On Sunday evening, September 30, I started to feel a bit restless. I felt I really needed to get out and exercise. Since it was raining, my husband and I went to the Alderwood Mall & did a few loops inside. I had to stop a few times & do deep breathing exercises due to intermittent sharp lower abdominal pains. It was hard to walk being so big, however, exercise helped me to go to sleep that night. At 1:11 am on Monday, October 1st, my water broke as I attempted to get out of bed to use the restroom. A large gush of warm fluid running down my legs & rapidly covering the bedroom floor was an unmistakable sign of early labor. I started to shake with excitement knowing my big day has arrived at last. I woke up my husband. I knew I had to conserve my energy and try going back to sleep, however, it was nearly impossible. The contractions started a couple of minutes after my water breaking. They were mild in intensity lasting about 20-30 seconds each & coming 10 minutes apart. I was re-reading Penny Simkin's Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Newborn book trying to anticipate what's ahead. It stated that rupture of membranes before labor occurs in about 10% of women, & in most pregnancies the membranes do not rupture until the active phase of labor or later. My husband's Mom was spending the night at our house since we were supposed to take her for her swearing-in ceremony on Monday. Once she found out why we were up, she wanted us to go to the hospital immediately, however, we have told her that in order to be admitted we had to meet the 4-1-1 criteria (contractions lasting 1 minute each 4 minutes apart for at least 1 hour). She could not go back to sleep either & spent the rest of the morning praying for a safe delivery & a healthy baby in her bedroom. I have realized that I was in such denial I have not packed my hospital bag, so at 2:30 am I've started packing it at last. At 3 am I have called my midwife Sally to inform her of the recent developments. After asking a few questions, she suggested I stay home for as long as I was comfortable. After eating some macaroni & cheese, I went back to bed. My husband & I kept track of the contraction intensity using his stop watch. I was doing deep breathing & relaxation. At 6 am I called Chris & Gerry & told them I was in labor. I have also called my doula Audra & told her I may need her in a couple of hours.
I spent much of the morning walking around the house, packing last-minute items, eating light easily-digestible foods, rotating my pelvis on a birth ball & listening to my hypnobirthing CD. I was able to relax to the point of almost falling asleep for about an hour while listening to my one of my CDs. I've started to get more uncomfortable at around 1030 am. The contractions were longer & coming every 2-3 minutes apart. It took much breathing to get through each one. I've phoned Sally & informed her that we were going to the hospital. She said she would inform the hospital unit I was on my way. We have also called my doula Audra & told her to meet us at the hospital.
The drive to the hospital was challenging. I could feel every bump. Thanks to the timing of the day, there was no rush hour traffic. We arrived to the hospital at about 11 am. After arrival to the maternity unit at Swedish Ballard, we were greeted by a nurse who escorted us to our room. We have asked her for a cart so that my husband could unload all of our bags from the car. She suggested we wait until she assessed my contraction pattern. After helping me to change into a gown, the nurse applied electronic monitor to my abdomen. I focused my energy on staying relaxed, closing my eyes & deep breathing through each contraction. After confirming that my contractions were frequent & intense enough, the nurse phoned Sally who suggested I have a vaginal exam to assess my dilation. After checking me, the nurse praised me & told me what a brave woman I was since I was 9 cm dilated! She said she did not see this very often & that I must have very high pain tolerance. She initially thought I would probably need to return home since I looked too calm & relaxed to be in active labor. She stated that I am less than an hour away from having my baby born & my midwife needed to be there ASAP & ran out of the room.
