(I have been wanting to write this blog since I gave birth early March, but I have since realized that my planned activities will now be wrapped around my son's little finger. So far, he has been commanding my full strength and attention, barely allowing me to slip back to my previous computer-related life. So now, with a few stolen moments while my son is asleep, I will attempt to write about my upside-down world now-- in a nutshell.)
The beginning...
March 2, 2010. Around 6PM:
"Tok!" I felt something in my tummy. I thought EJ was just playing inside my womb. But, call it instinct or whatever, I felt it was something different. I went to the bathroom and realized, this is it. My waterbag broke!
Me (laughing): Mommy! Pumutok na ata panubigan ko!
Mom (panicking): O DALI! DALI! PUNTA NA TAYO SA OSPITAL!!
Me: (sat down on the toilet to pee.)
Mom (panicking ever more): O BAKIT KA PA UMUUPO JAN??? HALIKA NA SA OSPITAL!
Me (laughing): Easy lng! Easy lng! Naiihi lng ako!
Me calling Jon, who was still in the office:
Me: Ging, pumutok na po panubigan ko...
Jon: HAA???? HAA?????....... O ANO PANO NA SAN NA TAYO MAGKIKITA???
Me: Easy lng hehe, sa ER nlng sa Perps tayo mag-meet ok?
Jon: OK OK AALIS NAKO NGYON!
And the rest was....comedy.
It helps to read a lot during your pregnancy -- what would happen, when it might happen, and what it might feel like. So I felt that I wasn't completely in the dark, since I kinda knew what was going to happen to me, and though my expectation was really of normal delivery, I knew at the back of my head that an emergency Caesarian Section was always a possibility.
So I was basically apprehensive of 3 things:
1. Dextrose, since I have never experienced it (despite countless injections and blood tests)
2. The Epidural since I know it involves a biggie needle and the spine -- and that never sounds good together.
3. The contraction thingies, but since I'm going to have Epidural (see #2), then this could be cancelled out.
Well, the Dextrose and the Epidural turned out to be non-events. They weren't much different than the injections and blood tests I had to go through during my lifetime.
The contractions at 4-5cm were like my normal monthly pains. At 5cm, they gave me epidural already out of standard procedure. At 7-8cm, the first trial dose of epidural was wearing off, and my OB didn't want to give me more, which was ok since it was tolerable... until the 8-9cm, where I was already making "sheeshing" sounds because I was trying to tolerate the pain and at the same time begging to have a teensy weensy dose even just to lessen it. They eventually gave me a partial dose again -- and as I was about to give birth at 10cm, I could still feel the contractions so I was able to push EJ out despite having his cord coiled twice around his neck.
I DID say the rest was comedy, right?
As posted in my Facebook account, here are some quotable quotes during delivery (yes, I was awake and sane the whole time):
"Inhale, exhale... Inhale, exhale... Inhale, exhale..hold it... PUUUUSH!!!! (Counting) 1...2....3...4...5...6...7...8...9..10" (imagine having to push like that for 10 counts!)
"Push para kang nac-CR!" (for 10 counts!!)
In the middle of everything
Me: "Ok ok isipin ko nlng constipated ako!"
Them: "Oo, isipin mo constipated ka!"
"IRIS! Bakit namumula ang mukha mo?? Ang force mo dapat sa pwet, hindi sa mukha! Hindi jan lalabas ang baby mo!"
"Hala lumalabas na litid mo sa leeg... push sa pwet! Sa pwet!"
Me asking my Anaesthesiologist after seeing EJ:
"Doc, baby ko un diba?"
DOC: "Ewan ko sayo, bsta nakita ko lumabas cya jan kanina!"
Hahahahaha!
So at 02:25 a.m. March 03, 2010, Ev Joaquin D. Capistrano was born via Normal Delivery.
And so the saga continues...
The first few days literally turned our worlds upside down. Everything -- our schedules, our sleep, our mealtimes, even our bathroom breaks were erratic. One cry from the little guy sends four adults into a frenzy on what to do -- nappy change? milk? water? burp? cuddle?
I admit that the initial euphoria has passed, and that I have since descended from the cloud 9 of having a successful delivery. I am going through what every new mother is going through -- sleepless nights, sleepless days, hurried meals, back aches from carrying the baby or sleeping on one side facing the baby -- not to mention the post-partum pains in the abdomen, the stitches, the painful lactation. Finding out about my son's G6PD Deficiency almost gave me palpitations -- until I understood that it wasn't really so bad at all. ( side-note: Glucose-6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase or G6PD is an enzyme that helps create red blood cells. Ergo, a deficiency of this means the body can't produce enough RBCs. There's no medicine for this -- he just has to avoid certain food/chemicals/medicines that breakdown RBCs -- otherwise, it leads to hemolytic anemia. It's kind of like a food allergy where there's no permanent cure but if you avoid what's not good for you, then you're okay)
Truthfully, it's hard to maintain the initial euphoria when I can even hardly keep myself awake most of the time. But I know I'm still blessed to have a normal delivery, to have a normal, healthy baby boy, and to have my whole family supporting & helping me the best way they can.
Mommyhood is no easy feat. I've always appreciated everything my mom has done for me, but I find myself having a new found sense of respect & love for my mom who had it waaay harder than what I'm experiencing right now.
And now, cradling my sleeping son with my right and typing this blog with my left (see picture above), I have to get back to the new reality I must face from now on -- that my everything now revolves around my son.
