Childbirth - Our Experience - Delivery

......Contd from previous post

So after our check up on 23rd Jan, we were hopeful that something will happen on 24th, my husband's birthday. It would have been great both father and son sharing the same date, guess baby had other plans!! :)

26th Jan:
We went to the hospital. In the scan the abdominal fluid level dropped to 7. Generally if it is more than 8, then one can wait. Since it had dropped and I had no pains yet, Dr. Tara explained us that the labor will be induced artificially. She explained the whole process. There are 8 doses with a gap of 4 hours between each dose. Dose means insertion of a small tablet through the vagina. Within these 32 hours, if I go in labor then there will be another wait of 6-8 hours for the dilation of the cervix to 10 cms. So, we got admitted in the afternoon at 1:30 PM and informed my parents.

After 1 hour of having lunch, the doctor said the first dose will be given. Each dose will precede with a scan of 20 minutes, called as NST.
This generally graphs the contractions and the baby heart rate(BHR). Generally, the contractions and BHR are directly proportional. With contractions if BHR dips then things are a little worrisome.

3 p.m. - first dose inserted and we waited nothing happened. My parents packed their stuff and came to the hospital.

7 p.m. - NST done

7:30 p.m.- 2nd dose

...........This continued the whole night of 26th. At night, Dr. Tara came and met us before leaving and reassured us that everything is going fine. Also, said that we will wait till 28th night and conduct C-Sec if no labor sets in. It was such a relief just hear her voice that I was calmed and waited. My mom's elder sister stays just 15 minutes away from FH, so my parents spent the night at her place. Anyway.....


27th Jan - Morning the doctor gave us some good news that I have dilated 2 cms!! Some progress. ....Same procedure continued....nothing happened.

28th Jan 3:00 AM - I had severe shivering and fever and then the labor pain started. And this time pretty regular. Every 5 minutes, I got one. Immediately the duty doctor came and examined the NST graph. My contractions and BHR were inversely proportional. Immediately Dr. Tara was informed and she asked the examination to continue. Wooo...phh! Exactly after 36 hours the pains started!! One dose was skipped when 2 cm dilation was observed as they wanted natural dilation to happen. So kind of 4 hours gap there. Guess our baby was too lazy to do anything on his own!!

Finally, graph showed direct relation.

8 A.M. - I was shifted to labor room and Dr. Tara conducted an internal examination and found that there was no fluid. So guess, the fluid got emptied somewhere after 3 AM and I did not know. She asked me to freshen up, and be on liquid diet thereafter.

9 A.M.- Finally, I was in the labor room, all set. NST was still going on. An epidural was given and around 12 PM syntocin was injected through IV. Epidural was really helpful for most part of the labor. Every 1.5 hours epidural dose was injected.

8 PM - DR. Tara gave us the news that it is 10 cm dilated. By then, pain had increased in intensity and I do not know whether the epidural was discontinued thereafter. But I would say, the sensation of pain worked well for me as it gave me an idea as to how much I must push. With epidural the sensation of pain is not there, and makes you dependent on the nurses and the doctors who guide you when to push. Boss! the pain was definitely that I have never experienced in my life, and will not lie that it was terrible. But, as Mary told us during the birth classes, pain is just to guide us out of the delivery better. She also encouraged us for natural delivery saying that we are not the only ones going through this, many have done in the past and they are all doing normal now!! So we must fight our fears.

If it is of any help, remember to put pressure the way you would pass stools when having constipation. Initial few pushes I was putting more pressure on the abdomen which was not helping me except tiring me. Do not worry, the pains will actually make you feel like passing stools, just follow those signals and use your might to pass them, and lo! your baby will be out!!! :)

Anyway, I cannot thank Shourya and my mom enough. Both provided constant support. My mom gave me the instructions that I understood the best and pushed that way. In between Shourya would hydrate me by helping me drink water. Finally, after a while, everyone could see the head but it did not come out. The doc said that it is not rotating and suddenly found the heart rate dip. Immediately, she asked the OT be prepared and within minutes, I was wheeled over to the OT. During the journey to the OT, I was still pushing as advised.

Shourya and my parents were apprised of the situation by the doc that probably a C-Sec may be done. Once everything was set, they would ask Shourya to come inside. After a lot of shouting and pushing from my side, the docs guiding me through out, with the help of forceps our son, Rudransh, was delivered at 9:26 PM. The doc announced loudly "its a baby boy, its a baby boy" and rushed out of the room. Did not know why? Later Shourya told me the reason.

By the way, wonder how I know the exact time, is it? Well right in front of me on the wall was a digital clock that showed time to milliseconds!!! :D

As soon as the baby was out, I felt as if I was floating in air! Well it was not yet over as I had to push further to get the placenta out. Since there was tearing, a few stitches were put and after a while I was wheeled out to the post-op room. Dr. Tara kept caressing my arms and my forehead explaining me that they are putting the stitches. It was really comforting having her on my side. Since 8 AM in the morning that day till our baby was delivered she was there with us.

