was AMAZING for me at this time. He talked to me, told me it was ok to be scared but it would be over so so so soon and I would get my baby, etc etc. He REALLY calmed me down and even got me to smile for him. Anyway, I don't know if it's normal but I got super tired and the whole procedure became really hazy. I remember him telling me they were gonna cut now, but then after that I don't remember anything until they brought the baby to me. They put him on me, and cause my hands were strapped down the nurse had to hold him ... and his head rested against my forehead, and I just remember being so thankful that he was here. I kept saying 'you're finally here'. Then I must've fell asleep again cause when when I woke up I was back in the room and Ardit was there and the baby was next to me! Apparently the whole thing was very fast and I was back in the room within an hour. I was in and out of sleep for the next 6 hours or so, but between sleeps I couldn't stop staring at my baby. MY BABY! Gosh I just couldn't believe it he was finally here!
By evening I regained feeling in my legs, was able to walk (with lots of help) to the bathroom, and gave baby his first nurse!
The next few days were worse than the delivery (duhh ... I was asleep for most of that ... hehe) ... I got shots practically EVERYWHERE multiple times, and my boobs got their crash course in nursing. By the second day I was begging the doctor to let me go home. My obstetrician doctor said I could, but that it would be up to the pediatrician. The pediatrician wanted to keep baby for another day because he was a preemie and they wanted to monitor him for jaundice. So I begged and got the doctor to agree that I wouldn't get any more shots.
Ardit was such a hero the 3 nights we spent with the baby in the hospital. He cried a lot during the night, and because I couldn't move without help he did EVERYTHING. He rolled up my bed so I could sit up and nurse the baby, he stayed up with the baby when he cried, he fed me, he walked me to the bathroom ... he was SUCH a hero! And he had never taken care of a baby before! He did so good and I was so thankful to have him there and so proud of him!
So we were finally allowed to go home on Monday! I was so so so so so so happy to finally come home after almost a week at the hospital! Thanks Elda and Sawyer for driving us back!
So that's the story of how we got our baby almost a month early! A couple of random thoughts:
1) It was nice how they let us keep the baby with use the whole time we were in the hospital. Except for a few times when they came to give the baby a bath, whenever they wanted to give him a shot, or take a blood test they brought the stuff to the room and did their stuff there. So it was nice always having the little one near me.
2) I remember the first time I was pregnant and I was visiting Japan, Mandy gave me some advice about how I should try to stay open for anything happening at the delivery. She told me about how she had had to have a cesarean with her boy, and how it really made a difference that she was accepting and not super stuck on having the baby a certain way. I wish I had remembered this at the time I was going through all of the above stuff instead of now as I am writing this. I know I will remember it next time.
In closing, here are the very first pictures of the pooch that we took. See how Japanese he looks! The doctors and the nurses came out of the surgery room to congratulate daddy and this is what they said: "Congratulations, you have a beautiful baby, but we are so sorry, he doesn't look like you at all!"
I was so surprised at how much hair he had when he came out! I had been wanting him to be blond so much that I was just as surprised that he had dark hair!
He looks so much like me when I was just born! I have a picture that I think he looks identical to! (Or it could just be my warped memory)
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