birthing story

after thirty-seven weeks, we finally saw sophie on february 20, 2010,  2:20 pm at the medical city. she came through cesarean section weighing 2390 grams (5 lbs and 4 ounces) and measuring 45cm (17  1/2 inches). yep, our princess has arrived and she did that with a bang!

we were really hoping for a normal delivery from the day we learned i was pregnant. but then again, since i have pre-existing condition, we kind of expected that in the end, c section is the safest way for me to deliver so when we discussed this with my ob, dra. regina carmela santiago-aquias, she asked me to visit my then neurologist, dr. saniel and we got the same advise, no labor pains means less possibility for me to have seizure. so there we decided, we are going for a c section.

when we were asked what date we preferred, hubby told my ob that he wanted me to deliver on february 20.  he sooo wanted that date badly but my ob thought that it was kind of early pa so she asked us to choose between these dates -- from february 24th to not later than march 4th. hubby then chose february 28th. all this time, we programmed ourselves already that my delivery schedule is on that chosen date. i even decided to take my maternity leave from work a couple of days prior to my delivery date since i still feel okay and fit to work.

february 20, 2010 -- we went to my ob for my last weekly check up since the following week would be my scheduled delivery already. we arrived at the medical city a little past 9 and while waiting for my turn, lilet, my ob's secretary approached us and told me that doctora wanted me to have my afi test first then come back with the result afterwards. so then we proceeded to women's health care unit at the 6th floor of the hospital building (which was new, btw! and way better than their unit at the 5th floor) to have my fluid checked. turned out that my fluid has gone way beyond the normal range already so immediately after my ob learned about the result, she told me and hubby that we could not wait for another week anymore because it would be risky for the baby so hubby then asked my ob if we could do the procedure the same day and my ob agreed. then they both realized it was february 20, and hubby was like, see, i told you --- we will have sophie on february 20!  my doctor , being the coolest ob that she is, had this great idea in mind and she blurted out, why not have it at exactly 2:20 pm? she then called lilet and asked her to schedule the or for my delivery in the afternoon which means i only have 2 hours left for or preps and the likes. kumusta naman yon?  haha!

we didn't bring anything with us, all our stuff were left in the house since we feel that there is no need to bring them anyway because i still have like a week, right? so what we did, hubby accompanied me back to the pre-labor unit at the hospital building and he left to get all our stuff in the house. i really could not tell how i was feeling that time because everything is happening sooo fast and i could not tell the difference between being nervous and excited anymore! hubby was too taranta as well, he could not get himself think what to do first -- to get our stuff, pass by their office as originally planned or look for the parking ticket which was with me by the way so how can he leave the parking area diba?

i was making hubby kulit the whole time i was lying on the prep bed at the pre-labor room because i didn't have any companion. i wanted him to hurry up because i wanted to see him na and i just wanted him to be by my side. i was scared and nervous and excited and happy and scared again all at the same time because i didn't expect to have the procedure until a week after! i was sending sms to friends and family telling them, manganganak na ako as in now na! i even called a friend telling her  uy, lalabas na si sophie! haha. crazy, crazy me! everybody was excited for me and they were all telling me to relax and pray and calm down and all that feel good things but i could not seem to get my emotions going. like, ano ba talaga napi-feel ko? 


an hour after, they rolled my bed na going to the or. they had me stay a bit at the hallway because hubby and my parents and my sister were not yet around. when they arrived, i could hear hubby asking the nurse where i was and the nurse kept telling him, wala na po, nasa or na sya. and i was like, hello, i am
still here at the back, ano ba!  i was creating na some noise at the back, eh super helpless pa ako because naka iv na ako and all, and you know, i could not get off the bed by myself na! good thing i saw this one resident doctor who did the whole prep for me so i told him agad to tell that nurse to call my husband and tell him that i was at the hallway! i was on the phone with him pa telling him, andito pa ko, dad! tell that nurse that am at the back pa on the hallway leading to the or!  i guess hubby was super duper taranta na as well, so what he did was, he went to look for me and he saw me nga at the hallway! oh my gosh! moment ito talaga. i gave him my stuff and he handed me my eyeglasses since they had me took out my contact lenses. naman! bulag po ako wthout them hehe. of course, the resident doctor and the or nurse asked for the camera and hubby gave them the cam with all the bilins like the angle for me and all that! haha!


