Eliana's Birth Story

I'm finally posting Eliana's birth story. I wasn't sure if I was going to post it or not, but I've decided to give you a glimpse of how it went down since I shared my pregnancy experience with you. It was a short, smooth and easy process for me, but that's not to say that is how it is for everyone. I'm just thankful and grateful for my experience.

Warming: This is a long read, before you get started.

Eliana 2 days old

I woke up at 4:30am on Sunday October 13th with a mild backache. I wasn't sure what it was but at the back of my mind I knew what I wanted it to be or thought it was. I was 38 weeks and 1 day and at that point I was ready to go. My last two weekly doctor’s visit was also egging me on. At a little over 36 weeks, my doctor told me my cervix was already very thin and was about 1cm dilated at 37 weeks. With that kind of information, that made me anxious of what's to come next. Anyways, the backache came and left. Few minutes later another one kicked in. Starting mild, picking up in intensity and then tempering off. Once I had a few I knew exactly what it was. Although it felt like nothing I was expecting. I felt no pain at all on the front side of my belly or anywhere else, just my lower back. That made me doubt for a moment if it was really contractions. They were lasting about 30seconds each and about 10 to 15 minutes apart. 

I also had diarrhea in the early hours of the start of my contractions so that reassured me again that it is what I think it is because I remembered reading somewhere that that's unusually a symptom of labor and not uncommon. I couldn't tell you how many times I went back and forth in my mind trying to decide if it was the real deal or false alarm. I tried to sleep through the contractions and stay in bed but at 7:15am I just couldn't sleep through it anymore, so I decided to get up. Since the moment it started till I was confident it was contractions and this is it, I was praying to God for a sign to know when it's time to head to the hospital as I wasn't sure what to expect and my contraction weren't really consistently apart.

I finally started timing the contractions, which I did not enjoy doing at all. They range from 8 to 10 minutes apart and even longer sometimes. In the meantime, I had breakfast, finally ordered the naming ceremony dress, realizing this might it and she still has no dress, showered, got dressed and made sure my bag was ready to go. At around 2pm I tried to take a nap but that was unsuccessful as I couldn't sleep through the contractions anymore but it did help that I was relaxing.  At that point I tried calling my doctor but he wasn't available.  I was referred to a cover for him but was unable to get in touch with the cover also. So I just decided when the time comes accompanied with a sign I'm praying for, I'll just head to the hospital directly. At few minutes past 3pm, I had a very strong contraction in addition to some other things and I knew then it was time to go. That was the sign I was waiting for. No, my water did not break; it was something else. As you can imagine, I am leaving some explicit details out. At that point my contractions were about 5minutes apart. So at 3:30pm I told hubby it's time to go to the hospital.  We got in the car and things really picked up after that. Still about 5minutes apart but really stronger contractions.  

We arrived at the hospital where I was asked if I needed a wheel chair at the reception but I declined, I was still managing very well. I decided to leave my hospital bag in the car because I wasn't sure if they were going to admit me or send me back home, not sure how far along I was. We arrived at labor and delivery ward at 4:15pm was greeted by the attendant and told to change which I did. The nurse came in and examined me at 4:40pm and said I was 5cm dilated then proceeded to admit me. She also placed the call for the cover doctor who she said will be arriving shortly since mine was on vacation. 

With that began the paper work most of which were filled out by the nurse. She was just asking me questions and I tried my best to answer in between each contraction. They hooked up my IV and started me on antibiotic since I tested positive for the strap test. The whole time I was wondering when the nurse would ask if I wanted anything for my pain but she didn't. I guess I could have asked her also but I secretly wanted to see how long I can go without it. She finished her paper work left for a few minutes and returned to ask the question I've been waiting for at which point I told her I wanted an epidural. She ordered one and said the anesthesiologist will be over shortly as he's currently working on another patient. At this point, my contractions were 9.5 out of 10. Thankfully I think they were lastly less than a minute each.   The anesthesiologist finally arrived to administer my epidural around 6:30pm. It was hard sitting still through the process as the contractions were really intense. But, the thought of moving and something going wrong causing more damage than good gave me the will to sit still through the whole process. The epidural was started successfully but I felt no relief so the anesthesiologist pushed a dose which did nothing. Another contraction and I still felt every bit of it so he pushed another dose and I think it finally kicked in. After that I didn't feel any pain from the contractions anymore, all I felt was a lot of pressure with each one. 

The cover doctor finally arrived just a few short minutes after receiving my epidural. She checked me again, second time since I arrived and I was 10cm dilated and ready to start pushing. Thank God no one checked me before otherwise I might not have received the epidural being all the way dilated, all within a short 2 hours. The doctor broke my water and the pressure with each contraction really heightened at this point. I sent hubby to go get the hospital bag at this point, realizing we're not going anywhere that night and not going home alone. While he was gone I was trying hard to hold back pushing because I didn't want him to miss out on it. Glad I did because it didn't take too much pushing before she arrived.  The nurse said to let them know when I couldn't take the pressure anymore and I was ready to start pushing. Hubby arrived back on time and as soon as he got in, I sent him to get the nurse that I was ready to start pushing. The doctor and nurses came in and the show began.

With each contraction came a lot of pressure and urge to push and I did. The nurse did the coaching push, counting 1 to 10 for each push before letting go.  With all the cheers and egging on from the doctor and nurse, 4 contractions and pushes later, our little girl arrived at 7:06pm.  She was placed on my chest for body contact and bounding. My first thought when I saw her was she is beautiful and second was omg she looks exactly like her dad. And after that, every time I looked at her, I couldn't believe she came out of me and she was mine. 

By the account of the nurse I started active labor at 5:13pm and delivered at 7:06pm, putting me in labor for 1 hour and 53 minutes. 

I won't say I was completely surprised about how it went because that was exactly what I prayed for and developed my faith on during my pregnancy with help from a book recommended by my pastor's wife called Supernatural Childbirth by Jackie Mize.

There you have it. My “eventful” delivery story.