We’ve got two maternity bags in the trunk since June – my belly was so huge I was pretty sure I’d deliver around my 36th week which fell on July 5. August loomed but I kept getting bigger, had false labor once in a while and the OB said my cervix was still too thick and the baby still wouldn’t engage on my pelvis.
My sister and my mom were here from the province so I went around with them to as far as QC, Tagaytay, around the malls… still nothing changed when I went in for check-up. An ultrasound revealed that the baby was already 8.5lbs inside so…
Friday – I had an xray to see if my pelvic bone can accommodate him. However, the one to interpret the plates won’t be back until Monday afternoon. So I took the platesfrom the hospital and called around to see who else can read it for me.
Saturday – still nobody to read my xray plates so I texted the OB if we may please just go ahead with Ceasarian delivery as my layperson’s eyes tell me that my baby’s head is already as big as the space in my bone. She asked me to return first the plated to the hospital so she can take a look at them, but Tats and I were off to Tony & Mau’s wedding so we were not able to do so until late that evening.
Sunday - Tats and I were at the mall to buy a net for the baby’s tub and to pay our phone bill. I asked the OB again if we can schedule the delivery already as I’m already on the 40th week and doubt I’ll be in labor anytime soon. She assembled her team and we’re on for 7am the next day!
Monday – We checked-in the hospital at 1am and I was promptly prepped. The bikini wax I had almost a month before has already become immaterial so I had to put up with the rough razor. The nurse gave me shot in the ass to induce bowel movement – “oh it’s going to take time, I was done when I left the house”, she was hardly out the door before I rushed and barely made it to the toilet.
7am – I was wheeled to the OR for some really painful skin testing – it hurt more than the anesthesia injected in my spine except they kept making me curl up as if oblivious to my huge tummy in the way.
8am – I was semi-conscious and the violent movements almost knocked me out of my medicated stupor, it felt like someone sat below my lower chest and started pushing my belly down. I could hear the OR team discovering that the baby has already pooped inside and hurriedly took him out, but above it all, I made out my Nacho’s faint cry. Someone showed him to me in a brown blanket that looked like paper bag plus he was full of rashes… it wasn’t love at first sight as my first impression was, oh my - he looks like a bumpkin! Then I passed out.
Tuesday – I was drinking water like crazy until my urine cleared and the nurses took out the catheter. Dragging my dextrose to the bathroom, I gave myself a towel bath, put on fresh clothes, asked Tats to wheel me to the nursery and there he was – the longest and heaviest of babies now with less rashes compared to yesterday. I tried to breastfeed him and he immediately latched on like a starved cub, hmm, Tats did well giving specific instructions for dropper-feeding. Right there, we decided that he’s rooming in with us that evening – and what an exhausting night it was!
Wednesday – Tats and I took turns catching up on sleep. I thought we’d stay another day but the Pedia and the OB cleared both Nacho and me for discharge. Well… as long as I have painkillers.
I almost cried seeing my gauzed tummy all dark and loose but it was quickly offset by my dripping milk. It’s all true what they say about sleepless nights getting used to soiled diapers, frustrating baths and all. But it’s also surprising how happy a peaceful stare or a brief smile can make you.