so ayun, after the hallway thingie, they rolled me na to the or. nyay! medyo lumelevel-up na yung nerbyos and takot haha! when i entered the or, that was around 1:30 pm already, they immediately transferred me to the operating table and after non, i heard na my ob asking, siegrid, is that you na? haha! then my anesthesiologist, dr. reyes came in with his resident doctor and all other nurses plus dr. sy, the resident pedia of dr. santos and some other guys in or gown hehe. so yun, around 2pm, after the whole chikahan thing with the anes and the pedia and my ob, they started na giving me local anesthesia. masakit sya, promise! then the epidural. hindi naman sya masakit but i still felt a little pain or parang iba lang when they started to inject it. i don't know how to say it eh but i did feel something. tapos medyo sensitive ako with lamig and you know, with the cotton and alcohol touching my back, napapa move ako and they were all like, ooops! wag gagalaw! lalabas ang needle! the wole epidural injection felt forever and naka close talaga eyes ko the whole time. i was sooo scared and i just keep on saying the hail mary prayer just to calm my self talaga. afterwards, i felt na the effect of the anesthesia and with all honesty, that freaked the hell out of me. i couldn't move my legs, couldn't feel anything, no nothing. gustong gusto ko itaas yung paa ko or i move yung daliri ko so nung hindi ko magawa, parang my mind was telling me another thing, natatalo yung thought na, it was the anesthesia, and i just couldn't control yung thoughts sa minds ko. it was as if i am losing my mind na ang hirap talaga. i could not even breathe. they had to stop for a moment to ask me if what was wrong and all i could remember was i was telling them that i could not breathe.  i was in oxygen na that time and i wanted to cough but wala pa rin talaga and parang my heart was exploding na then i tried controlling my mind, i closed my eyes na parang convincing myself not to lose it and that in a minute or so, everything will be  finished na then i heard na my ob asked what time it was na  (2:20pm) then i heard a baby crying na and i was asking myself pa as i opened my eyes if that was sophie na or another baby because the cry was not that loud, or so i thought. feeling ko talaga i was forever lying on that table. sabi nung nurse, it took doctora around 10 minutes before nakuha si sophie pero pakiramdam ko the whole time, mamatay ako talaga because i could not feel anything and my mind went blank. i could not think, i could not breathe and i thought i lost it na talaga.

when i opened my eyes after closing it purposely during the procedure, i saw na my anesthesiologist and my ob, handing over sophie to me. i wanted to cry that moment but i guess, the anesthesia is preventing me to do so. the feeling was surreal. i was very, very happy but there is more to that happiness that i could not express that moment. when they handed sophie for latching naman, the thing that i noticed is how puti she was. i think i asked pa the nurse ata or the anes, i couldn't remember na, if maputi nga sya and the doctor said something like, kulay pink!


when they took sophie na, that was the time when doctora started to stitched my cut na. i didn't feel anything. i just knew they were doing something in there. medyo chikahan pa mga nurses and resident doctors about wedding preps, which ito talaga, na remember ko ha, not sure lang if i have actually uttered something during their conversation or sa mind ko lang yung pagsagot ko, i even suggested metrophoto (our wedding photog) and threelogy (our videog) as suppliers eh. haha. i think i told them pa the rate kasi parang they asked me pa. tapos when they asked sino contact person, i gave oly's name pa. as in oly ruiz. (master, free publicity ito! haha!)  i think the nurse said pa nga when the other one asked her (not sure if nurse or doctor) that her photog was b.a. studio. medyo mahaba pa yung chikahan, parang inaantok na ako but somehow, i managed pa to control it eh. parang na remember ko pa when they congratulated me on my way out of the or, tapos parang i saw them pa nung they were tring to clean up sophie. medyo blurry na but i think i remember those details pa. it was exactly 3:30pm when they rolled me out of the or. they took me to the recovery room and i remember pa there were 3 of us inside tapos nag sunod sunod na. na noticed ko pa how come i was lying flat pero others naman na pinapasok sa loob hindi naman flat back. then when the anesthesia started to wear off na, na feel ko na yung itchiness na super duper bothering talaga. i think i called the nurse's attention twice and they gave me medication fo the itch to subside pero talagang super itchy nya. i could hear them asking the mom beside me, which i think occupied or number 2 wjile i was at or number 1 -- foreigner sya, if she could raise her legs na. i tried to rise mine pero mabigat pa. i saw pa when the nico attendant handed over the foreigner mom's baby to her. so nung nag ask yung nurse if i was feeling okay, i think i told her i wanted to see my baby but she said na she was being cleaned up pa. medyo nakatulog ako but parang mababaw kasi parang na count ko pa ilan yung mga nilabas at pinasok sa recovery room. i stayed there for four hours, i think kasi i was there ng past 3pm-ish wala na yung ibang moms nung nilabas ako, and  i think, third to the last pa nga ako nilabas.


