special delivery

*my long overdue birthing kwento*

days leading to the big day, i was nervous and excited all at the same time! it was actually comforting knowing when exactly you're having your baby. i guess the arrival of my mama and jolly added to the excitement. the day before was my tita bebs' first year death anniversary. so i was able to see most of the relatives while still pregnant one last time. eric and i decided to skip the gathering after the mass and had a nice and quiet dinner just the two of us (soon to be three!). besides, we're scheduled for the induction at 7am the next day!

as expected, i couldn't sleep. i woke up around 6am, woke mama and then had a shower. it was weird driving to the hospital since we all knew that the next time we come home, we'll be bringing our little one with us!

we arrived at the delivery suite a little after 7am. i tried to relax as much as i can (but was too excited!). we even had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, mushroom and sausages with friands for desert! we took photos around the delivery suite, while i can still manage a smile. around 9am, dr. khan, our ob, arrived and broke my waters. i haven't progressed at all and i was just 2cm dilated, exactly the same as a week ago. i was expecting to feel labour pains immediately and i didn't so i started to walk around the suite. our ob was hoping that once my water broke, contractions will come in naturally...it didn't. so after an hour, they administered the drip to speed up my contractions. i was still feeling okay, every now and then i'd feel a contraction but nothing major. nicola, our midwife, increased the dosage and that's when i started to feel major contractions come. i don't think i ever felt anything close to what a contraction felt like. it was a mix of period pain, stomach cramp and constipation. i remember telling mama that i had to go to the toilet really bad. she keeps on assuring me that it's just the baby pushing. when i was having the contractions one after another, i already asked for epidural. i didn't get it though since they wanted me to try gas first. it seriously didn't do anything to ease the pain, i felt woozy and high with it. so again i asked for epidural, nicola suggested to try pethidine first so i did. she injected the drug on my thigh and i was still feeling the pain but was really sleepy. during this time it was really painful already to the point of unbearable. i wasn't screaming (thank god!) but i kept on saying how much it hurts and kept on pushing the sheets with my legs (my socks kept on falling off because of this). i remember there came a point where mama tied my hair and powdered my neck because i was so sweaty already. again, i asked for epidural. they said that the anesthesiologist has been notified already but is in the operating room or something, i really think they were purposely delaying it. when nicola came in to check how much (or little!) i have progressed (3cm...what???) she had the nerve to tell me that i wouldn't dilate if i'm stressed, i should relax (what the?!@#). good thing i didn't have the energy to argue with her!

the anesthesiologist came in after a couple of hours of agony. :-) i was asked to lay on my left side while he administered the anesthesia. it only took a couple of minutes for it to take effect, all i can say is thank god to whoever made it! i felt relaxed and calm immediately. nicola even told eric to get some lunch. it was mama who first noticed that the baby's heart rate was dropping. i guess she didn't take her eyes off the monitor that's why she noticed. the nurses and midwives came, checked the monitor and before i know it, dr. khan came, checked how far i've progressed (5cm, yey!) and told me the news...i need to undergo emergency cesarean. she explained to me that if she wasn't concerned about the size of the baby and all the other things we were closely monitoring with my pregnancy, she'd be more than happy to let me progress. but given all our concerns, she doesn't want to take any risks. it was a flurry of activities after that.

people started to come in and out of the delivery suite. the funny thing was, eric was out getting take-away for lunch! so mama had to call her and tell him he needs to come back as soon as he can. i was prepped while we were all waiting for eric to come back. i was then off to the theater. eric came with me but mama stayed in the delivery suite and was told to wait there because they will bring the baby to her. i remember being in this small room with this really nice and old doctor (which i later found out was another anesthesiologist) who administered a stronger dose of epidural. he really made me calm since he was explaining everything he was doing even telling me what to expect. as soon as my legs felt like stone, i was moved to the main operating room where i saw dr. khan. eric then arrived all decked in scrubs and was asked to sit beside me and then the anesthesiologist continued talking to us, telling us what's happening, making us all relaxed and calm. i could feel pulling and tugging but no pain at all and then suddenly they were making eric ready his camera since the baby is being pulled out of me. the curtain was lowered a bit so we can see and i heard him, OUR BABY, cry. it was the most beautiful sound, i can still clearly remember it.

AIDAN EMMANUEL ALARCON DOMINGUEZ was finally born. it was the day our lives changed forever.

*pictures here*