Dr. Tara came and showed me the baby after a while. I remembered him all funny looking and nothing like what he looks now though! :)

Scene outside the OT:
Shourya was waiting with the camera and mom had gone to get dad from the room. At around 9:30 PM, the nurse went out and informed Shourya that it is a baby boy. He could not believe it for a second as he was still under the impression that he would be called inside for a c-section!! hee!hee!

Anyway, hugs exchanged between my parents and Shourya and then I was wheeled out to meet them.

In the post-op room, I was to be kept for 1 hour observation. I was getting fidgety as I wanted to hold my baby desperately. Finally, after 1 hour, I was wheeled to our room where I found the crib is empty.

Shourya and my parents told that during delivery Rudransh swallowed some of his stools just before coming out. Thus, he was immediately rushed to the paediatrician waiting who did whatever was necessary and then later on showed the baby to them. After showing them the baby, he was taken to the nursery for observation. Some fluids were intravenously given to him. And only parents could go and see him in the nursery. So Shourya had made two rounds already and found him doing well.

Since it was already 2 AM and while I was walking I felt everything pretty loose inside me, decided to go to the nursery in the morning. I felt as if all the organs are strewn across in the empty space created by the exit of the baby!! Since I was on liquid diet the whole day, half-n-hour after the delivery, I passed loose stools 3-4 times. I was feeling so hungry. Had some juice and slept off. Shourya checked on Rudransh once again and then slept.

Next morning after breakfast, Shourya and myself, went and saw our son. It was an awesome feeling, cannot even describe it in words. He was not that puny as I was expecting but still he was all soft. I was so scared to even touch him in the beginning. Immediately the nurse put him for his first feeding session with me. Thankfully, he had no problem latching, about which I read a lot that first-time it mostly never happens successfully and all. But luckily nothing of that sort happened.

After the feed, he slept off and then the nurse again put him in the incubator or whatever it is called in the nursery. The paediatrician told us that his breathing is absolutely fine now and all vitals doing good. After an hour he would be shifted to the room.

As soon as he was shifted to the room, we were all excited. My maasi had also come. My mom gave a demo as to how to hold him properly so that his head does not hang out. It was amusing holding him and feeding him.

During the day, lactation expert came and gave a 30-minute lecture on latching, feeding, position to hold the baby, lactation-facilitating diet etc. It seems sesame seeds increase milk-production. Luckily, since it was winter, sesame seeds did not do much harm. Otherwise, they are pretty heat-producing.

Then the head of the nursing deptt came and took a feedback. Dietician came and explained us what to eat and what to avoid. Very methodical. We had certain problem with the food and it was immediately rectified. She mentioned having read our comment the previous day. Then came from the administration side to take feedback of the overall experience in Fernandez.

It was definitely a lot of information in one day!! I was all lost and did not know how to prioritize things once I reach home.

That night, Rudransh was all cranky. I did not know why was he not able to sleep. He just kept crying. SHourya and myself took him out for a walk in the corridor and it helped a little. The nurses helped us out in feeding and swaddling him. He had his first stool-passing incident and we did not check that. The nurse checked his diaper and cleaned him and changed him into a new diaper.

Our first few lessons -

If he is crying, then check whether
a) he is hungry
b) diaper full
c) passed stools
d) feeling cold
e) and if just plain cranky, take him out for a walk. He needs a change!

Next day we were to take discharge. After feeding Rudransh, we took leave. Dr. Tara visited us and congratulated us with a warm hug.

While we were driving back home, Rudransh was sleeping most of the journey. But just before we were to reach home, he started crying, I must say wailing. Finally we stopped on kerb and fed him first.

Second lesson -
When he is hungry, feed him first and then do anything else.

Anyway in the course of 5.5 months now, learnt a lot and pass on our acquired wisdom to those who need it. :)

CAVEAT - All relatives including grandparents
As new parents, we both felt so possessive about our son, that we just could not handle many suggestions or advice given by even our mothers well. We wanted to raise our son our way and not their way and such other feelings.

Later on, we both talked it out and sorted our minds and changed our outlook in a more positive direction.

Probably, the people surrounding the new parents can empathise with them if they act funny or different!! :)

It is a beautiful feeling being a mother and I am enjoying every moment of it. I observe every movement Rudransh makes and it looks so cute. I mean e.g., we also sleep on our side but the first time when he slept on his side, I could not help but keep looking at him. There are many such actions. Thanks to digital camera, we can savor all these moments in the form of photos and videos.


By God's Grace and the assistance of my dear husband Shourya, my dear parents, Dr. Tara and the nurses and the hospital staff, I could deliver by natural method, recover quickly to enjoy each moment with our precious possession, i.e. our son Rudransh.