all the while na nasa recovery room ako, hubby naman with my family and his family together with sophie's cousins bea and althea were waiting for me na in the room. hubby was not able to see sophie pa nung kakalabas ng or because he wasnt around. i found out later that he was too tensed daw to stay outside the or so he walked around the area eh sakto nilabas si sophie. so it was my mom and my sister who got the chance to see her first. inside the room after that, hubby naman started downloading na the photos from the camera during the entire procedure. he was showing it to his mom, sisters diane and ate cel and the kids while his brother, kuya reinier took photos of them. they even tried seeing sophie but she was in incubator that time and could only be seen from afar. o diba, everybody wanted to get a glimpse of sophie na agad, fresh from the or. since di pa nakita ni hubby in person si sophie, he settled for the photos muna na super detailed naman na kinuha ni nurse while the procedure is ongoing. according to hubby, he was getting inip na that time kasi talaga, parang sobrng tagal ng oras pag ganon. akala ko i was the only one na naiinip sa recovery room. turned out everybody pala.

back to the recovery room again.  before they rolled me out pala,  i asked them again if i could see sophie first. medyo na off na ko nung time na yun because i was wondering how  come hindi dinadala si sophie eh the two moms who were at the same room, who undergone c section as well saw their babies already. tapos yun nga, they called nicu tapos ipapakausap daw saken yung resident pedia, eh nawala naman, na cut yung line or something. yun pala the doctor went na directly to where i was and informed me that  i could not see sophie yet  because she was being monitored daw since her breathing suddenly became too fast. that did it for me. parang sasabog heart ko as they rolled me out tapos nasalubong ko na si hubby because he was worried about me na dahil more than four hours nako sa recovery room. i was reminded not to talk kasi bawal daw para di bumuka yung stitch or something pero hindi ko talaga matiis. when i held hubby's hand i asked him if he knew how sophie is doing and if he saw her na. he said not yet because sophie is incubator raw. i thought they were just hiding lang the truth from me. kasi as a mom, i could tell if something is wrong with my baby (medyo proven na ngayun yung statement na yun sa experience ko, promise) wala pala talaga sila alam. as in i managed to have a conversation with hubby kahit hirap ako magsalita. when they transferred me na sa bed inside the room. i cried talaga and told hubby that i was able to talk to one of the doctors and i was informed about sophie's condition. they didn't know! as in no idea whatsoever! nobody told them and so i made kulit talaga hubby to go check on sophie and he did. yun nga, super cry ako because of the initial findings that she could have pneumonia.

i was super worried that night. i was crying talaga begging hubby to find a way to see sophie. he went to nicu again but to no avail. good thing the resident pedia at the time was his schoolmate from gradeschool so he asked him if he could take some photos of sophie for me and he did. she was still in incubator, yes, but getting better this time. somehow, i was relieved talaga. still, we were advised to wait for the result of her blood culture, x-ray and some other tests to make sure. that would mean another day of waiting, but who am i to complain? knowing she is getting better is enough for now. i would rather take that than knowing otherwise. i could not bear to see her in incubator, with iv, crying non-stop. grabe. the thought of it pa lang, kills me na! what more if i actually see her? i was not able to sleep, all i think of that time was how the results would go? what if she has pneumonia? what the heck it is, anyway?

the following day, friends started to come over and visit. we didn't have any new photos of sophie to share so we  showed them the ones taken during the procedure. sophie's ninangs, janice and ria came over then followed by hubby's friends. we are truly grateful we have good sets of friends. nalaka help talaga knowing that you were surrounded by great companions. super thanks, guys!

that night, we were told that sophie is no longer in incubator and that her xray result was okay. her pedia informed us that the breathing is stable already and we can have her roomed in na. thank god! we waited for four hours and as the nurse knocked on the door, my sister excitedly opened it and there was my sophie! swaddled in her pink baby blanket. oh gosh, she was such a doll! very adorable and charming. i just couldn't take my eyes off her.  hubby and i were all smiles the whole time. am not kidding! you will fall in love with her. my sister and my mom said she looks like her dad but she also has angles which looks like me. haha!  she has chinita eyes with cute nose and lips! i think she got my nose and eyes, but hubby said she got his hehe. one more thing, she is super puti! haha. actually, the nurses calls her baby pink. yup, she has a pink-ish complexion and i just loooove it! plus she has long legs too! our princess could be a model in the future, for all you know! haha. i am being too excited, i knooow! well, i am one proud mom! yay!


the first night we roomed her in was a big challenge! we were just clueless of what to do. i even said something like, maybe it was not a good idea to room her in. hubby was quick to tell me that was not the case. you see,  i don't have milk yet and i can't move well pa so hubby has to do all the diaper changing and feeding so he was really puyat with him having to wake up every hour just to check on sophie.  actually, he didn't sleep nga eh. this is our first baby and we really don't know what to do. seeing hubby do all those stuff for sophie makes me proud of him. he really did his best and showed me that he was sooo ready with this whole fatherhood thingie and for me, super big thing yun! i  appeciate that he does not complain whatsoever despite him being puyat and all. i just find it really endearing.  i did not expect him to be that hands on with sophie and yet he played the pefect father that night which makes me love him even more. i swear, i was silently crying with happiness. iloveyoudad!

it has definitely been quite a journey -- a good and fun one, if i may say. thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers and for all the well-wishes. we appreciate it a lot.

happy reading, everyone! kisses from all of us.

