2/14/2019: Labor and Delivery (pt 1)

I had an extremely quick labor and delivery, especially for a first time mommy! My contractions started at 11 pm and I delivered the baby at 4 am -- so the whole ordeal from start to finish was 5 hours. Pushing was just one hour!

I delivered Mya on Valentine's Day, 6 days earlier than our expected due date. I joked to Carlo this whole time that it'd be a Valentine's baby but didn't think it'd actually happen because 1) it didn't look or feel like my stomach had dropped (apparently this is a tell tale sign that the baby has moved down to be ready for delivery), and 2) I heard that first time moms will usually significantly bigger the last week or two before and I only gained 2 pounds or so from week 37 to 39. The doc did say the week before that I was already 2 cm dilated that I would most likely be early.. (I think 4-6 cm is considered active labor when you're getting ready to push)
 

ANYWAY. So on to the actual L&D story.

It was a normal day. We went to bed at 10 or so, as usual (yeah, we're old, hahah).
At around 11:15, some of my mucus plug came out. That sounds grosser than it is, lol.  There's a mucus plug that blocks your cervix to protect the baby. Within the last 2 weeks or so, it slowly comes out, or for some women, it all comes out at once (what's called a bloody show). No biggie, some of it had actually came out the week before, so I wasn't too concerned.

I started getting contractions shortly after. It was the first time I had ever gotten ANY contractions throughout the pregnancy, so I thought they were just Braxton-Hicks contractions. These are essentially 'practice' contractions that your body does to prepare itself for birth and some women will start feeling this around the third trimester. They were fairly mild, but consistent, at 5 minutes apart. I had read that real contractions are consistent, so I had an inkling that my labor might have started but I also gave myself the benefit of the doubt in case it was just a false alarm. I didn't wanna wake Carlo up so I was just dealing with it on my own, just breathing through them. I didn't want to go to the hospital just to be sent back again. Plus, I also read that it's just good to go through most of early labor and contractions in the comfort of your own home where it's your own safe zone, and not in the sterile environment of a hospital where there's foreign surroundings, smells, and people.

The contractions felt like bad menstrual cramps - not too bad, obviously uncomfortable, but at consistently five minutes apart, something I was a bit concerned about.

After about an hour and a half, at about 1 AM, I woke Carlo up for the first time and told him that something might be happening soon, and that we should call the hospital to let them know I'd been having consistent contractions, 5 minutes apart, for over an hour, and to get their thoughts on whether or not I should come in. We called and the lady told us that they couldn't diagnose anything unless we went in - and that we could go in if it got worse or intolerable. So that's what we decided to do, mostly because I wanted to at least continue to the process at home first.

At around 1:30-1:45 or so, the contractions intensified significantly.
 Initially, they were probably about 10-15 secs long, where I could tolerably breathe through them.
 They started getting stronger and longer to 20-30 seconds where I would have to do two sharp inhales at the peak of the contraction and almost grip the side of the bed just to get through them. I had also read that it's not good to grab onto objects because you end up tensing your muscles, and I was trying to be as relaxed as possible. That went out the window REAL quick.

I had listened to some hypnobirths and read some positive birth affirmations beforehand, like, "Your body was made for this!" "Your contractions are an internal force that help push the baby out to work along with you and not against you!" "It is pain with purpose." Stuff like that. I was trying to think positive and remember everything I had listened to or read, but when you're in pain, it's really hard to get in that zen mindset.

To deal with the pain at the peak of the contractions, I did something similar to the 'tap out' motion in wrestling, except I was doing that to the side of the bed in semi-fetal position and like... wriggling my legs to try to distract myself with movement. Lol.. so miserable. My breathing got pretty erratic trying to adjust to the sudden change and I knew I wanted to head to the hospital right away.

At 2, I woke Carlo up and was like.. we have to go to the hospital NOW.

Carlo got up QUICK SAUCE. Most people will need a few seconds to wake up to fully take in what's going on, but I'm still surprised at how quick he jumped out of bed and was just like, "OK." Popped up out of bed HELLA quick, and helped me grab my clothes.

My current headspace at this moment was like, fuuuuck, why do I have to deal with this on ZERO sleep. If the process had started earlier in the day, I might have had more energy to manage with this a bit better, but if it's gonna go on for hours like this (knowing how labor can be), I'd DEFINITELY need the epidural.

Carlo wakes up my mom so we can head out and I get dressed at my own time - between contractions, because full-on contractions really are all-encompassing. You can't do anything during them and just have to wait/suffer until it passes. He gets ready pretty fast while I'm dealing with contractions, so he heads out to get the car so it could be out in front by the time I head downstairs with my mom.

We're on the third floor, so I have a few flights of stairs to go down - thankfully, they are short flights. I had to go down each step one-by-one and I probably had like.. 1 or 2 contractions on the way down. With each contraction while on the move, I had to crouch and stop for the 20 seconds or so while it happened, with my head down, gripping whatever was close or just putting my hand on the floor, and sharply inhaling and exhaling through them. And then I could continue walking as normal again.

We left the house around 2:30. Thankfully it was in the middle of the night, so there was absolutely no traffic and it only took 15 minutes to get to the hospital. (With Google Maps, we always estimated 30 minutes). While dealing with the contractions in the car, I would have to grip the passenger door handle, and tense my body back, and breath through them laboriously. It was completely quiet in the car except for my breaths.. lol. DO NOT TALK TO A WOMAN WHEN SHE'S GOING THROUGH  A CONTRACTION. Carlo would show his support by gently rubbing my leg.

Miraculously, we found free parking just half a block away from the hospital (IN MANHATTAN - SERIOUSLY...) and Carlo parked in one try - PHEW! We get out of the car and I have about 3-4 contractions on the way from the car to the hospital, which meant I was in the middle of the street just doing my crouch-thang. Lol.. they must have had cameras outside of the hospital entrance, because I saw the security dude come out once, and then come out again with a wheelchair ready for me (how nice!) However, I could still walk and preferred to walk, so I told him I didn't need it and walked over to the elevator. The security guy already relayed the message to another guy, and thankfully, the elevator was all prepped and ready to go to my floor. He walked ahead to open the doors for me but I was behind him because I was going through yet another contraction. It must have looked so dramatic with me just crouching there, lol. A nurse walked by and was like... do you need help?!?! And I exasperatedly say, "No, just breathing through a contraction..." and then got to walking again to triage (where the nurses can check how far along you are in labor and if you're ready to be in a labor and delivery room).

TO BE CONTINUED..