Labor Days (2/2)

Meliya at 1 Week Old

On Thursday night, we arrived to the hospital at 11:30PM and they hooked me up to a fetal monitor. The monitor said that I was having intense contractions at 2 minutes apart, lasting for a minute and a half or more. The doctor also took one look at my two bump belly and said I had urine retention. That means my bottom bump was a sack of urine just building up. Alvin and I are kicking ourselves for not taking a picture, because although at that time it was completely painful, looking back it was really funny looking. The doctor then announced I was ready to be admitted. First thing I asked them to do was hook me up to a catheter and slowly the bottom bump went away.

So the next step was for the midwife to check how dilated I was. The dilation could range from 0-10cm, 10 cm being fully dilated. Since I didn't think I was ready to be admitted to the hospital because of the contractions, Alvin and I were expecting to be around 3 cm. I remember telling Alvin, if I really am at 3cm and I was in that much pain, then shoot me up with an epidural.

We were shocked when the midwife said, "you are fully dilated, you can start pushing now." Since I was already pushing, I wasn't allowed to have an epidural. But it was ok, since when they told me I was dilated, I no longer felt any pain and felt exhilarated. We pushed for 3 hours, and there were times when the baby's head started poking out. And then, "she got stuck!"

The doctor came in to give me an evaluation. He measured my pelvic bone and then looked at the most recent ultrasound for the head size of the baby. According to the doctor, he was 90% sure that the baby was not going to fit. I had a very small pelvic bone opening. His recommendation was that I have a c-section. Originally, Alvin and I really did not want to have a c-section. It has been a couple months where I pictured my perfect birth plan and it never included a c-section. Some of the reasons included being able to be with the baby right away and having the baby and mom alert right after the birth.

But as the doctor shared the news, I think both of us decided to follow his advice. They gave me a shot of epidural, and then immediately proceeded with the surgery. After an hour, Meliya was born at 6:11am.

I have had some time to think about the c-section and how I feel about everything. In the end, I actually feel like I have had the best of both worlds. I was fully able to experience a vaginal labor up until crowning, and then I was able to have a healthy delivery through a c-section. In the end, although I didn't get to hold the baby right way, it was only 45 minutes after she was born that I was able to hold her and breastfeed her. She and I were both pretty alert right after the birth, and although she was sleepy the next couple days after, but I heard that is normal with newborns.

Later on I found out that because of the small pelvic bone, that was probably the reason that I had urine retention and the reason I had such a prolonged labor. Although it was hard having labor for 5 days, and then finally having a c-section, I am thankful in the end everyone is healthy.

I have to thank Alvin for being a great coach that whole week. He gave me about 70+ back rubs, told me 10+ times I was doing a great job, and even held the tub while I was vomiting while pushing. Thanks Alvin, I love you.