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| Huge smile while napping |
On January 10th I was lying in bed trying to take an early morning nap (Luke had gotten us up a bit past 5) and at around 7:15, I suddenly felt this light popping sensation, and then all this fluid gushed over me. I was so confused as to what was happening. Marcus was reading in bed and I called his name out and he looked at me and sprang into action. He told me later my expression was so funny because I’m normally so in control and I just looked so confused. Less than an hour later, we were at the hospital in the ER, waiting for my OB-GYN to come and do an internal exam. I’d really hoped to not have an induced labor like with Luke because inductions tend to be so much more painful (the contractions come much faster than they would naturally, giving your body less time to get over each one). Unfortunately though, when my fabulous doctor, Dr. Marie, checked me out, I was barely 1 cm dilated and was having such mild contractions I couldn’t feel them. She reminded me that ideally a woman will give birth within 12 hours of water breaking, so she started an induction.
By around 1 pm my contractions were becoming a lot stronger
and more painful, and when Dr. Marie checked me again, I was 5 cm dilated.
Around 2:30 Dr. Marie ordered for me to be brought to the delivery room where I
would finally get some pain relief in the form of an epidural, and soon after
would be ready to give birth. While I welcomed each contraction because I knew
they were bringing Aliya closer into our world, I was in a lot of pain and was
really, REALLY ready for an epidural. So when I got to the deliver room and was
told that all the hospitals in Puerto Princesa were out of epidural catheters,
I honestly thought I might die. I didn’t have the energy to react but I was
told the anesthesiologist was quickly checking her personal stocks and I just
prayed between each contraction that she’d have one. Dr. Marie assured me that
if they couldn’t find one that I could have a spinal tap at 8 cm but I didn’t
know if I could last that long.
Thankfully the anesthesiologist came back with an epidural
catheter and soon enough I finally had some relief from the pain. It felt like
literally 15 or 20 minutes later that Dr. Marie told me I was nearly at 10 cm
and that I could start pushing. Three big pushes later and Aliya Ysabel was
born. She started crying immediately and so did I when I got to see her and
touch her. Even then I remember thinking beyond being happy that she was safe
and sound, I was just so thrilled to not be pregnant anymore!
We spent the night at the hospital and hoped to go home the
next day. However, our awesome pediatrician, Dr. Rebs (who is Dr. Marie’s
husband!) had had blood culture tests done to rule out any infection since an
infection could have caused my water bag to break early, and also both doctors
knew about how much illness my family had been dealing with in the days and
weeks before. The blood test showed that Aliya had an elevated white blood cell
count, indicating an infection. Dr. Rebs recommended keeping Aliya in the
hospital for a few days and starting her on antibiotics.
It was really hard to watch nurses and doctors pricking and
prodding my baby and to see her in pain from the shots and needles so early in her
life, but we are so thankful that we had such good care, and were happy to play
it safe. Thankfully within a few days Aliya’s tests didn’t show any more signs
of infection and we were cleared to go home.
And now it has been a week since her birth. Time is really
flying by. So thankful for my baby girl! Welcome to this world baby Aliya :)
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| Aliya at 1 week old |
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