The long awaited moment finally arrived! The past weekend we’ve been awaiting anxiously for 12/27, as this was going to be the start of the marathon and it starts with a simple phone call. Tick tock, tick tock… 6 pm. Time to call the hospital to see if there is room for me. First call – unsuccessful. 8:30 pm – time to try again. But Mommy and Daddy have both suppressed the stress throughout those few days. However, it was just too much for Mommy to take. After all, Mommy is the one that will go through the physical pains of labor, delivery and recovery. So there was a little drama before the action!
8:30 phone call, success! Time to go to the hospital! Got there about 9 pm but went through lots of waiting and paperwork before anything happened.
Blood pressure check – okay. Then time for IV, and took 5 tubes of blood :O
Ugh! I hate Hospitals! It reminded me of when my brother and dad were in the hospital. Waiting for a patient is quite scary! You don’t quite know what to say or how to react because you don’t want them to worry more because of you….thanks Galen for being there (even though sometimes you really piss me off).
Any way, Cervidil in at ten minutes before midnight. There were some pangs, but manageable. At least I was able to eat dinner and sleep here and there through the morning. The Doctor came by and Pitocin (catheter) was up next! My nurse, Andrea, waited another hour (until pass 1:00 pm) or so to administer it. Then the cramping pains began to be too much and I went for the epidural at 3 cm dilated. I wanted to wait it out some more, since I’ve heard how epidural can stop the process of dilation. They called Dr. Liao over to give me the shot! Perfect! The epidural was just what I needed, very effective in controlling the pain and moving the dilation along.
Within less than 2 hours I was ready! (Let me tell you, being able to go to the bathroom is a blessing!) The nurse called the Doctor and he got there in about 15mins. Of course, I’d been ready to push before that! I tried my best to wait! The nurse was very experienced, and allowed me some test pushes! Then they taught me the right way to push: time, method, etc.
It took about one try to get it right. So when I feel “rectal pressure” I am supposed to inhale deeply and push hard (breathing and making noise causes air, and breathing in air will cause baby’s head to suck back in a little each time) while they count to 10. At the end of the count, inhale and repeat the steps 2 more times. Then stop until the pressure begins again, and repeat the same steps. Sounds easy, but damn a lot of pain! With the help of a vacuum, Aiden was out in about 10 minutes (this is minus the extra time Doctor got here and prepped). Each time they would tell me what part of him is out. My Doctor and nurse were both saying what a pro I was! But honestly, if they weren’t as professional and experienced as they were, I’d be yelling and cursing like 2 other pregnant women at the hospital. (Instead, my labor and delivery was smoother than I could ever anticipate!) So ladies, it’s very important to find the right people to surround you with, including professionals, family and friends. All that made it possible for me to enjoy the birth of my first son. It was amazing to see the Doctor bring him out, saw Galen cut the cord, and then they put Aiden on top of me for a few minutes. The biggest shock was this little baby wasn’t the chubby baby I expected. Instead he was long and thin, but still ever so precious!
Born on 12/28/11, Aiden Leigh Ma, was born – 20.5 inches and 6 pounds 8 ounces! Not the predicted 8+ pounds, which was probably another reason why the delivery was easier than I could ever imagine. Healthy Mommy, Healthy Baby! What more could I ask for! 🙂 Another addition to the Ma Family, we couldn’t be more blessed!