8 comments :

Cel Lino said...

Sis,

Mommy ka na talaga. Every single detail was there.
Enjoy every single minute of it as babies grow so fast.
Be the best mom that you can be ha! Remember, It's OK to be OA when it comes to sophie's needs.

mommy sieggy said...

thanks, ate cel! :) oo nga, mommy na ako. automatic pala yun. akala ko matagal mag sink in yun pala given na yun once nandyan na si baby.
i love being a mom. best feeling ever! :)

Alma said...

Hi Sieggy,

Congrats to you and your hubby for your beautiful princess :)
I just realized we didn't exchange phone numbers :)

Will you be breastfeeding? I think I still have fenugreeks that you might want to take. Sayang lang e.

Enjoy motherhood...it's the best thing in the world.

helen said...

congrats sis!!! love ko talaga your way of telling a story. feel na feel ko esp yung part na "kasi as a mom, i could tell if something is wrong with my baby (medyo proven na ngayun yung statement na yun sa experience ko, promise)".

gosh, am bilis lang and panalo si dra ha, 2:20pm para feb20! galing! again, congratulations to you and to your hubby! ang cutee! baby pinkish glow! aliw!!! ^_^

mommy sieggy said...

hi alma!

gosh, oo nga. haha. i asked nga hubby if he got your hubby's number, he didn't have it as well. anyways, yup. am trying talaga pero wala pa milk until now. wah! am sooo enjoying this whole motherhood thingie. feel na feel ko pagiging mommy! hope to see you around! :)

mommy sieggy said...

hi helen!

yup, super bilis. before i used to blog about the whole wedding prep now kay baby na. haha. alam mo, i didn't expecto finish agad my birthing story ero when i started writing down everything as in last night lang, sunod sunod na. parang na remember ko na lahat ng nangyari that day. super!

yup, winner talaga si dra. haha! sabi nga nya, ayan naki-ride na ko sa wish ng hubby mo. :) i super love her! haha. thanks for reading!

Irvi, Chris and Ryvi said...

Hi Mommy Sieggy!

I just remembered our long talks on YM after I delivered Ryvi on the 1st of February. We had the same situation on delivery except I was given the next day after check up to give birth thru CS.

Thank God Sophie is fine now. I was praying for her health when we are talking on YM the next day. I would definitely feel the same way you did.

Hehe, natawa ako sabi mo madaldal ka during the delivery.. same tayo nun kasi epidural anesthesia din ako.. napagsabihan din ako wag sobra salita kasi bka sumakit daw ulo ko.

Don't worry about the breastmilk.. nagkaron lng ako after 2 weeks. Nasabihan din ako that not to pressure myself if I can't give enough kasi may cases daw talaga na ganun. Ako kasi super pressure ko kasi na only breastmilk kaya I was really upset eh takaw pa ito ni Ryvi. Just have a formula in handy just in case para if ever kulang milk you'll have supplement.

I'll be happy to make kuwento about my exprience.. 1st time Mommies kasi.. =) I'm only about 3 weeks earlier than you. =) Ryvi is almost one month and sooo many things had happened.

I'm always online in YM if you need to chat, that is if you'll have the time =) those 2 hours feeding had drained me. =)

Hugs and Kisses to the Líl Princess.. =)

mommy sieggy said...

hi irvi!

grabe, na miss na kita. haha. i super duper miss our long chats. :) anyways, sophie just turned a week older yesterday. sobrang ami na rin nangyarin in a span of a week! yes, 2 hours feding, super draining. minsan nga online ka, i wanted to chat but i was holding naman sophie, so sabi ko maybe some other time. i wanted to know more about breastfeeding. it was knda frustrating because super walang milk, minsan eron pero super konte then wala na. sophie is getting impatient na rin because syempre, hungry na sya and yet wala naman milk si mommy.

san we could chatg soon. haha. masaya sharing our experiences as first time moms. ang saya no? grabe. our kids are everything for us and more. may instant friend na ang prinsesa ko. haha. :)

looking forward to our next chat, sis! mwah!

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