Sally arrived to the hospital within next half an hour. She checked my cervical dilation which invited a strong urge to push. I've started pushing at around noon time gently rocking my hips as I was leaning over a hospital bed. Pretty soon the intense back labor set in & I switched my position to being on my hands and knees. My doula kept massaging my back with lavender massage oil & applying pressure to tense areas which helped tremendously. She also made sure I stayed hydrated offering me water to drink every hour or so. Soon I had an IV put in & blood drawn to check my latest platelet count. At around 1400 Sally decided to get more aggressive about pushing. It turned out the baby was in occiput posterior position (back of the baby's head facing toward my back or a "sunny side up") which is considered to be an unfavorable fetal position. I was having considerable back pain due to the hard round part of the baby's head (the occiput) pressing on my sacrum, straining the sacroiliac joints & causing pain in the entire lower back area. I kept changing positions every 30 minutes while pushing: leaning over the bed, doing the lunge (lunging one of my legs while staying upright), side-lying with my right leg elevated, semi-prone, sitting on a toilet, & "water skiing" (squatting while pulling on a sheet wrapped around a squatting bar in front of you). Sally thought one of the reasons the baby wasn't descending during pushing urges was because I was afraid of letting go & truly bearing down due to severe back labor. So she suggested I try sterile water block (back acupressure point saline injections). The injections were one of my most painful things I have experienced, much worse than the labor itself, however, they did provide good back pain relief for about an hour. Due to the baby's position, I found out I couldn't urinate, so a catheter was used twice to drain my bladder during labor. After a couple of hours of bearing down with no results, my labor started to slow down. Nipple stimulation brought my contractions back, however, they were not intense or long enough for the pushing stage. Sally suggested I try Pitocin drip to make my contractions more effective. I was very nervous about trying it since I've heard it was often difficult to tolerate the intensity of Pitocin-induced contractions without an epidural. However, Sally reassured me that Pitocin would be started at a slow rate & that it takes a while to come into full effect. She was right, Pitocin worked slowly, however, once it reached its full effect, my contractions were very intense & coming every 2-3 minutes apart. I experienced an uncontrollable urge to push with each contraction. I was pushing for over 3 hours & no progress has been made. The baby did not come down even an inch. Sally has even tried to turn the baby's head to facilitate his better descend, however, he flipped right back to his old position as soon as she was done rotating him. I was getting to the point of exhaustion & falling asleep between my contractions.
At around 1700, Sally stated that she wasn't comfortable with me pushing any longer since no progress has been made & with my history of ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, or low platelet count) the baby was at a higher risk of intracranial hemorrhage. She stated that she thought C-section was the best option for me at that time. I was shocked & reluctant initially, however, once another contraction came I changed my mind. The contractions without any progress took everything I had & I was more exhausted by the minute. Once the decision about C-section was made the nurse anesthetist arrived pretty quickly & went through the list of standard medical history questions & obtaining informed consent. I just remember thinking, "I can't make it through another contraction. Stop all of this questioning & let's get on with the business." A few minutes later I was wheeled into the OR downstairs & was sitting on an operating table hugging my knees awaiting my spinal block. After everything I've been through that day my mind barely registered the pain of the needle being inserted between my vertebrae. The bliss of numbness set in from my nipple line down to my toes in a matter of minutes & was positioned for the surgery. The most uncomfortable thing about the surgery was laying with my head lower than my legs with big belly pushing on my diaphragm & making it harder for me to breathe. The smell of burning flesh as my vessels were cauterized was not pleasant either. However, the surgery itself was conducted quickly. My hubby & my doula were at my side the whole time. After several strong pulls (I felt my whole body lifted off the operating table 3 times) to get the baby's head out which was wedged deeply in the pelvis, Gerritt was born at 1747!
It was amazing to hear Gerritt's first cry! There is really nothing like it. I've started crying the minute I heard it. What a miracle it is to create another human being! Gerritt Jinwon Hong weighed 8 lbs 8 oz. and was 21 inches long. My husband was a proud Dad at last & brought the baby over to me as soon as Gerritt was measured, weighed & wrapped. The baby was born at 39 weeks & 3 days of gestation, or 4 days before the due date. So much for our expectations of overdue baby!
"A child is such a precious gift, a seed destined to grow and blossom forth in all the ways that parents choose to sow. Hug that child, love that child and when the time has come, set that perfect being free, and be glad you were the one, to have a chance to share this dance, with a flame of the golden sun." ~ Sri Gawn Tu Fahr
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