My natural childbirth experience, Part 2 of 3: Induced labor

Dear Baby P,

I just got home with your Mommy today after successfully breastfeeding you for the first time in the nursery of Capitol Medical Center. We're also very glad to know from your pediatrician, Dr. Belleza, that your WBC (white blood cells) count is finally normal. We'll all just have to wait for you to finish your seven-day intake of antibiotics before you could finally come home to us on Monday. It's only Thursday today and I can't wait to see you again tomorrow. And as your Papa and I wait for your homecoming, I'll continue writing my birth story. 

Mama and Papa, in between contractions during active labor

In this post, I would like to share with you the progress of my labor which happened before you finally came out into the world. 

A continuation of my previous post (on pre-labor):

When we arrived at Capitol Medical Center at 8 AM, I had not received response from Dr. Meneses yet. I decided to call her to inform her that we were already in the hospital because my amniotic fluid had leaked at 5 AM. She then gave us her go signal to have me checked to confirm that it was indeed rupture of the membrane. 

After the call, we presented Doc's admission order to the emergency room staff, and then the staff called for assistance to take us to the delivery room. A nurse brought a wheelchair and asked me to sit on it. I refused because I wanted to walk to help start my contractions, but your Papa insisted that I just sit instead (I only found out later in the labor ward that I indeed cannot stand and walk around anymore if my water bag has already ruptured).

In the DR, after I wore my hospital gown, a resident doctor used a speculum on me to check if my water had indeed leaked. In a matter of seconds, more water had come out thus confirming my condition. The doctor then performed IE on me and found that I was still 2 cm dilated (as I was on my 38th week). My cervix was also found to be 50% effaced. Other procedures that I went through before I was admitted in the labor ward were the shaving and cleaning, and the usual paperworks which included something about Lamaze wherein I needed to sign a consent form. I was then informed that your Papa would be briefed later on about what to do inside the labor ward with me. During these times, I was already worried because my water leak had progressed more frequently and I was still not having any regular contraction.

When I was finally in the labor ward, a resident doctor used a cardiotocograph on me to monitor your fetal heart rate and my uterine contractions for 20 minutes. The graph that appeared in the paper of the machine showed that your heart rate was normal, and that my uterine contractions were absent as it only showed a long straight line. The resident doctor called Dr. Meneses about it, and I learned later that Doc advised to have me induced with Syntocinon (pitocin). I knew it was coming. The induction was necessary because my water bag rupture already happened first. I felt very much challenged because I have learned from our Lamaze class that contractions from induced labor are much more painful than natural contractions. This is because pitocin, an artificial version of the hormone oxytocin that is responsible for causing natural contractions, blocks the body from producing endorphins which could have made contraction pains bearable. And since my water bag had already ruptured, the lack of amniotic fluid in my uterus would make the pain worse. At this point, I still wanted a natural, epidural-free birth but I felt a little tensed about induced labor so the most I could promise myself during that moment was to see how far I could go with the pain.

At 10 AM, I started getting induced with pitocin through IV drip. I asked the nurse if I could go to the comfort room to take a leak, but she told me I was not allowed anymore to stand and walk because of my  water bag rupture. I had to do my business using a bed pan. A few minutes later, your Papa was finally in the ward with me. A resident doctor provided him with a tracking sheet and instructed him to track my progress wherein he would time the contractions, and to note the dilation and effacement progress for every IE done. The contractions would also be categorized by intensity, wherein the categories were mild, moderate and heavy. Twenty minutes later, I started feeling mild contractions that lasted about thirty seconds each and happened within five-minute intervals.

At around 12 noon, the resident doctor checked your Papa's tracking sheet to see if my contractions had gone from mild to moderate. She tried to touch my abdomen and confirmed that my contractions were in between moderate and heavy. By that time, she did an IE on me and informed us that I was already 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I felt a little nervous at this moment because it seemed to me that my dilation would progress by only 1 cm for every two hours, so I anticipated that my labor would last for more than 24 hours. But the resident said it may be faster than that because of my already high effacement which would help in giving my dilation a better progress.

As the hours passed, I felt my contraction pains becoming less bearable. I asked your Papa to bring out your 4D ultrasound photo which I would use as my focal point to distract myself from pain. To my disappointment, it was still in our hospital bag which he left in our inpatient room. But thankfully, your Ate Che was already in the room to look after our belongings so your Papa asked her to bring it in to the delivery room. I was finally relieved to see your face and look away from the pain. And as the pain got more intense, your Papa started massaging my lower back for every forty to sixty second-long contraction that occurred every two minutes. I also would sometimes close my eyes and imagine Jesus touching my belly wherein His hand produced a radiant light. I remember too when your Papa had to leave me for a while to take a leak, and when a contraction started in his absence it was one of the most painful I couldn't bear. When he finally returned, I asked him in an ill-tempered manner never to leave me again.

