Labor and Deliver and Bringing Home the Baby

This weeks topic on Couples Corner is all about deliver and bringing home the baby.

Not to sound boring or anything but like my pregnancy journey my delivery was nothing short of a miracle.

I was supposed to deliver my baby on May 5, 2007 ( a year after I had my knee surgery in the Philippines), I filed for leave from our office since April 30, 2007, during those times I felt that my baby isn’t moving that much so when I had my prenatal check-up that week I told my ob that my baby isn’t moving that much and I am getting worried. To erase any doubts in my mind she had me undergo fetal NST (non-stress test) it is to determine if your baby is having stress inside of you and if everything is okay. I was hooked up to that machine for 10 minutes and my baby didn’t move that much, my ob said maybe she is sleeping and she sent me home and told me not to worry. On my c due date May 5. 2007 I went to my ob again for a check up but she said I might be giving birth after my due date which is still ok as long as it doesn’t go over 42 weeks, I even asked my ob to induce me or if I could have elective c-section instead since I have a gut feeling that something is wrong with my baby. My ob said I should not worry since my baby is ok and I just have to wait for nature to take its course.

On May 10, 2007 I went back to my ob’s clinic since I haven’t felt the baby move in a while, I was crying since I am afraid to loose my baby. They immediately did a ultrasound to check on my baby and the technician noticed that my amniotic fluid is very low, my stubborn ob said maybe my fluid is just beneath my baby… I cried to her and pleaded just please take out my baby I will sign all the waivers they need just do an elective c-section on me to save my baby. She still assured me that my baby is alright and I don’t have anything to worry, she then agreed to have me induced on May 14, 2007, I felt relieve that I am only a few days from seeing my baby.

On May 11, 2007 I haven’t felt my baby move a lot in my tummy but I felt discouraged to go back to my ob’s office since it would make me feel that I am going crazy already so I just waited for my baby to move, she would move a little but not like her usual self. Around 2 pm as I peed there was a lot of blood coming out and I felt something is wrong so I called my husband and my ob she told me to come back to her office but I insisted to go straight to the hospital instead. My ob agreed to meet us in the hospital. When I went to the hospital the nurses put me in the bed and did a NST on my baby she was indeed barely moving and her heart beat was going down. My ob ordered another ultrasound for me to check on any other conditions like placenta previa or something the technician in the hospital told me that my amniotic fluid was really thick and he was surprised why my ob and his staff hasn’t done anything to deliver the baby sooner. Needless to say I was ordered for an emergency C-section because of fetal distress.

At 5:35 pm, May 11, 2007 my baby was born, at the operating room it was too quiet you would only hear a faint cry every now and then you would only hear a lot of sucking but the nurses and doctors aren’t talking that much , that is when I got worried I keep asking them how is my baby, if she is okay or not.. if I could see her I wanted to get up from the operating table to see my baby finally the pediatrician assigned to my baby brought her to me, she was so pale and she wasn’t even crying I just said hi baby, be strong for mommy okay and she just look at me after that they whisk her away to the NICU to work on her. I felt so confused, scared and angry at the same time… if only my ob listened to me…
As I was still lying down on the operation table I heard the doctors ask what is the APGAR score of my baby and it was 3/7 but then after a few minutes it dropped again. I knew for a fact that the scores should have been from 8-10 and 3 is just too low.

Needless to say my daughter stayed in the NICU for 7 days with all the monitors, IV’s that you could imagine. Early morning on her 2nd day, she stopped breathing and the staff in the NICU had to revive her and after reviving her place her on a breathing machine. That is also the first day I saw her, I just felt so lost at that time just seeing your fragile baby lying lifeless and only a machine to breath for her I cant help but think that God is playing a trick on me. I told Him, why are you like that… after how many years you gave me my miracle but just like that you would take it away… I really felt so lost…That day we also had my baby get her final blessing just in case she pass away… the moment I saw the priest blessing my poor baby with holy water and praying for God to accept her to His kingdom, made my whole world crumble…. After that I just kissed my bea’s hand and told her to be strong and promise me that she wont ever leave me. I went back to my room with my hubby and we were both crying…. It was the first time I saw my hubby breakdown in tears we felt so hopeless we felt so alone… I just told my hubby that God wouldn’t let anything bad happen to bea, He wouldn’t get him back we just have to have more faith in Him that he would give us bea back. I texted all my friends and family in the Philippines to please help us pray for a Miracle.

Another miracle happened to me on my 1st mother’s day ( bea’s 3rd day) as I was entering the NICU to visit her I saw my baby moving and wiggling her arms and legs. The Filipina nurse said”Hay, naku mommy ang baby mo kahit heavily sedated na gising pa rin and she is trying to take out the breathing machine”, the machine was taken out that day. … the Doctors couldn’t believe how fast she recovered , they hugged me and congratulated me for having my baby back…We just had to stay for 4 days in the hospital just to finish off the antibiotics…

We brought bea home a week after she was born and of course there were sleepless nights and a lot of crying but going through that experience you wouldn’t mind that slight discomfort all you care about is you have your baby with you and that is all that matters.

God is really good and I get to see his miracle everyday through the eyes of my daughter.

Happy Wednesday Everyone…