Baby P's 3D ultrasound photo, my focal point to distract me from contraction pains

In these hours too, I had been feeling very thirsty and your Papa had been feeling dizzy because of hunger. I begged him not to leave for a meal and asked him to have your Ate Che bring in food instead. The resident doctor had to ask permission to Doc Meneses if I could take a sip of water because the ward had run out of ice chips (or maybe they didn't have any at all). Thankfully, Doc responded to allow me to eat some crackers too. Your Ate Che, Mama Yin and Tita Vicky brought in some snacks through the delivery room staff. Your Papa was somehow able to eat light snacks while I still demanded him to massage my back for every contraction I had. I know it was very selfish of me to interrupt his eating, but I really couldn't help it anymore. I have hypnobirthing audio clips in my iPod too, but it was in my bag that was left in our inpatient room and I figured it was too late for me to be in a hypnotic state when the contractions had already been occurring at very short intervals.

At around 4 PM, Doc Meneses finally arrived. She found your Papa massaging me during contractions, and commended us for working well as a team. She told me that she would do the IE later once she noticed that I start to feel more pain! I thought to myself, what kind of pain could that be other than the super intense pain I had already been feeling? Doc didn't want to have too many IE's because my water bag ruptured already and frequent IE's may increase my and your risk of infection. I didn't want frequent IE's either because of my pessimistic thought that my dilation wouldn't progress too fast. Doc assumed first that I might be giving birth in the early hours of the next day (April 23), and that was what your Papa and I thought at first too.

At 4:30 PM, Doc decided to do her first IE on me when she observed that I had been moaning and couldn't hold my silence anymore about the pain in my contractions. She found out that I was already 6 cm dilated and was almost fully effaced, which I expressly told her I didn't believe. I asked her if she was really sure about it because I didn't expect to be more than halfway to 10 cm that early. She explained that my dilation progressed that quick because of my effacement. Had I not been well-effaced, my dilation could have taken longer.

The late hours of the afternoon got me more and more talkative with every strong contraction I had been feeling, that your 4D ultrasound photo and Jesus' pocket calendar photo seemed to be harder and harder for me to focus on. Your Papa's massage on my lower back was not helping anymore too, so I asked him for the hot/cold gel pack, which again was left in the hospital bag in our inpatient room. Your Ate Che was again kind enough to bring it in for us. The gel pack had to be microwaved first before I could use it on my lower back. Without the hot gel pack, I might have been tempted to ask for the epidural already. But the heat of the gel pack was able to replace your Papa's lower back massage so all he had to do was press the hot gel pack against me for every contraction. Your Papa was somehow able to rest his fingers after hours of really using them to massage me for every contraction.

During this time too, my fingers in my right hand wherein the IV was hep-locked, were swelling so much that I could no longer move them. I begged Doc to have my IV removed because I felt like my right hand was about to explode. I explained to her that the fluid retention in my body was making my carpal tunnel syndrome so much worse. Upon seeing my right hand which seemed to be almost paralyzed, she then asked the nurse to transfer the hep-lock to my left hand.

Just when I thought my pains were already too extreme, the next series of my contractions got me calling out your Mama Myr, your Mommy, your Mama Yin, your Tita Vicky, and your Papa. It was as if I was calling out to the heavens for mercy. This was the time when Doc decided to do another IE on me, wherein she found me to be 8 cm dilated. Again, I asked her if she was serious. I even told her that she might just be fooling me. It was really what I wanted to hear and be joyful for, but I also wanted to convince myself that it was true. It was 7:20 PM. 

When I finally convinced myself that I was indeed 8 cm dilated, and because of the heightening pain, I asked Doc if my contractions would stop progressing if ever the pitocin would e removed from my hep-lock. She said no, but the dilation may progress a little slower. I then begged her to remove the pitocin from my hep-lock because I was desperate to find a way to control my pain. Doc was kind enough to stop my pitocin but she explained that it wouldn't lessen the pain and it might even make my dilation progress take longer. I then asked if she could remove my IV too but she refused because I had not eaten nor drunk anything. But with the thought that pitocin had stopped coming through my veins, I was able to resist the temptation of calling for the epidural. I also eavesdropped on the nurses telling Doc in a light or joking manner to call the anesthesiologist already, and I heard Doc refuse and reason out that her Lamaze patient had already come that far (8 cm) to just give up. Upon hearing my Doc's answer, my waning courage had somehow been renewed.

A few minutes later, I told Doc that I felt like wanting to defecate. She suggested that it might already be my urge to push. I was not convinced at first because I had just been 8 cm minutes ago and I found it impossible to have that urge right away. Besides, I had stopped taking in pitocin and that instance was supposed to delay my dilation progress. I then told Doc that maybe it wasn't time yet. But after three or four more contractions, I started screaming for Doc and exclaimed that I felt like wanting to push. Despite that bold statement, I was very sure that I was still 8 cm dilated. But Doc decided to do another IE on me which I refused at first because I was afraid to find out that I didn't go beyond 8 cm. When she finally did, she said I was almost fully dilated. I told her that I found her statement to be vague because I didn't hear the words “10 cm”. She then said “Fine, it's 9.8 cm.” They then took me to the delivery section of the ward. But even though I was already in a totally different room where I would do my pushing, I still kept asking Doc if I was really fully dilated. It was 8 PM.

Part 1 post: Pre-labor

Part 3 post: Delivery